Black Background

[chrissaysyes]

Just wondering what you guys ideas for adding a black background to my tank would be...the tank is setup already and is in front of a wall with about 8" of space between it and the wall...I already tried rolling out a sheet of vinyl over the back but it's like air bubble city now. What do you guys recommend?

 

[charlie4486]

if you can get a roller in there i would paint it on. 8" doesn't sound like much to work with though.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

I would try the vinyl again but this time "carefully" use a long peice of wood to help smooth out any airbubbles from it.

Alternatively just get a sheet of black plastic coated backing paper and tape it to the back of the tank. If you have it very slightly lower then the top of the take you can tape along the top to stop salt creep getting between the tank and backing. If its done right they look just as good as painting it.

 

[alexlark]

I could never get the air bubbles out of mine. It also looked too shiny. Just pained it with blue emusion in the end. Only £2 for a small tin. Looks superb!!!

 

[tat2life]

howcome you want it black ? just like the look or a specific reason ? i had a blue background on mine but since taking off the tank looks so much better with no background at all and so much easier to see how dirty the back of the tank really is.

 

[SkiFletch]

A Black acrylic sheet tacked on?

 

[Gazbo72]

I used the black back ground from my LFS the blue/black reversible type, When I was putting in on I was told to smear the a thin layer of vaseline on the glass then put the sheet on cut to size taking out air bubbles with a credit card. This worked a treat for me and then just taped around the edges with black insulating tape.

You don't see the black on mime though just the mirror effect with no light coming from behind the tank.

 

[smithrc]

pop to a craft shop and buy a sheet of black card.

drop it down the back and tape it along the top and either end

easily removed if you dont like black.


either that or get a radiator roller and just paint it.
It'll take a few coats over a few days though either that or you'll get an un even finish like i did on our shed tanks when i tried to do them in 2 days in 2 thick coats

 

[Adrinal]

A Black acrylic sheet tacked on?

ditto

 

[chrissaysyes]

Anyone ever just draped fabric behind the tank?

 

[1entra]

Iv always just painted my backgrounds black with paint, it really does make everything in the tank stand out a lot more

 

[charlie4486]

agree ^

 

[Adrinal]

Anyone ever just draped fabric behind the tank?

fabric = mold = stink = divorce

 

[SkiFletch]

=divorce

 

[chrissaysyes]

Anyone ever just draped fabric behind the tank?

fabric = mold = stink = divorce

Quite right, where could I acquire a 4ft sheet of black acrylic? Do any popular home improvement chains carry acrylic? i.e. Home Depot, or Lowes?