My Shadowbox Background Project

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

I was thinking it might be easier if we had better backgrounds. It could solve all your painting problems. Still use a shadowbox too? Maybe it'll look good without a box but at least it would save a lot of time on painting.

 

[snadaud]

Congratulations for your great work !
I really love the "dawn effect" !!
I was wondering if you couldn't enhance the infinity feeling even more by placing a few low rocks along the bottom of the back glass panel (in the middle of the tank, between the two rock structures) so as to hide the sharp line where the sand meets the glass ?

 

[euromomtx]

snadaud
I think that is a great idea!
I will be getting some ricordea soon and I think the those types of rocks might be perfect (low enough) for this.
The Jawfish really like the open space so that's the only limitation there...

 

[snadaud]

I was thinking of a cheap and simple way that might somewhat reproduce the rippling effect for the top of the shadowbox using some reflective silver cellophane-like wrapping paper.

You could try cutting some bands, a few millimeters wide and a bit longer than the tank's length.

Then you would attach one end of the ribbon to the front left of the box, and the other end to the back right, maybe twisting the ribbon on itself a few times between both ends so the reflective surface would be angled differently along the lenght of the ribbon. Since the ribbon is longer than the tank it should droop a bit in the middle.

Then you do the same with more ribbons from the opposite ends of the box, and then add a few more from the back to front of the box but not starting from the ends, so that you end up with a few ribbons criss-crossing each other, each of them having their lowest point stagered accross the length of the tank.

Since they are loose and very light, the idea is that they would move and reflect the ligt randomly in the tank. Maybe a draft in the room could be enough to move them, or the air displaced by a cooling fan on top of the tank, or maybe a small dedicated fan.

It would probably be more convenient to attach them to a narrow band of carton or PVC which would in turn be attached to the box.

Unfortunately I don't currently have a tank I could experiment this on, but if someone did try I would be very interested to know how it turns out...

Of course I can't garantee that it would work at all or look good and will not accept any responsibility for the time potentially wasted by someone trying this :rollface:

 

[swnoobie]

absolutley amazing work.
i would love to try this some day for sure.
maybe once i get a new 55g in and the old 55g out ill try it, with my own little twist on things of course

 

[project]

Now why did you have to start this thread? I was almost finished with the design work and stand for my 400 gal. Now I have to back up and build a shadowbox..lol.. great work, looks amazing!!

 

[euromomtx]

been adding a little more to the tank.
Here's another pic of dusk/dawn

I think it starts to make more sense now why I wasn't super concerned about the background detail: the gorgonians really are meant to take center stage.

I can't imagine how limiting it would feel to have a black back wall instead of the glow and I am glad I did it -even with all the little dead end detours.

 

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

Have to see it with your diff. lighting configurations but right there... I'd say you outdid the original that you were trying to duplicate. Awesome.

 

[canyousee]

+1 it seems has if your looking for miles rather than feet.

 

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

A shadowbox would be a good place to put stuff that are hard to keep too like gorgonians, some other daily filter feeders. It looks really natural. Only bad thing about this I see is... stacking the rock up like that requires some flow behind it so debris doesn't pile up.

 

[euromomtx]

Oh wow. I hadn't thought of a water filled shadow box. That would be cool too.

Thanks for the nice comments.

The main rock structures are in between four MP40s.

The rock columns you see on the side are actually just mortared rock covers for the two corner overflow boxes so they are a lot more one dimensional than it looks. Not much stacking going on there.
The returns from those overflow boxes do point towards each other along the back side though just in case the MP40s don't reach back there enough.

Time will tell... Hopefully my little crabs will help

 

[Medicoles]

This is awesome. I wish I had seen this before I drilled the back glass of my tank. I have a 100 gallon cube and the front to back depth would have really looked cool in my tank.

 

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

I figured that out after I thought about what you were doing in the tank and not outside of it. 2 ovb's. Have to be on the side no matter how many you have... and you really do need to have rocks on the sides too for this to work. PLus you have to keep your back glass clean. Do you have enough rock? Looks thin on rock. I guess the sump could hold more tho.

Really kool. Show us more pics with diff. lighting. And yea... water in the box could help with the distant look... you could even purposely cloud it with some sorta white ink or something? That would potentially save a lot of time on smoking/painting for the same effect.

 

[euromomtx]

As far as filtration goes I have 440 pounds (!) of sand (In addition to the rock)
I usually don't show it in the pics because it's just substrate but because it's a jawfish tank there is 6-7 inches of substrate on a 24" by 72" foot print.

