aquarium background options?

[miston]

I'm about to order a Elos Mini. Since it will go in the corner of our living room I want the two sides that will be against the wall to have a black background.

The only product I am able to find is Blue Life Water Colors Aquarium Background and yes it comes in black. However it does not say whether or not it is permanent or not.

http://www.marinedepot.com/Aquarium_Background-FIAQBG-ct.html

Is this something I want to apply to my Elos tank? If I move the tank to the center of the room in three years will I scratch my tank to hell and back trying to get the background off? Alternatives?

 

[Anonymous]

If it is not set up yet you could paint the back.

 

[Len]

On a previous tank, I simply had someone cut me a black acrylic sheet to size. If you wanna get fancy (and you should with a Elos tank 8) ), you can get someone to build you a L-shaped acrylic background with hanging brackets (to hang on the rim of your tank). I like rigid backgrounds because they look much better, especially over time.

My current tank is painted, but paint is permanent (for all intents and purposes ).

 

[miston]

Len,

Yes, thats what I would like to do! That way I can take out the acrylic background periodically and soak it in vinegar to easily scrape off the coraline aglae, correct?

Where would I find someone to build this for me? I am in Mississippi and there isn't a decent LFS around for hours, not to mention a reefer that works with acrylic.

Or is this something that I could build? U.S. Plastic's sells a 24"x24" black acrylic sheet. What width would be recommended? 1/8", 1/4" or 3/16"?

 

[Saltlick]

speaking of acrylic, if you were to go to an art store and get a tube of acrylic paint, you could
pretty easily scrape it off with a razor blade when you wanted to. It's like a rubbery plastic
color. And you have to admit, the surface you would be scraping at a later date IS PRETTY HARD
AND FLAT. So it oughta come off nicely. BTW where R U in MS?? I am in Memphis if you ever
need a frag or some rock or some live sand, etc.

And by the way, I think you might misunderstand where the background goes. You should not have
to scrape coralline off of it, cause I think you want to put your backing on the outside.
Unless you had other plans.

 

[Len]

Len,

Yes, thats what I would like to do! That way I can take out the acrylic background periodically and soak it in vinegar to easily scrape off the coraline aglae, correct?

Where would I find someone to build this for me? I am in Mississippi and there isn't a decent LFS around for hours, not to mention a reefer that works with acrylic.

Or is this something that I could build? U.S. Plastic's sells a 24"x24" black acrylic sheet. What width would be recommended? 1/8", 1/4" or 3/16"?

I was actually thinking about the acrylic background hanging on the outside You can have it on the inside though. The problem is scraping coralline off acrylic is a bad idea because acrylic scratches so easily, so I would rather have the coralline grow on glass than acrylic. I would recommend hanging it on the outside.

Any custom acrylic fabricator can make this, I'm sure. Try http://wetdryfilter.com/

You don't need a thick sheet. 1/8" should be plenty for this application.

 

[miston]

saltlick,

I am in Tupelo. I am in Memphis periodically, a frag would be great! I'll let you know the next time I'm up.



Len,

I have seen people install overflow covers inside the tank. They are removable, so once the coraline algae grows on them they just take them out and soak them in vinegar so the coraline comes up easily without scraping the acrylic. They then put the acrylic overflow covers back and...simply, easy, clean and very low maintenance.

I had the idea to take this a step further by installing acrylic panels on the two sides that will be in my corner. Instead of having to regularly scraping 4 sides I would only have to scrape two sides, with periodically removing the acrylic panels and overflow covers, soak them in vinegar, remove the coraline, and re-install.

Bad idea?

 

[Len]

The idea seems fine. The acrylic will get scratched (even with vinegar application), but scratches are much less visible underwater and I don't think it'll be a huge deal. Are you going bare bottom? The only big hurdle I can imagine is substrate getting the way.

 

[miston]

No, I'll have about an 1" to 1.5" sandbed.

I'm having second thoughts that this is not the best idea, as we're only talking about having to scrape a rimless 20 gallon. But I'm definitely going to do the overflow covers, as the idea is proven to work great. So I'll go ahead and order enough acrylic to try the background idea out.

However, before I fill with water I also plan on installing dark limo tint as a backup.

THANKS

 

[Anonymous]

Len,

I have seen people install overflow covers inside the tank. They are removable, so once the coraline algae grows on them they just take them out and soak them in vinegar so the coraline comes up easily without scraping the acrylic. They then put the acrylic overflow covers back and...simply, easy, clean and very low maintenance.

I had the idea to take this a step further by installing acrylic panels on the two sides that will be in my corner. Instead of having to regularly scraping 4 sides I would only have to scrape two sides, with periodically removing the acrylic panels and overflow covers, soak them in vinegar, remove the coraline, and re-install.

Bad idea?

It is a great idea. It's essentially what we do at public aquariums to keep the background perfectly clean, although we use flexible PVC sheets (see my avatar, although they're expensive and generally only available in large quantities). A backdrop of coralline algae is distracting and aesthetically awful, IMHO.

Keep in mind that if you want to scrape the back by hand you will need to leave a gap for your hand to fit. Depending on how you want to lay out your rockwork, that gap may take up a lot of real estate in such a small tank. With your method you'd be able to place the rockwork very close to the back.

FWIW, you don't need to do a vinegar bath. 50% Bleach solution and then thiosulfate for 30-60 seconds each followed by a DI rinse, done weekly, will prevent tubeworms and coralline from ever forming. You can use spray bottles in the sink to do it.

 

[Petsolutions]

I tend to just paint outside of the back of the aquarium when that is an option. It gives a perfect background with no bubbles or gaps, and it doesn't come off unless you want to take a razor blade to it. The acrylic idea doesn't sound like a bad one, but to me it sounds like extra work and time that I would rather use to do other things with the aquarium. Everyone has their own way of doing things though, and different ideas on how to accomplish the goal. That is one of the cool things about this hobby.

 

[Anonymous]

Matt, would the bleach and thiosulfate solution work on a DIY background made of styrofoam and sand work? What is thiosulfate, and where can I find it?

 

[Anonymous]

On a previous tank, I simply had someone cut me a black acrylic sheet to size.

Have to admit, I'm giving serious thought to going with an Elos Mini myself and this is a great idea.

 

[Anonymous]

I tend to just paint outside of the back of the aquarium when that is an option. It gives a perfect background with no bubbles or gaps, and it doesn't come off unless you want to take a razor blade to it. The acrylic idea doesn't sound like a bad one, but to me it sounds like extra work and time that I would rather use to do other things with the aquarium. Everyone has their own way of doing things though, and different ideas on how to accomplish the goal. That is one of the cool things about this hobby.

The acrylic sheet would also intefere with my vortechs.