Paint background or not?? PICS inside....

[TheMikey]

I bought one of those dual sided black/blue aquarium wallpaper things that any generic pet store sells. Initially it was black, but there's nothing better than that blue.

[Myka]

I say paint it!! I think all tanks should have the back wall painted. i like the shade of blue you have picked out. I'm not a fan of the lighter blue that a lot of people use, especially fish stores. Personally, I prefer a black background. As much as I understand the idea behind the blue background looking more natural I don't like how the blue takes away from the purple coralline and the blue fish. So I opt for black which I think makes all the colors jump right out, and it hides overflow boxes really well.

[BlueAbyss]

I think the blue makes the rockwork stand out (nice job, BTW).

[mike31154]

Looks real nice, but I have to say, I'm in the au natural camp. Then again, my next set up will be viewable from 3 sides, only one short side, the one with the overflow, will be anywhere near a wall. If you're painting glass tank sides, might as well go for the old plywood except for the front build. In the end, it needs to look good to you and your family. We're just looking at a photo, you have to live with it every day. Very nice blue.

[Piscez]

Thanks guys for all the response, quite a majority in favour of the blue, going black was a consideration as suggested but I just like the blue so much better and when I had my 33 gal it came with some film type paper background blue on one side and black on the other, granted the blue fish didn't stand out as much with the blue back ground but all the other fishes colours really popped more with the blue vs the black. I also always really liked the deepness of that blue and interestingly enough this paint colour matches that paper blue as close as it gets IMO. One could mix blue tones all day trying to achieve a natural ocean look and never succeed with all the hues the ocean brings but this colour really gives some depth. With having a white wall background and the wife not wanting me to change to any aquarium relative wall colour I find that the back of the tank's appearance a little lost somehow. I hate it when I get on the fence about trivial things!!!!

[lastlight]

Between natural and blue I'd definately choose natural.

Black is a must in my opinion. I went to great lengths to finally get my overflow interior black as well. Painted with same paint as back of tank then I siliconed a piece of glass against it so it never contacts the water in my overflow.

[BlueAbyss]

Black would be my choice over blue every time also.