# What color background would you use??



## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

I put black gravel in the tank that is going to house the jack dempsey that Im getting from Torpedo next week. I cant decide what color background I should use. the tank is on the bottom of the stand and its kinda in a dark place so I would like to find something that will help him stand out. Here is a picture of the fish:




















Any Suggestions??


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## leveldrummer (May 27, 2005)

black gravel, black background, fish should stand out like stink on a skunk.


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## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

leveldrummer said:


> black gravel, black background, fish should stand out like stink on a skunk.



:lol: :lol: :lol:


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

I use dark green for the backs of my tanks. Lighter colors tend to wash the fish out. The darker colors show fish better. The green gives it the illusion of being heavily planted.


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## flamingo (Nov 5, 2005)

Blue maybe? I have a black background with black sand in one of my tanks and I don't like it..

Makes the tank look way too small.


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## Osiris (Jan 18, 2005)

Dark blue/black..........



BAYWATCH Pamela Anderson Poster would work best!


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## goodie (Sep 2, 2005)

Mala said:


> Dark blue/black..........
> 
> 
> 
> BAYWATCH Pamela Anderson Poster would work best!



Fish.........What fish?


Or


How big of a tank would you need for those....uhhh....things?


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## Mobydock (Sep 6, 2005)

goodie said:


> How big of a tank would you need for those....uhhh....things?


Gotta love those t ........... eeth.:-D 

Although it wouldn't look very natural, I think a dark red, like a maroon would best make an iridescent blue/ green and black fish stand out.


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## RockabillyChick (Nov 18, 2005)

black always looks best i think. it gives the tank a depthless look.


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## wtpdosa (Apr 11, 2006)

I was thinking Cobalt Blue as it would tie in with the fish's coloring. 
Es me dos centavos.


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## Ringo (Apr 10, 2006)

i would go with a dark, ut not too dark blue...


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## seven11junkey (Apr 16, 2006)

any dark color be it black green or blue


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## FortWayneFish (Mar 8, 2006)

My favorite is to buy contact paper and tape it to the back of the tank...cheap easy and if you don't like it no harm no foul.......
I'd try a dark green Marble color.... makes a tank look calm and serene

of course a few big pieces of Driftwood and or rocks will help the fish be more at peace also..


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

If you use a color similar to the fish you will lose the fish in the tank. Maybe not lose but you set up tanks to show your fish so you dont want to drowned them out in just the backround. You can do that with plants and other things.


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## MYGOBYRULES (Dec 31, 2005)

I have a 55 gallon in my kitchen that I just re tiled with 12x12 tiles. I had some left over and held a few up behind the tank to see what it would look like as a background and it looks great and it ties the tank in as part of the room. Now i just need to figure out how to get them to stay there. I know this sounds strange but it does look really good. But to answer your question I think black would look really good. I have a 75 with a dark /almost black substrate with a black bacground and it looks great. Im just saying dont just think of your common backgrounds sold at your LFS but be creative and you might find something even better.


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## icp (Jan 18, 2005)

if you can get to the back of the tank i would coose a color an go to homedepot an buy acrylicbased paint and use a small sponge roller an paint the back .... no water will ever get behind it and if u want to change color all u need is a razor an scrapes right off


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## icp (Jan 18, 2005)

woops just realized this was a old thread


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## fish_doc (Jan 31, 2005)

Dont worry about it. Questions like this come up all the time and you just bumped the thread.


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## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

icp said:


> if you can get to the back of the tank i would coose a color an go to homedepot an buy acrylicbased paint and use a small sponge roller an paint the back .... no water will ever get behind it and if u want to change color all u need is a razor an scrapes right off


hmm, interesting idea.. never thought about painting it


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## meyerhaus (Feb 27, 2006)

Just make sure that it is acrylic. 

Personally, I stick with the aquarium backgronds that you buy by the foot. I know that it is cliche and easy, but they look good. 2 of my tanks have black backgrounds and the other one has a dark rock/plant motif.

You could buy one of those $600 aquarium backgrounds that the spammer advertises here every once and awhile.


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## Georgia Peach (Sep 23, 2005)

meyerhaus said:


> You could buy one of those $600 aquarium backgrounds that the spammer advertises here every once and awhile.


I may be blonde, but Im not stupid.. LOLOLOLOLOL


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## meyerhaus (Feb 27, 2006)

However, they are super cool looking. I just figure I could go get a nice tree root from the Little Miami river and it would look just as nice.


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## goodie (Sep 2, 2005)

If you have the room in your tank you could also do a concrete background.


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## meyerhaus (Feb 27, 2006)

Oh, that is cool. Did you do that with foam for the form? I would love to do that with red-dyed concrete for some pirhanas someday. 

I guess that I could cut a tree-shaped recess in the mold and paint the concrete with non-leaching paint...that would look sharp. I bet that you can anchor java ferns and such on that too!


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## goodie (Sep 2, 2005)

Yeah. Its styrofoam, silicone(a lot!) and concrete. Instructions came from http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/diy_list.php in the Aquascaping Ideas section. It really is easy, just time consuming. The concrete does elevate the PH, but it mellows out (some) in time.


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## meyerhaus (Feb 27, 2006)

GREAT LINK! I will be making one of the PVC caves this weekend!


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## IrishKittenOWar (Mar 19, 2006)

black ot blue, i have 2 different shades of blue backgrounds.. you can buy the ones at walmart with the plants on them and flip it around and presto instand solid colored background i also have one that is blue on one side and if you flip it over it is silver


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## Magdelaine (Apr 9, 2005)

I used the mylar gift wrap you can get places, like the dollar tree, an electric blue and taped it on the edges. The shiny blue looks very deep and helps things stand out. You can see more pics of how it turned out on my blog.


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## Alin10123 (May 22, 2005)

icp said:


> woops just realized this was a old thread


How is this an old thread? It was started barely a week before you posted. lol
The thread above yours was like a day old.  :???:


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