How important are backgrounds?

rotarygeek

rotarygeek

Member
I don't want to spraypaint my tank Becuase once i get the hang of taking care of a saltwater tank ill be switching it to a bigger tank and making this one a freshwater tank again, but i really haven't heard anykind of information about if a background is important or not. I have noticed that almost every tank i see has some sort of background on it. So can anybody feed me some info?
Backgrounds, Important or not?
 
bluehippotang

bluehippotang

New Member
A background totally depends on your preference. For myself, i would not paint it, but have a solid type wallpaper color such as a dark blue. The background is used just to project the picture of the tank itself.
 
megan84

megan84

Member
if you paint, can you paint the inside without hurting anything? Or do you generally just paint the outside of the glass?
 
A

alexmir

Guest
outside for sure, if a chip of paint came off and a fish or coral ate it, that could be really bad. plus, saltwater is pretty harsh on surfaces, i would think it wouldnt be long until the paint started to come apart.
 
rotarygeek

rotarygeek

Member
Well i have only seen them painted on the outside, im pretty sure if you paint the inside the tank is pretty un-useable for fish anymore. Paint gives off toxins forever. Kinda like with boa constrictors (another big hobby of mine), you can not use cedar becuase it gives them a resperatory infection. But as for paint on the inside i would never use it again. Painting the outside of the tank is done all the time, but if its just for asthetic uses then i think i will skip it. Im going to try to figure out how to post pics directly to this thread instead of links and ill post pics of my new 30 gallon with and without a background.
 
digitydash

digitydash

Active Member
No paint in the tank.Some paints have bad chemicals in then and it will chip off and get into your corals and kill them anbd maybe your fish eat some.Most time they paint the back is to hide hoses or wire from light fixtures.
 
megan84

megan84

Member
that was kind of a 'duh!' question. Just wasn't sure if there was some cool trick paint I was missing out on :)
 
rotarygeek

rotarygeek

Member
Can someone explain how to post pics directly to this thread. I just took some pics with out a background, with a blue background, and with a black background, and i wanna see what everyone thinks look better.
 
fishycpa

fishycpa

Member
Black almost always looks better, especially if the tank is drilled and the overflows are black. If the back is not painted, the tank just doesn't look finished.
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
Originally Posted by RotaryGeek
http:///forum/post/2474352
Can someone explain how to post pics directly to this thread. I just took some pics with out a background, with a blue background, and with a black background, and i wanna see what everyone thinks look better.
The easiest way is to sign up for photobucket and upload your pic there and then they will give you an "img" link under each photo. Then you just need to copy that link to your post.
 
natclanwy

natclanwy

Active Member
Originally Posted by RotaryGeek
http:///forum/post/2474309
I don't want to spraypaint my tank Becuase once i get the hang of taking care of a saltwater tank ill be switching it to a bigger tank and making this one a freshwater tank again, but i really haven't heard anykind of information about if a background is important or not. I have noticed that almost every tank i see has some sort of background on it. So can anybody feed me some info?
Backgrounds, Important or not?
Backgrounds aren't necessarily needed there are several people on here that have there tanks set up as room dividers and are visible from both sides or all fours sides. They are more for you than for the fish, used to cover visible wiring equipment, and plumbing behind the tank and also can enhance the view of your tank making colors pop out better such as when using a black background.
 
megan84

megan84

Member
what about a mirror? How much would it upset my (potential) fish if I hung a mirror on the outside back of my tank?
 
frankthetank

frankthetank

Active Member
It's not up and running yet. I have a 36g corner tank. I'm building the sump right now. Slowly piecing it together. However, I'm placing a Reef Optix III pendant over it with a 250w Phoenix 14k bulb.
It looks really nice with the tint.
 
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