Don't have room for more rocks in the display. I don't like that crammed brick wall look. The anthias and jawfish need open spaces. And gorgos like room to sway as well.

 

[sonofgaladriel]

First let me say that you are a genius! I have been contemplating something like this for a long time but never got around to trying it out. I think that this background characteristic takes display aquariums to a hole new level. It looks truly like a mini portion of the ocean. Again, you are to be commended and thank you very much for sharing this!
Now, believe it or not, I'm working out the details on how I can do this with my new 1500 gallon tank. I'm going to build it myself using structurally reinforced plywood with dimensions close to 96" wide by 72" tall by 60" deep with an 84" by 60" viewing window. Sealed using deep blue epoxy or Ames Blue Max liquid rubber. It will be an in wall display only 12" off the floor for optimal viewing when seated or standing.
I'm thinking I can simply add a 96"x72" piece of 1/4" glass, frosted blue, a few inches from the back of the tank. I'll let water fill in the back space and light it similarly to yours, but maybe with a couple of 70 watt 20K halides.
I am hoping that the actual true depth and width of the tank, along with the faux depth of the back 'window box' will truly give this tank the feeling of being the deep ocean.
Anyway, thanks again for all the details and great pics.

 

[euromomtx]

Oh wow -a big one!

Please be sure to leave a link on this thread so we can see pics once you get started.

I think you're on the right track. We talked so much about the painting and whatever could go into the shadowbox but truly I think anything that is
- lighted from behind
- translucent or transparent
- somehow diffused (frosted/sanded/etc.)
should give that depth effect we are looking for. I think all the other stuff is optional. It's that lighted glow from behind that gives it the 'could go on forever feel'.

You must be so excited! Cam
Can't wait to see pics.

Oh and Thanks for the nice compliment!

 

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

I'm wondering if a thread can be voted Thread of the Month for back-to-back months... maybe even for October. Keep posting pics of your tests, diff. lighting etc. This is excellent.

 

[euromomtx]

I think THOTM is cool enough once.

I am actually not making anymore changes to the box right now so probably no new updates coming unless I can think of something down the road.

I'll post mostly stocking updates on my actual tank thread (here). Most of the videos and pictures there are taken when all tank lights are on so the background is less noticeable.

I meant to post a supply list of stuff and sources that worked well for me!

acrylic sheet 1/8" light blue (sanded it myself) - got it from Allied Plastic Supply in San Antonio but I am sure any acrylic provider would be able to get it.

retrofit single bulb T-5 fixture - got it from www.ReefGeek.com. They've been super helpful too. I am not a DIY-er, especially when it comes to electric stuff but the kit was easy, complete and tech support was outstanding.

GE 3000k daylight bulb - that one turned out to be my favorite to really bring the glow from all blue into turquoise/ocean like - got it from ReefGeek as well.

hardboard - very cheap. Lowes in our area doesn't carry it but Home Depot has it for a 4' by 8' sheet for around 6 bucks.

sanding disks for by random orbit sander in 400 and 800 grit (I had a hard time finding this but I hear automotive supply may carry this type of fine grit) - I got it from http://defusco.com/

Spray paint: my favorite colors ended up being Bahama Sea by Krylon (Walmart) and Night Tide by Valspar (Lowes)

Hope it's okay to post this type of stuff but it took me so long to find everything I thought it might be helpful to have a start.

If anybody does anything -even or especially if it's totally different- I'd love to see it!

 

[SCIFI_3D_zoo]

I just voted for the THOTM for this month and... if I could I'd vote for this one again.

I missed your pics of morning/day and yea.. it does get a bit washed out. BUT that guys original pics were full lights and you could see it. So I think you gotta do some more tweaking. Don't want to do all this work for for a dawn look. I guess you just gotta make it brighter in the box to compete with the main tank. Then you'd have to ramp it down later in the day so it wasn't too bright. I wonder what that guy with the original shadowbox did on his lights? You have that info?

 

[euromomtx]

I've posted his schematic a few times (in German and English) so you can see his light configuration - scroll through the thread and you should find the English version.

I really feel 'complete' with my set up as it is right now and don't intent to do any more tweaking.
To me the main part is the 'glow' and feel of endless water that I get from the shadowbox. And I get that at any light level when I stand in front of it (not sure if it comes through well in the pics).
Seeing an image of fake rocks is really secondary to me - I got lots of other stuff to look at. lol (plus if you make the box light brighter then they are more obvious/fake looking in the dawn/dusk)

Thanks so for the nice comments and I am sure somebody will perfect the fake rock thing in the near future