Do you guys not like tank backgrounds???

[Magnum Man]

So I’m going to use this months Tank of the Month contest, for example… so while we only got 4 tanks, 50% of them have no backgrounds… one is flat black, which is technically a background…

My personal goal, is to make it look natural, but even a “Star Wars” theme, is a background… I don’t personally like to see the cords and air lines, or the wall behind the tank ( exceptions being artistically painted with a tank theme ) where the cords & air lines are run down the corners to minimize the look of them...

I assume, that since half the tanks have no background, there must be a big percentage of forum members, that don’t like them for some reason???

My personal entry, has an old double sided background, and thus IMO is too dark… I have a lighter single sided background for that tank arriving tomorrow… backgrounds are relatively inexpensive…

So is there a reason why you don’t like backgrounds???

 

[gwand]

I cover the backs of my tanks with colored construction paper. I hate seeing lines and hoses. I also like the aesthetic.

 

[TC33]

So personally I would prefer no background in mine (If I remember correctly how it looked without one......)
I find the backgrounds detract from the fish and decor within the aquarium. They are usually blues, greens, browns........ But I have lots of green and brown in the tank that probably does not stand out as much now.

That being said, I do have one. But mainly because I was told it makes the fish more comfortable. But I am sure if they can cope with my giant head peering through the glass at them whilst I work I am sure they could cope with a white wall.

They also hide cables, but I think with some good cable management that would not be a problem either. As well as make algae look less invasive than it is.

 

[Magnum Man]

This is the new background for my tank currently in this months Tank of the Month... I find the one on it too dark, especially with the back lighting of the backgrounds I do, as last lights before dark, & 1st lights on in the morning...

 

[sharkweek178]

I just go with basic black. The fish and plants look good against it. It's less stressful for the fish. Equipment and algae blend in a little better against it. And I want the fish and plants and hardscape to get the attention, not the background.

 

[Magnum Man]

I still add a lot of hard scape & plants... I just want it to blend in, & look natural...

 

[MaloK]

It's the first thing I install.

I go for rocky style since I never put that much rocks in my tanks. And it makes the plants stands out better.

 

[Mikeyboy123]

With my two nanos, one has a black 3d background (Juwel STR) and the other came painted plain black.

With the amount of plants that I've got in both tanks, you can't tell which one has the 3D background. The 3D background does act as a bit of a magnet for algae and it is much harder to remove algae from the 3D background than plain glass. For any future tanks I will always just go for plain painted black or dark brown for this reason, but I will always have a background because I hate seeing anything out the back of the tank.

 

[Fishmanic]

I used black construction paper on the back of my 5 gallon tank.
On my 29 gallon tank, I bought a black background sheet for the rear of the tank.
I like the look of black backgrounds as it makes the plants and fish pop.

 

[FishyD]

Black would be my preference.

 

[gwand]

Fishmanic gave me the idea for black construction paper. I used it on my 20 gallon long when I entered it in the tank contest last month. I like the idea and place construction paper on all my tank backs.

 

[Magnum Man]

I prefer the printed pictures on plastic film, cause mine gets wet pretty often, doing Repashi sticks, and the bulk of my tanks are open topped

 

[FishyD]

I do likie some of the backgrounds, if they are not overly detailed and used with a scape that should be where your attention is drawn to.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

If you are one who swims or has swum in both Sw and FW when you submerge and have your eyes open (maybe weaing goggles or a mask. And you look out into the distance what do you see?

In fw I see black in SW I see blue, at least when I dove coral reefs in the Bahamas. Un Acapulco bay it was much deeper and thus darker, But it seems to me that most SW tanks have fish that are more shallow dwelling the fish we can see 70s fett down.

So I mistly paint my backgrounds black. I also tend to black the sides. Sometimes I paint them and sometimes I use black sytro boards attached at the frames and dorners where the exterior joint hides the tape pretty well.

However, most of my placo breeding and grow tanks have no backgrounds. Mostly because they are only lighted when I work on/in the tank. So, only ambient light from windows is available. I most of the rooms where the pleco tanks are the blinds are normally down.

I think the only other choice for mw would be a 3-D background. I looked into them but never did one. I do have a couple of tanks which used an attached background. Sometimes I used the black kind and other I flipped it to the site with a picture of something aquatic.

I can say this, all of my display type tanks have some sort of background and usually the sides are not left clear either.

However, when I bring tanls to weekend events where I am a vendor, I do not want backgrounds. I am behind the tanks and need to be able to see into them. When I am selling out of my hotel room I may bring tanks with backgrounds as often the tanks are places against a wall or a room divider so I can only see in from the front.

For the most part I think backgrounds are mostly the preference of the keeper. In the wild fish don,t have reflective vertical surfaces. In most tank set-ups I think they adapt to most of what we may use. However, I think the use of nice decor, live plants, substrate, wood, rocks etc. make a better environment for many fish. That said, I have had a couple of fish over the years bolt into the glass when startled and eventually they die from the iimpact, some sooner and others later. This has bnot happened often, only rarely.

But I am a believe that many fish are hard wired to bolt at the first sign of any strange movement. If a fish pauses to try and determine if that movement is a predator or something harmless often get the answer from inside the stomach of something who just had lunch.

 

[JackGulley]

I enjoy a black or neutral one for contrast, but I don't mind having no background. I don't like backgrounds that have more aquascape/fish in them, I think it looks weird and draws visual attention away from the real aquascape and fish. If half the perceived "aquascape" is just a print, then that means I have less freedom to shape the appearance of the tank with my own aquascaping.