Backgrounds

[Joseph]

Hello,

I know, this isn't a serious technical question. I'm just wondering
about the ascetics of the group.

Graham Ramsay recently published the following link:

http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/docs/health/salt.shtml

First I'd like to say thanks, this seems to be a great sight! :)

Second: In the section about backgrounds the author advocates spray
painting the tank. I though this was cool and wondered if anybody has
done this?

I'm currently using a grass matt that I picked up at my LAS
(Local-Art-Store) for one tank, and a cool sponged green and tan for
another tank (the colors of the algae).

Before I got my first tank I was constantly surprised by the tacky
coral backgrounds that people were using on fresh water tanks (no
offense meant if anybody here does that, I've discovered that there
are tackier things).

Anybody do anything different w/ their backgrounds? Anything really
creative? Anything with lighting?

[Flash Wilson]

On Tue, 09 Dec 2003 13:03:46 GMT, Joseph > wrote:
>Before I got my first tank I was constantly surprised by the tacky
>coral backgrounds that people were using on fresh water tanks (no
>offense meant if anybody here does that, I've discovered that there
>are tackier things).
>
>Anybody do anything different w/ their backgrounds? Anything really
>creative? Anything with lighting?

Different yes, creative no: dark coloured card from art shops.
Cheap, easy and works fairly well. The exception is a small
betta tank which sits in a window; I made a tinfoil screen to
sit behind it to reflect light from the sun.

--
Flash Wilson
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
Bother. Must not drink tequila before midnight on a weeknight.

[Geezer From Freezer]

I use Juwels 3d backing that goes on the inside!

[Eric Schreiber]

Joseph > wrote:

>Second: In the section about backgrounds the author advocates spray
>painting the tank. I though this was cool and wondered if anybody has
>done this?

I have. Long ago I used to have about five tanks. All of them had
spray painted backs. When I started again about a year ago, I painted
the back of my 20-gallon planted tank.

I've always used black, but a deep blue might look good too.

--
www.ericschreiber.com

[Scott]

I also use the 3d juwel background. I think it looks much better than any of
the other one's that I've seen. it is a shame though that they don't make
them to fit there tanks as you have to use to separate pieces, so you get
left with a join in the middle and one end has to be trimmed to fit the
tank.
"Geezer From Freezer" > wrote in message
...
>
> I use Juwels 3d backing that goes on the inside!

[Geezer From Freezer]

Scott wrote:
>
> I also use the 3d juwel background. I think it looks much better than any of
> the other one's that I've seen. it is a shame though that they don't make
> them to fit there tanks as you have to use to separate pieces, so you get
> left with a join in the middle and one end has to be trimmed to fit the
> tank.

yeah it is a shame. My middle join section seems to have come loose. What a
nightmare
to get that back on secure - I'd have to move fishies, drain tank, dry tank
re-seal with silicon glue, wait for 2 days and re-fill - sigh......it's only
been on for 2 months or so :(

[Harry Muscle]

"Scott" > wrote in message
...
> I also use the 3d juwel background. I think it looks much better than any
of
> the other one's that I've seen. it is a shame though that they don't make
> them to fit there tanks as you have to use to se te pieces, so you get
> left with a join in the middle and one end has to be trimmed to fit the
> tank.
> "Geezer From Freezer" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > I use Juwels 3d backing that goes on the inside!
>
>

Are these Juwel 3D backgrounds available in North America? Any online
stores that carry them that you know of?

They sound similar to those Back-to-Nature backgrounds. Are they just as
expensive? If you don't mind, would you mind sharing how much you paid and
what size of background it was?

Thanks,
Harry




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[Geezer From Freezer]

Well I needed 3 swuares for my 63 gallon tank - they come in different si=
zes.
I paid about =A330 for the 3 (or something like that). You can get them c=
heaper
check out these links:

http://www.aquaristikshop.de/e_artikel/438301.htm

http://www.aquatics-direct.co.uk/productviewer.asp?ID=3D97&type=3D

[Toni]

"Joseph" > wrote in message
...
>
> Second: In the section about backgrounds the author advocates spray
> painting the tank. I though this was cool and wondered if anybody has
> done this?
>


Not sprayed, but my tanks all have painted on "backgrounds"- two are black
and one is dark blue.
I much prefer the black.

