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Backround why?

3K views 22 replies 8 participants last post by  Byron 
#1 ·
Why is it that there is not a larger variety of backrounds out there? Especially different solid colors?

I understand that black and blue are the most popular and most likely the best way to show your fish but I have been trying to find something that will match the decor in my living room. Black feels to somber to me and blue is just to glaring a contrast to the sedate brown and greens of my living room. SURELY other people have these issues!

I would love to find a solid dark color that would match better but after hours of searching I cannot find anything.

Does anyone have creative ideas on creating back rounds? I saw someone else's back round topic... those back rounds were beautiful but way above my skill level :)
 
#2 ·
There are a lot of ways to make backgrounds. One of the most popular is to use spray paint. Just go to the store and pick out the color you are looking for. You should be able to find it because there are tons more colors of spray paints than backgrounds. Once you find the right color, paint the outside of the glass on the back of the tank. The other option is to get a piece of poster board and cut it to size. Then spray paint the poster board and tape it to the tank. This is usually the better option because if you ever change the tank, then you can easily remove the background.
 
#3 ·
Go with the black, the point of a background is to show off the inhabitants not the tank, plus any color you chose will become distorted under the color of the water and lights so it will be hard to find a perfect match in your head. But of course if you are still set on it, spray painting the back of the tank is the best method.
 
#4 ·
you can be creative when it comes to backgrounds, you dont have to do the common DIY background with styrofoam and cement. You could make a moss wall using the cross stich plastic grids sold in hobby stores. You could silicone sand and/or stones to a material like styrofoam that then go's onto the back inside your tank. I have seen plastic gutter used with holes to create a natural background.
Just google aquarium backgrounds and pick which one you prefer....good luck it can be fun to make one.
 
#5 ·
I definitely do not want to paint the tank but the spraypaint on poster board might work! The moss wall idea is also really neat since I do plan on live plants.

Could you give me more information on this? ie, How to attach the plants, which plants to choose, how to attach the cross stitch material.

thanks.
 
#7 ·
Let us remember that the fish have to live in the aquarium. The background is, or should be, suited to the fish, not our decor in the room. The place for fancy coloured or "motion" backgrounds is on a computer screen, not a fish tank.

Fish are sensitive to their surroundings. Stress is the main, almost the only, cause of fish health problems and premature death. The environment inside the tank is key.

A plain dark-coloured background works both to calm the fish and show off their colours. Black is often used because it is basically "invisible" (provided it is not shiny), and black construction paper is the least expensive way to do this. Dark brown would also work, or dark gray. The focus should be the fish and plants in the aquarium, not the background. If you can first notice the background when you look into the aquarium, it is likely not suitable.

Byron.
 
#8 · (Edited)
please i see you are very close minded . it may not be your thing and that is fine but my fish are not stressed at all. actually the aggression in the tank increases when i remove it. as for the background it does display the fish in a different way . u don't like it that is fine but it is only your opinion which is based on speculation not fact and it has nothing to do with the environment inside the tank. I am not afraid to be different i find you quote very funny
 
#10 ·
light and motion can be problems for fish. i don't know that color by itself would be, but i can see how it would detract from the beauty of the fish.
 
#13 ·
this statement makes you sound more like an artist using an alive medium rather than someone who has the best interest of the animals at heart.
 
#14 ·
Yes the freedom is great but with that freedom comes responsibility these are living creatures just like cats and dogs, except if you do something annoying to a cat or dog they get up and leave or hide, fish don't have that option so as a pet owner its your responsibility to keep said pet as comfortable and happy as you can and you do this by learning what might stress them and creating an appropriate environment for them.

Any excess movement will be stressful for fish as detecting movement is one of their natural defenses to detect predators, there are plenty of non moving natural looking options out there to fit what ever style you room is and keep the fish happy. Moonlights can disturb the fish sleep cycles as byron has pointed out in other posts and should be avoided, while fish might not sleep they do need a rest period which you can see by looking in the tank when its dark and see the fish lying on the bottom of the tank.
 
#17 ·
I am a pet groomer. The last 20 years of my life I have been been lucky enough to have a job where I could follow my passion about animals and taking care of them. Some of them from the beginning of their life until the end of it. As much care as it takes to handle sick or elderly pets it does not exclude the chance to make each of them a beautiful soft, sweet smelling work of art!

I don't see why setting up a beautiful aquarium centerpiece is any different. Being able to blend it to your own surroundings while at the same time providing a healthy happy enviromment for the fish inside. We are able to use creativity and decorations and lighting and plants to weave in a safe, comfy, happy, clean home with all the things that make fish happy. A healthy aquarium does not have to be a glaring eye sore in your home (which a bright blue tank would be in mine!)

If you create something beautiful, you will be more passionate about taking care of it too.

Btw, I have read as many stories about fish loving those bubble walls, hanging out near them and playing in the bubbles, as I have dire warnings about how the stress will kill them.
 
#18 ·
I have read as many stories about fish loving those bubble walls, hanging out near them and playing in the bubbles, as I have dire warnings about how the stress will kill them.
this probably varies with different types of fish. as do most things with decoration, i have noticed.
 
#19 ·
The only difference here is that a fish is not a domesticated animal.

These fish rely on us to take care of them. As stated earlier, they don't have the choice to run out the door or jump over the fence and escape. They're stuck.

I'm sure you would feel stressed out if someone took you from your home and threw you out in the jungle or out in the antarctic. Its just now what we're used to. Although, I bet if they threw you into the middle of the jungle into a nice fully furnished house with electricity and cable and a nice bed youd feel much less stressed. I feel, personally, like its the same situation for these fish.
 
#20 ·
you mean like how these fish are taken from mass overcrowded breeding tanks, plopped into clear plastic bags with nothing to hide in and hide behind and limited air, sloshed around in changing temperatures being shipped then dropped into barren tanks in stores where there are constantly nets being plunged in to the water to capture their tankmates until they themselves are finally caught and plopped into another plastic bag and sloshed around some more? Oh I forgot about the big scary children faces pressed against the tank clapping on the glass to get their attention. That is what the fish know.....

To then be added to a beautifully set up tank, with plenty of caves and places to hide, plenty of room to swim plants to hide in while they bask in constant and temperatures set just to their liking while their human servant does their best to keep up the perfect chemical balances for them. Eventually finding a sense of place in the schools of other fish that were picked to be perfect tank mates for them? Then wonder of wonders, all sorts of different foods that they just LOVE happen to drop from the sky for them.

Extra lighting or extra bubbles or extra color or not...It sounds like a pretty good deal to me and if I were a fish taken from the first, to be added to the second, I would be a pretty happy fish.
 
#21 ·
A lot of the fish you buy can infact be wild caught fish.

Either way.. how is going from unnatural to unnatural a better deal? Stress is stress. While you might think its a "better situation" for the fish, and you're right..it is, it doesn't change the fact that unnatural colors and movement can still cause them stress. Even if they started out in a breeding tank..
Posted via Mobile Device
 
#22 ·
I think the key here is to find a background to fit your room, I just had an idea ignore the background and think about the water, get some driftwood and add some tannins to the water to make it darker, will make it look more brownish without the need to worry about a a complicated background, any further color adjustments can be done by adjusting the spectrum of bulb you use for lighting.
 
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