Tank Backgrounds....

[Tonyscoots84]

Nick and I were discussing the different type of backgrounds anyone can do to there tank... im trying to see what looks and works the best for a reef tank. Any suggestions would greatly be appreciated.

we have nick's 120 gallon, which has the tuff stuff foam background which looks great..​

russ's 16 gallon reef rock wall background which also looks great...​

My 75 gallon with the basic painted outside.. (everyone has seen this tank way to many times :grumpy: :lol2

what else is there that we can do to the backgrounds of our tanks to make our tanks more unique and more attractive then the ordinary paint we put on the backs.....

Just thinking inside the glass box :biggrin:


a couple of ideas that nick has mentioned is
-cement background (like the way we would make the diy rock)
-black foam (special order)

lets get these ideas rolling and have ourselfs a very resourceful thread
:grouphug:

 

[jhale]

I like the idea of using the back wall as space to put corals on.
It's going to get encrusted with coraline so it might as well look
good. the cement can be a good look, but you must plan it well ahead of
time. it can take forever to cure.

 

[fritz]

I worry about the corals growing heavy and snapping off of the wall. I like corals on the back as well. Someone makes (an overpriced) magnet thing to put corals on that seems cool. I also worry about magnets in salt water

 

[druluv]

I like the foam idea, the trick is to find the black pond foam.

 

[drunktank]

you know what would be cool. Buying a bunch of different color paint and just throwing it at the back of the tank. That would be so groovy and at nite when ur all cracked out and moon lights on, u'd be tripping man.:smokin:

 

[KathyC]

Gray pond foam is readily available at many garden centers. As someone pointed out, black must be ordered.

 

[scarf_ace1981]

nick's is cool but I like russ' idea a whole lot more. the rocks are anchored to the eggcrate and it adds so much depth and crevices to add corals. you have so much more creative freedom w/ the LR background.

what you could do w/ the foam is make it several inches thick(works best in a wide tank) and you could peg corals deep into the foam w/o worrying. if the foam is very thick you could carve it and make caves and ledges(this requires patience and maybe several tries)

i applaude nick and russ for thinking outside the box. well the background really isn't outside of the box

 

[Tonyscoots84]

keep it coming guyz :scratch:

 

[TimberTDI]

Keep in mind it took Russ a long time and a lot of patience to achieve that unique look. I wonder how long it will take to do that to a 125? :shhh:

 

[steveo32]

^ I agree. Russ's tank looks awesome but it was easier for him to do it on a small scale. I would have love to do that to my 180 but you know how much time it would take to do it plus the weight of it too. I actually settle with the black foam from the local garden store. But what I also did was start to put some of the rock up on the back wall to blend together.