# What to do with the background?



## ChromeLibrarian (Jul 7, 2007)

Here's a shot of my 55 gallon. As you can see, the background is rather nonexistent. I can't decide what would look good for a background, and I'd rather not go to Petsmart and buy a sheet of printed plastic. 












Any suggestions?

BTW - the Koi and the large comet are not staying in there indefinitely. They'll be moving into the pond no later than next spring. After that, I may actually get to plant something in the tank.


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## BV77 (Jan 22, 2005)

I like fleckstone paint for backgrounds
























just a few examples....but I recommend spraying over the fleckstone paint with flat black, as fleckstone is somewhat translucent and will let light seep in from the back side....also, check where your equipment will rest on the back glass and lay a strip of duct tape across there, so if you move the filter or whatever, you don't pull off a chunk of paint with it.


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## Guest (Jul 16, 2007)

printed plastic of plants acually looks rather good


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## Guest (Jul 16, 2007)

You could use some black garbage bags. Black is actually my favorite background color, whether I buy the plastic kind or paint the back. I like the fleckstone paint idea as well though.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Ditto. I prefer to paint my black or dark blue.


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## goodie (Sep 2, 2005)

I'm with everyone else on a dark background. If you had a empty tank that had more depth(front to back) you could do a internal 3D background.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

I went to Joanne and I bought a "fuzzy" material. It is an aqua blue. It looks like the fish can swim right into it, which is cool. If I had it to do over I would go with the same fuzzy material, but a deeper color, like dark blue or black. I "Hung" it on the back of the aquarium with those removable post it hooks. 
http://s194.photobucket.com/albums/z316/ObsidianD/?action=view&current=100_0690.jpg

The tank is really colorful, I know. I like it this way. I have taken some of the really bright plastic plants out though so its a little more "chill" now heh.


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

The fur and the fleckstone both look cool. Black rust-o-leum should do though. It will eventually flake off, but you can alway repaint. But live plants might do better with some of that window's sunlight.


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## Apotheosis (Jul 2, 2007)

I always use black backgrounds. They seems to highlight the fish/decor more so than other backgrounds.


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## Danh (Feb 19, 2007)

I use black flanel fabric for the back of my tanks with backgrounds that are not already painted. That tank looks fine though. I think no background makes them looks wider. It would also look good to hang a piece of large brown fish net over the back, or maybe have some kind of fake vines or other plants.


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## Platyface (May 22, 2007)

Personally, I would just get a plain black background. I think it brings out your fish's colours.


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## Guest (Jul 17, 2007)

at my local meijers, i get a piece of plastic. they sell them in the fish section. it is royal blue on one side and silver on the other. it is also reflective so you can see the fishes reflection if it is silver showing. i personally like the blue.


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## idle0095 (Jun 2, 2007)

Black all the way. see my finaly new 120 gallon pics to check out the black back ground


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## Maximus (Jul 9, 2007)

I agree, that fleckstone looks really beautiful!

What I used to do years ago with my 55 gallon background was go through my moms box of wrapping paper. I'd pick out the solid colors -- reflective silver and blue (it ended up looking almost identical to the ones you'd buy at the store) or red and green -- or if I wanted something really funky around Christmas, I'd make them have a snowman background :razz: Most people here probably wouldn't want to do that on a show tank, but it was fun while I was a teenager. Anyway, point being, it'd be something cheap and resourceful you could do with leftover wrapping paper and tape if you found a pattern/color that you really liked.


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## Guest (Jul 18, 2007)

I like black backgrounds. In my opinion they bring out the colors of the fish a little more, and kind of make them pop out, along with the rest of the decor in the tank. In a new 6-tank setup my family is working on, we are going for a blue-painted background which I think also works well.

I am kind of partial to the lazy way...no background tanks. Not necessarily because it looks better though! :razz:

I agree with what is said above, that fleckstone paint idea was great. I love the grey on that planted setup, it looks amazing.


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## ChromeLibrarian (Jul 7, 2007)

Ok, here's a picture I took with the black background...










It looks a little dark, since I only have half the lighting up at the moment.


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## Guest (Jul 25, 2007)

Looks good!


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## Ice Prince (Jun 15, 2007)

i think that looks real good. might even do that to my tank. then my black mollies will have something to blend in with (just like my silver mollies blend in with my light tan gravel).


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