My Shadowbox Background Project

[suds1421]

WOW, that is a great tank you have there. I agree with previous posters, you need to rig up a shark to swim in the distance

 

[euromomtx]

serpentman that looks fantastic!

 

[Christian J]

Indeed that's a great effect!

Do you use a blue tube for the background light, or is it that dark blue even with a white tube?

One possible problem might be that the added depth effect of a background box makes the tank content look abruptly cut off - at least when viewed slightly from above like in your photo - but your distant rock shapes seem to help prevent that. I was planning a background without rocks, but maybe I must reconsider that now.

 

[aqua80]

Thought I would share an updated pic. The shadowbox really makes it look like the real deal...

really nice ! do you have a picture of your tank before your new background ?

 

[euromomtx]

I actually built the background while I was waiting for the tank to arrive so no pics of the tank without it.
By the way I am putting together a seahorse cube right now and went with a
shadow no-box cheapo solution on it!

I used gel sheets from the theater supply store and white suction on LED sticks.

 

[NanoReefWanabe]

well holy crap...this turned out absolutely amazing, i am at a loss for intelligent words right now...this is one of the most beautiful tanks i have ever seen..

i missed how you achieved that light aquamarine kinda colour..is that a bulb thing or frosted acrylic?

as much as i love serpentman's tank as well the colour of your background in this pic is breath taking....hats off to you Karin for an absolutely inspirational tank...

 

[euromomtx]

The color comes from using a bright light blue acrylic sheet with a very yellow 3000k GE bulb.

here's the cheapo version for the seahorse cube:

gel sheets instead of acrylic sheets:

suction cup LED sticks stuck right onto the trim:

leds on and gel sheet taped to the back (double sided tape)

playing with paper bags to get ideas for the background (the seahorse tank will have a mangrove theme):

 

[rkaragozler]

euromomtx, great job on your shadow box. I love the idea, I just finished my build. I have 18" of walk space behind my tank. I am going to try this and see how it comes out.
do you think buying frosted tint rather then scrubbing acrylic would work?
here is a pick of what my tank looks like now.

 

[euromomtx]

Great tank!
Yes, I think frosted window tint would work. Were you thinking of using the adhesive kind and sticking it to the glass?
If so remember that anything directly glued or painted onto the glass will cut down on light in the tank according to Fatherree's article.

 

[rkaragozler]

thank you for the response. I was thinking of getting acrylic sheets and applying them like tint. making a box like you did and hang it from the ceiling, with rails. this way i can move back to clean the glass.

 

[euromomtx]

I think that would work great! Be sure to post the results

 

[rkaragozler]

Will do, when you made the box what was the reason for using 2x4, can i use say 1x4 and make it lighter.

 

[euromomtx]

I am pretty sure I used 1x4 in the actual box. It was still super heavy because I initially used a plywood back. Now that I know you can't paint that cheap plywood very well I'd go with 1x4 boards for the frame and the hardboard back (instead of ply)

 

[rkaragozler]

Did you ever think of using leds for lighting the box.

 

[euromomtx]

Yes absolutely. In fact for the seahorse tank (post 287) I am using LEDs.
But for the shadowbox I didn't think LED until after I had it built
Since the acrylic sheets are only available in limited color choices the 3000k yellow T5 actually made a perfect combo.
It's tought to find premade LED strips in really WARM white.
With the seahorse tank it didn't matter since the gel sheets come in so many different colors.
Same would be true for your frosted tint

 

[rkaragozler]

Do you think these would work.
http://www.rosco.com/us/products/lighting.cfm

 

[Christian J]

remember that anything directly glued or painted onto the glass will cut down on light in the tank according to Fatherree's article.

Maybe that's actually a good thing, contributing to the sense of depth? This assuming that we can see the difference with the naked eye, of course.

Corals OTOH may not need to be lighted from behind where we don't view them anyway? :hmm2: I guess this also depends on placement in the tank - corals near the surface shouldn't get much reflected light even without a glued background, while corals at the bottom back would.

 

[euromomtx]

Do you think these would work.
http://www.rosco.com/us/products/lighting.cfm

they look to be the same thing as the ones I used on the seahorse cube -only a different manufacturer

Christian, I am stingy. lol. If I am paying the electric bill for the light I want all of it. A 30% reduction would bother me. Plus I do have a lot of corals arranged in the back half of the tank to keep the center front open for the jawfish.

 

[Reef_Soup]

Wow, just read the whole thread I love the builds. Congrats on TOM btw !

If this isn't asking too much: how about a few detailed shots "behind the scenes" so us visual types can get a real grasp of whats going on back there. Thank you !!

 

[blibo]

This is absolutely gorgeous!! Makes me feel like I'm in a sub cruising around the sea bottom. So simple yet so perfect