Backgrounds

[New Boy]

Has anyone seen or used any of the backgounds that you can get from fish stores that you put INSIDE the tank? You usually have to attach them to the glass with silicone sealent...

Juwel do one that is jet black and looks really good in their adverts but my tank is all set-up and full of water and fish etc. Is there anyway I can attach it to the glass without taking the water out or affecting the fish - some kind of water proof silicone sealent or something??

Thanks

 

[Alien Anna]

You can do it if you only stick the background in at the top - you lower the water to about 50%. The fish won't love you for it, but provided you put the old water back again (less some for a water-change - might as well) they should be fine. You keep the bottom part of the background in place by scraping gravel away from the side and then piling it back over the bottom of the background when you've finished.

However, be warned that a Juwel background is a great anchor for hair algae and can go completely fetid - mine was unspeakably horrible when I removed it from the tank. I stick to boring old blue plastic sheeting now.

 

[AndrewRenard]

if you go to your local wal mart, they have nice backrounds there.....outside the tank backrounds

 

[Lateral Line]

I used to paint the back and sides of my tanks with a couple of coats of blackboard paint, gives me a fine dark background but in no way hinders cleaning.

 

[smb]

I don't use the backgrounds that fit inside because like Alien Anna said, it takes away from the depth of the tank.

I go the cheap route and on all but 1 of my tanks I cut cardboard to size (I get it free from work so it's handy) and I paint it either all black or mix in a few other neutral colors for a design.

 

[New Boy]

Some of the outside the tank backgounds are nice but the problem is that my tank is a corner one - with a rounded front - so you can't see the outside background from most angles. Having said that I hadn't thought of algae problems (not got any hair algae currently but plenty of brown) so I might stay clear of the inside backgrounds anyway.

Any other suggestions for corner tanks would be appreciated.

Thanks for sound advce so far

 

[CFC]

Im i real cheapskate, i just tape black refuse bags to the back of my tanks for a background.

 

[Missy]

What is the shape of the back of the tank? Is it a hexagon tank or flat in the back and round in the front? Mine is a hex tank so I cut individual pieces of backing for each of the three sections in the back and attached them separately so that they are flat against each side and visible in the front of the tank. Has worked well so far. Good luck.

 

[smb]

Im i real cheapskate, i just tape black refuse bags to the back of my tanks for a background.

I've seen that and I actually like that look CFC.

 

[Alien Anna]

Some of the outside the tank backgounds are nice but the problem is that my tank is a corner one - with a rounded front - so you can't see the outside background from most angles. Having said that I hadn't thought of algae problems (not got any hair algae currently but plenty of brown) so I might stay clear of the inside backgrounds anyway.

Any other suggestions for corner tanks would be appreciated.

Thanks for sound advce so far

You can buy stiff plastic backgrounds on a roll that stick to the inside of the tank by water pressure (a devil to get in, but great once you've achieved that). I use a plain royal blue background in my Juwel corner tank - it's plain, shiny black on the outside, and blue on the inside (but you can use it either way).