Poll - Reef Background Color
 

Since I am changing my DT to an in wall setup I need to do something with the background. It currently has a nice medium blue vinyl background but only on the rear. I assume that I should create a background that wraps both sides and the rear. There are many opinions on colors and I wanted to see what the current consensus is.

I also wouldn't mind hearing opinions on paint vs vinyl and brands or sources of each.

Blue or black.
I like black, IMO it makes colors really pop.

In the end everything turns purple :mrgreen:

black is my fave but it really brings out any floating stuff:P

this poll couldn't have come at a better time. im trying to see what color to paint the back or if im going to use a vinyl background. both colors have their merits. like i think black helps make fish pop but blue really brightens up a tank and gives it a more serene feeling. you could paint the back light-ish blue and the sides a darker blue to give the effect of a wider and deeper tank then what it actually is and makes sense because the ocean is like that where its darker as it goes on

If I knew a way to do it I would love to have a fade from black at the bottom through a darker blue in the middle to a rippled sky blue at the top. Similar to what you see while diving. Seems risky though...

i went back to black about a month ago. hung a pair of king-sized black sheets on the wall behind my tank lol. the blue made the 3 feet front to back seem deeper than it was and the black kills that effect. but everything i'm keeping in the tank looks far better.

im not sure what your budget is but you can propbably hire a professional artist to paint the fading for you. it'll cost a 100-200 but its totally worth it because of the effect it would give and how uncommon it is

I like black , helps take my eye away from any equipement that i couldent hide , and it makes the color crisper than blue.

Coraline

+1 Black or coralline

i like the black... but I just leave mine clear!

if you are doing an inwall then access and ability to view from the back is something to be considered. I know it was for me.
My DT is inwall and all access/fish room / equip access is behind that.

I wanted a black background but I needed to be able to see in when I had too.

Took a few months of thinking, perking, pondering then finally figured out what works for us.

I bought 2 large sheets of the corrugated plastic ( like they use for signs) and carefully cut them to fit around all the stuff on the exterior of the back wall of the tank. Then i spray painted them black with many thin coats of paint.

Can slide them off when I need access/view......put them on when I want the black background look.

worked like a dream and very glad I didn't rush into a solution that wouldn't have worked out nearly as well.

I had blue back ground on the 210 and it was really nice until stuff started to grow on it, you are always obligated to clean it up or it will look like carp. Black on the other hand will allow you to go weeks maybe even month without cleaning it and it will still look decent.

Ive always done vinyl because its less time consuming for something thats mostly going to be hidden by rockwork and covered coraline....Ive always been too lazy to clean the back glass....I voted black, although I have blue now....

I voted other, as mine is coraline :biggrin:

My black background is $6 of nylon from fabricland and industrial adhesive velcro from home depot

i did a blue background with fabric and velcro as well, then if i get sick of the colour i can change it easily

I've always experienced that if the background material wasn't adhered to the glass it looked crappy. Is this not the case with black maybe? I do like the idea of a removable background because I will have full open access to the tank from behind, which doesn't help much if you can't see anything.

On the right tank blue can look really good but on a standard type size such as 120 or smaller I don't think it looks good at all. Black for sure.

My wife sewed the velcro for me. That coupled with the industrial strength tape allows me to pull it taught. It's attached to the black frame on all 4 corners. From the front you can't tell it's not painted.
I had the same idea on my 125g FW and it makes for easy algae magnet access.

As for a color opinion, I too like the look of light blue for depth but am going with black for now because of the black overflow.
Maybe down the road when the box is covered in algae I'll try blue. Cheap enough to try :biggrin:
Word of warning with this idea though;
Don't splash water on the back glass unless you can reach back there to clean it! I ended up with streaks on the 125g and couldn't clean it. It stood out badly against the black.

none, black, black. the two blacks are all in one systems (biocube rsm)

you can also use car tinting. I'm going to be putting it on my DT soon so that you cannot see through the tank from the front, but from the back you will be able to see into the tank, although it will be tinted.

I lucked out because my fish room wall behind the tank is free of equipment so I can change backgrounds much like you change sheets on your bed. Best of all I have a view thru the back pane and can clean it with a magnet just like the front.

i sprayed mine black- never had blue but i like the black

I might give this a try on the sides and leave the back blue for now. This might work really well on an in-wall.