Tank room decor, I need your opinions!

[mwood]

I'm going to finish my basement tank room and need to plan the tank room decor. I have two main themes in mind.

Rainforest Cafe Theme: Decorate the room to look like rainforest cafe or like a rainforest. The ceiling would be painted like a sky, one wall would look like a rock face with vines and plants, and the others would be covered with murals and then with fake trees and plants. The floor would be painted multi shades of brown and maybe green. The tank hood mounted to the ceiling would be slanted and covered with thatch like the roof of a hut. The tank stand would be stone.

Ocean Floor Theme: Decorate the room to look like an ocean floor or reef area. The ceiling would be painted light blue as if you were looking up from under the ocean, the walls would be covered in murals from lowes that show a reef scene, other walls would be painted blue to blend in, and the floor would be shades of white and gray to look like the ocean floor. The tank hood would be mounted to the ceiling but not slanted as in the other theme. The stand and hood would be white tile or blue stain(not sure yet).

Please vote or give opinions!

Marcus

 

[mwood]

Here are pictures of the tank and two of the murals I would use for the ocean floor theme.

 

[glaspie69]

How are those luminarc's working for you ......I'm ordering mine right after IMAC

 

[Atticus]

Do the ocean floor idea and strap a boat bottom to the ceiling to house your lights.

You could also make the stand into a section of reef using some rock and that spray foam insulating stuff to sculpt. That way it would look like your stand is a solid rock and the live rock in the tank is the peak of the reef.

 

[mwood]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7138038#post7138038 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by glaspie69
How are those luminarc's working for you ......I'm ordering mine right after IMAC

They are working well. My dual halide LAIII idea didn't work as well as I hoped, but it still works.

 

[mwood]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7138079#post7138079 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Atticus
Do the ocean floor idea and strap a boat bottom to the ceiling to house your lights.

You could also make the stand into a section of reef using some rock and that spray foam insulating stuff to sculpt. That way it would look like your stand is a solid rock and the live rock in the tank is the peak of the reef.

Not sure about the boat bottom but the spray foam is not a bad idea. I assume it doesn't come in right color, that I'd have to spray paint it, right?

 

[leeweber85]

I think a beach house theme would be cool.... keep it simple and clean. Walls blue and the floor white ish. You could have palm trees and bamboo stuff too.

 

[got2lb]

I like the ocean floor idea. Sounds pretty cool. Atticus has some pretty cool Ideas! I would think once the foam sets up you would be able to paint it with spray paint.

I have no artistic abilities at all so it would look like crap if I did it. I hope it turns out good for you whichever way you go!

 

[Covey]

You can spray piant the foam you can also dump crushed coral or agronite on it as it dried. Kinda a DIY rock on the outside of your tank. That would take a couple dozen cans of Good Stuff though.

 

[mwood]

I guess the good thing about covering the stand with foam rock is if I didn't like it, I could just pull the whole panel off and try something else. Shouldn't cost as much as tile.

 

[got2lb]

You could just take some 1/4" plywood and cut it to the size of the bottom of the stand then take it outside and cover that with the foam. That way you can just bring it in the house when you're done and screw it onto the stand. That would help keep the mess and smell out of the house anyway. Plus if you don't like it just take it off.

 

[mwood]

I thought about that, but I'd like to go around the corners if I do this. Not sure about doors. Maybe I'll have to hinge a door, spray the foam over all, then cut it when it dries.

 

[tibbs2]

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea theme. Paint portholes on the walls, a man-sized cutout of Captain Nemo etc... :lol:

 

[gobyfann]

other, please expalin

other, please expalin

Wow, you have two really great ideas/themes there and some good ideas from those responding to your poll. Still, I suggest 'other' because it seems to me that such involved room decor will end up detracting from your awesome reef set-up. I'd like to see the tank(s) being the one-and-only focal point(s) of the room so you aren't distracted by murals and boats and such, but your eyes are drawn to the main feature. I suppose that means I would prefer kind of boring surroundings/decorations for your room---hey, think of the money you could put into your tank if you go low-key around it!! Have fun!