Plain old latex paint...


--
Toni
http://www.cearbhaill.com/aquarium.htm

[Scott]

yeah I'm wondering what I'm going to do when it gets covered in algae, I
guess it will just have to stay on there.
"Geezer From Freezer" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Scott wrote:
> >
> > I also use the 3d juwel background. I think it looks much better than
any of
> > the other one's that I've seen. it is a shame though that they don't
make
> > them to fit there tanks as you have to use to separate pieces, so you
get
> > left with a join in the middle and one end has to be trimmed to fit the
> > tank.
>
> yeah it is a shame. My middle join section seems to have come loose. What
a
> nightmare
> to get that back on secure - I'd have to move fishies, drain tank, dry
tank
> re-seal with silicon glue, wait for 2 days and re-fill - sigh......it's
only
> been on for 2 months or so :(

[Michi Henning]

"Joseph" > wrote in message
...

> Anybody do anything different w/ their backgrounds? Anything really
> creative? Anything with lighting?

I used Indian slate as the background for my tank. The slate is glued
to the back glass (from the inside) with silicon. The slate has nice
colors, looks natural, and adds interest without being too "loud."
And it's chemically neutral, so it won't muck around with the water.

Getting the pieces to fit together was surprisingly easy. I just picked
up a little over a square meter from a landscaping supplier and played
with the pieces until I had them pretty much arranged into the shape
of the back panel. I had to shape only about four of them a little with
an angle grinder to get things to fit. To avoid having the white wall
showing through the gaps between the slate, I stuck a piece of
black velvet to the back panel from the outside. Total cost was
about $35 or so, including silicon.

There are two pictures of this:

http://www.triodia.com/staff/michi/aquatic/Slate1.jpg
(That one shows the tank during setup.)

http://www.triodia.com/staff/michi/aquatic/Slate2.jpg
(That's the tank 21 days later.)

Cheers,

Michi.
--
Michi Henning Ph: +61 4 1118-2700
ZeroC, Inc. http://www.zeroc.com

[Eric Schreiber]

"Michi Henning" > wrote:

>I used Indian slate as the background for my tank.

>There are two pictures of this:
>http://www.triodia.com/staff/michi/aquatic/Slate1.jpg
>http://www.triodia.com/staff/michi/aquatic/Slate2.jpg

Hmmm, that's pretty nice looking. I'll have to keep that in mind for
my next 'real' tank. How thick are those pieces?


--
www.ericschreiber.com

[Geezer From Freezer]

Scott wrote:
>
> yeah I'm wondering what I'm going to do when it gets covered in algae, I
> guess it will just have to stay on there.

Scott, the algae is a good thing - makes it look more natural and is good for
water quality

[Michi Henning]

"Eric Schreiber" > wrote in message
...
>
> Hmmm, that's pretty nice looking. I'll have to keep that in mind for
> my next 'real' tank. How thick are those pieces?

They are around 10mm thick. Some a bit thinner, may be 6-7mm,
and some a bit thicker, maybe 12mm.

Cheers,

Michi.

[Scott]

but wont having that much algae in the tank increase any problems caused by
it.
"Geezer From Freezer" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Scott wrote:
> >
> > yeah I'm wondering what I'm going to do when it gets covered in algae, I
> > guess it will just have to stay on there.
>
> Scott, the algae is a good thing - makes it look more natural and is good
for
> water quality

[Harry Muscle]

"Michi Henning" > wrote in message
...
> "Joseph" > wrote in message
> ...
>
> > Anybody do anything different w/ their backgrounds? Anything really
> > creative? Anything with lighting?
>
> I used Indian slate as the background for my tank. The slate is glued
> to the back glass (from the inside) with silicon. The slate has nice
> colors, looks natural, and adds interest without being too "loud."
> And it's chemically neutral, so it won't muck around with the water.
>
> Getting the pieces to fit together was surprisingly easy. I just picke
> little over a square meter from a landscaping supplier and played
> with the pieces until I had them pretty much arranged into the shape
> of the back panel. I had to shape only about four of them a little with
> an angle grinder to get things to fit. To avoid having the white wall
> showing through the gaps between the slate, I stuck a piece of
> black velvet to the back panel from the outside. Total cost was
> about $35 or so, including silicon.
>
> There are two pictures of this:
>
> http://www.triodia.com/staff/michi/aquatic/Slate1.jpg
> (That one shows the tank during setup.)
>
> http://www.triodia.com/staff/michi/aquatic/Slate2.jpg
> (That's the tank 21 days later.)
>
> s,
>
> Michi.
> --
> Michi Henning Ph: +61 4 1118-2700
> ZeroC, Inc. http://www.zeroc.com
>

