what does everyone do for backgrounds

was just curious as to what everyone uses for a background on their tank, i am trying to decide between painting the back or using a paper background. before i tore the tank down i had a plain dark blue paper background that i put on with vaseline, it was kind of a pain to do but looked good for about a year then the corners started peeling off. the background soon got air bubbles in it and looked like crap. any advice or comments would be appreciated. oh and happy 4th of july

 

Listen to the above man.

Spray paint, (or rolled-on paint, as I use) is permanent, allows no salt creep, and is simpler than taping a background to the rear glass.

The only decision is what color. I'm a big fan of black. With black, it takes nothing away from the eye when viewing the bounty of the reef inside.

 

I am a new guy at the aquarium hobby thing, but this is what I have heard. You paint it, that is the way it stays. There is a measure of permanence to it. I currently have a cheeseball greek underwater blue background that I am going to replace out with black to enhance the color of the inhabitants. I thought about blue until I tried it on my quarantine tank and, in my humble opinion, it looks worse than the cheeseball greek underwater blue thang I have going on my main tank. Anyway, that's my story and I am sticking to it. John.

 

what type of spray paint do you use?

 

That would be true. Seeing that black is considered the absence of all color, it will absorb light, rather than reflect it. That's why athletes frequently wear eye-black under their eyes to eliminate glare coming off their cheekbones.

That being said, blue will bounce more light into the aquarium. Lot's of folks use blue, heck, my favorite color is blue. But as someone above mentioned, the main event is the contents of the tank. This being the case, I choose to make the back as uneventful and as far from attention-getting as possible.

I've seen blue-backed tanks. Lots of acrylic manufacturers make their opaque-backed tanks using blue acrylic rather than black. The ocean is blue right?

It's all down to personal preference. I use black because it prevents you from seeing whatever's behind the tank; while at the same time the back isn't saying, "Hey!! Over here! Look at me!!"

;D

 

I have painted both of the tanks I've had black. I used a heavy duty outdoor paint and I have never even given it a thought that there is any better way to have the back covered. Mine is almost entirely covered in coraline algae so it has gone from black to purple black. Your tank will look the same way in time I'm sure.

 

i used black latex rustolium and a paint rooler.it scrapes off with a razor if you want it off later.

 

I have them black and I have them painted blue I have never seen any difference with it effecting the light output . And I would say The blue is a little better look but the black has the nod in the coralline grow in it faster and after a few months be it blue o black it always winds up purple . Unless you scrape them . The front and one end is all I scrape the back and the end on the wall are left to do their own coloration .