What Colour Bg?

[ellena]

I'm thinking of getting a background for Levi's hex tank, putting it on the back 3 sides. Here's a pic of him

Because his head's so dark, I wonder if he'd be lost against black?
This is the tank set up

What do you think I should go for?

 

[Davo86]

Do people put backgrounds on hex tanks? I probably wouldn't tbh, unless it is really close to a wall,

How about a bright densely-planted themed background, or a light grey rock formation?

 

[Honeythorn]

I'm not sure a background will work for a hex tank really. Due to the shape and all.

Though if the tank back is close to or against a wall, you could perhaps provide a backing for that one back panel to hide the heater wire.


A piece of black card should be fine. His blue should show up well against it, or you could print a background of your choice ( pull up some pics of one of Takashi Amano's tanks maybe ) and print it out yourself onto some photo paper . Then cut it to size and fix it to the back with a dot of double sided tape in the corners of the panel.

 

[Vengeful Silence]

That's a clever idea, Honeythorn.

My opinion, and it's just that, is that a background makes a tank look finished, so I greatly prefer the look of a tank that has one. You can't really go wrong with black, provided your lighting is decent, which it appears to be. In my mind, the deciding factor of whether or not ot put a background depends upon how the tank is intended to be viewed. If it's going to be straight on, for the most part, then you can black out the three sides that would be the back. If it's going to be viewed from multiple angles, you will cut down some of the view by blacking out three sides. That wouldn't stop me from doing it, but that's just one man's opinion.

Please let us know what you decide on.

 

[Galanta]

I would try to go for a very nice pale blue, if you can find it. That would give our tank kind of a sky back drop and a "beach theme". A pale blue would bring out both the vibrant blue and the black in your fish.

VERY nice tank by the way ...

 

[ellena]

I like the pale blue idea. Most of the black ones have a blue on the reverse don't they?
It will be intended to be viewed just from the front, so I think it will look OK. I got the idea from a large hex on eBay which had a background.

 

[CTlovesKS]

I wouldnt bother putting a background on the back if it was me. It doesnt look that abd agaisnt the wall and isnt doing any harm but if you were to I would do a colour that brings him out and makes his colours show, or a planted theme background. They look a little tacky intill you plant you tank so it all blends in. I believe you would have to have a couple of pics for the planted them to look its best

Totaly up to you though

 

[lljdma06]

It is a very nice tank. You don't really need a background. But if you want one, black, pale blue, planted tank are all nice options.

 

[Morphkid03]

I was never quite sure what difference painting the background of my tank would make but I painted it black and WOW.

My betta has a black head much like yours and he never really blends into the background. If I were you I would paint the back 3 panels black.

To see what my tank looked like after a painted background, go to http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=289178.

 

[ellena]

That HAS made a great difference! I have a sheet of black card somewhere, I'm going to dig it out to give me an idea what it might look like

 

[ellena]

I think I'm going to go for it. The black card looks great. He disappears when he's right up under the filter, but without the card, you could only see an outline anyway as no light gets up there. I've moved my IAL which was hiding the heater and put it in front of the filter instead and it looks great

 

[ellena]

Well, I got some black bg and some seaview gel too attach it with. What a nightmare-I think it is a job best done on an empty tank!
Anyway, finally got it kind of on. It's far from perfect, I will get H to have a look at it later.
But, it's def. a big improvement-makes it look finished as Vengeful Silence said

Excuse the floating plant-I thought I'd done well, getting plants to stay without lead, but it's made a bid for freedom!

 

[lilacamy931]

Looking good!!!!

 

[lljdma06]

Looking good!!!!

I agree, a really pretty tank. I like the natural plants and the sand substrate. And the decoration is clean and understated. What lighting are you using? Plants do not do well with incadescent bulbs, so I'm hoping you've got one of those flourescent bulbs. What plants do you have in there? I see a sword, maybe java fern and that floating thing is a bit hard to make out, could be java fern or a crypt or an aponogeton. I can't tell.

 

[ellena]

Thank you The plants are a sword and a java fern. The floating one was sold as 'maybe some sort of crypt' There is no substrate other than the sand, but I do use tetra fertiliser. They look OK, but aren't really thriving. No idea on the lighting. It's what came with the tank which isn't really designed for a serious plant grower. It does have a blue tinge to it. How can I tell what sort it is?