Background Question

[jcali10]

Does anybody use them in planted tanks? I have a black background I was going to use. I attached it with some glue dots and a couple of days later it fell off. I'm wondering if I should even bother with it; the tank is a couple of inches away from a paneled wall and I will have background plants.

[Ghazanfar Ghori]

I have tanks with and without backgrounds. It depends on the look you want.
In one setup. Ive got some black felt thats hung up behind the tank. Another
one has black latex paint on the rear glass (outside). IME the plastic sheet backgrounds don't seem to work well.

[maddog10]

I finally got tired of painting all of my tanks. I went to Staples and bought some black colored foam board. I then cut it so that it fits snug between the top and bottom frame of the tank, added a couple pieces of tape to hold it to the frame. Done in a couple of minutes. Painting takes two days, minimum.

I like backgrounds, as I really hate to see filters and wires behind the tank.

[Aaron]

The foamboard stuff works great. I wish it came wider than 30" for larger tanks.

[krisw]

I've also used posterboard as well...

But, if you've ever wondered how people do those Amano style iguwami scapes with the gradient of grey to white background, they probably don't have a background, and just use flashes/lightstrips to create the gradient on the white wall behind the tank. All depends what look you're going for.

[jcali10]

I remember the Aquarium Depot used to sell this stuff at one time, it was like window tinting, it stuck to the glass and you had to squee gee out the air bubbles. I had a light blue colored one on a twenty tall I no longer have.

I appreciate all the ideas. I may see if I can tape on any better. If not I will probably just forego it altogether.

[Aaron]

I remember the Aquarium Depot used to sell this stuff at one time, it was like window tinting, it stuck to the glass and you had to squee gee out the air bubbles. I had a light blue colored one on a twenty tall I no longer have.

I appreciate all the ideas. I may see if I can tape on any better. If not I will probably just forego it altogether.

SCALES has that stuff. The company is called something like Ocean Visions.

[maddog10]

The foamboard stuff works great. I wish it came wider than 30" for larger tanks.

The trick when putting multiple pieces together is to bevel the edges so that they overlap, that way you do not see the seam.

[JMLenke]

I have 2 tanks currently set up with cork as the background (inside the tank), the mosses love it, the ferns and anubias like it and the shrimp adore having another location to wander around on.

The other two have no backgrounds and are ugly.