I really like that look of that. I really like your stand too. I actually
saw one similar (just not as nice) at Petsmart that I thought of getting.
May I ask where you got yours and especially who makes it? Is it solid
wood? Or just really good looking particle board stuff? How tall is it?

Back to the subject of backgrounds, I thought of doing something similar to
what you did, but I didn't think that real rock would fit together as nicely
so I was thinking of using slate tiles that you can buy to tile your floor
with. Anyone ever tried something like this? Btw, what's the difference
between Indian slate and normal slate?

Thanks,
Harry




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[Geezer From Freezer]

Scott wrote:
>
> but wont having that much algae in the tank increase any problems caused by
> it.

Scott, what sort of problems are you thinking about?

[Eric Schreiber]

"Scott" > wrote:

>wont having that much algae in the tank increase any problems caused by it.

Algae doesn't really cause any problems, aside from aesthetics. It can
often be an indicator that a water quality problem exists (too many
nutrients) but algae itself is harmless and natural.

--
www.ericschreiber.com

[Scott]

well I thought that if the back is allowed to be covered in algae it would
increase speed that it spreads onto plants.
"Geezer From Freezer" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Scott wrote:
> >
> > but wont having that much algae in the tank increase any problems caused
by
> > it.
>
> Scott, what sort of problems are you thinking about?

[Michi Henning]

"Harry Muscle" > wrote in message
...

> I really like that look of that. I really like your stand too. I actually
> saw one similar (just not as nice) at Petsmart that I thought of getting.
> May I ask where you got yours and especially who makes it? Is it solid
> wood? Or just really good looking particle board stuff? How tall is it?

I had the stand made by a cabinet maker. (I live in Australia, so I suspect
that the name of the company won't help you all that much ;-) The
stand is made out of 14mm plywood, veneered with figured Eucalypt Ash
veneer. The surface is sealed with a satin marine-grade polyurethane finish.
It's 840mm tall to the top of the bottom trim frame. (The tank is a 6"x2"x2"
tank.)

> Back to the subject of backgrounds, I thought of doing something similar to
> what you did, but I didn't think that real rock would fit together as nicely
> so I was thinking of using slate tiles that you can buy to tile your floor
> with. Anyone ever tried something like this? Btw, what's the difference
> between Indian slate and normal slate?

Indian slate is coarser, with more surface texture, and it has lots of
different
colors -- subtle shades of orange, blue, purple, gold... It's popular here
in Australia, especially as a flooring material for outside areas.

I found quite a comprehensive catalog at
http://www.slate-stone.com/varieties-of-slate-stone.html. I'm sure
there will be more info to be found if you go digging...

Cheers,

Michi.

--
Michi Henning Ph: +61 4 1118-2700
ZeroC, Inc. http://www.zeroc.com

[Christina James]

I loved the look of the slate also, well done! But I'm afraid I'm either
not too classy, or just can't commit. On my 20/gal, I got tired of the
regular fish-tank-graphic-back, so picked up some
dark-blue-with-small-glittery-silver-stars fabric from Walmart. Cut it to
fit and applied it to the outside back of my tank. This tank contains
powder blue dwarf gouramis and white gravel, and WOW the blue fabric is most
flattering to the gouramis. If I ever get grandchildren around the house
and interested in an aquarium of "their own" I'll try some of the novelty
fish-print fabric that Walmart offered, to use as a backing. I could see
how changing the background often could be stressful to the fish, but I'm
hoping they can indulge me twice a year.

Thanks, I enjoyed hearing about the different backgrounds. My larger tank
still has the regular-graphic-type of background, and fortunately I'm not
tired of it yet, but you've given me some ideas for if/when it does get old.

Chris