Blue vs Black

[Reeftreasures]

Having trouble deciding on which color to do the background on my new 125 project can you ost pics of your reefs with these backgrounds please

[hangles]

I like my bluehttp://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/115323100_2008.JPG

[Stile2]

I like my black background it really makes the corals colors pop. I know that it may not be the most realistic, but I'm here to enjoy the colors and the movement.

Keith

[Waxxiemann]

I agree, black is awesome. Sorry, no pics (I'm @ work). A navy is nice as well.

[rick s]

Here is one with the pumps on, so you will see the shimmering effect from the halides. The best way to decide is to try to see some established tanks in your area in person and see which one you like better. Sorry about the blurriness.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/49158IMG_2272a.jpg

[Waxxiemann]

HOLY! Nice tank.

[avshockey311]

I like black, because it does not distract the eye as much as blue does in my opinion.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y7/avshockey311/P1010015Small.jpg

[brettandlyndi]

I used to have blue background, and really enjoyed it, but then tried the black and enjoyed it even more! It really does make your tank inhabitants (fish and corals alike) pop! You might check at your LFS, I saw some reef background, that had corals and inverts, which was pretty cool. Thinking that would distract the viewer from the live stuff though.

[Paintbug]

i have a blue to black fade for my background, but you cant see it anyway with the coralline and junk growing on the back :D.

[thor32766]

yeah i went with blue, but not really noticable now. you wont know through time, what color it is

[Stile2]

I keep the back scraped of coraline. I like coraline on my rocks but not my glass.

[Capt_Cully]

BLACK!

It gives much better contrast to colorful corals and fishes.

JMO

[eskymick]

Hangles ... I like the DEEP blue such as yours, but I can't find it in 24" height anywhere. Do yo have a source?

[tekknoschtev]

I'm partial to black. We have always used black and likely always will use black.

http://workshopwebs.com/pictures/fish/150/06July/072206/fulltank.JPG

It looks like a dark blue, but thats just my camera being buggy, it really is black. Since we changed things around with the overflow/return, we've been keeping the back of the tank scraped so it does make a difference to me. It makes a huge difference in the color of the corals in my mind.

[Waxxiemann]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7833964#post7833964 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by eskymick
Hangles ... I like the DEEP blue such as yours, but I can't find it in 24" height anywhere. Do yo have a source?


Paint it.

[Thunderstruck]

Just currouis what you guys do for your background. I know some people use the aquatic wallpaper, and others paint it on. I have been trying to get my hands on blackout film. Does anyone where to get any?

[eskymick]

Paint it.

It's funny you should say that. That's exactly what I did. When I set up the tank, I went out and bought a deep blue latex paint (the deepest blue I could find). The chip looks exactly like the deep blue background I was wanting.

The first coat was kind of thin (and I expected it to be). After the second coat I went around to the front and was disappointed to find that it looks exactly like the medium blue color one often finds on the vinyl sheets.

From the back, it's DARK, midnight blue. From the front (thru the glass and water) it's light blue. Go figure! grrrrrr

Now I want to scrape it off and replace it with a dark blue (or black if I have to) background sheet.

[chris.hampton]

I have made myself one that fades from pale blue to a dark blue from in the middle of the top of the tank downwards, i am hoping it will look good but it's not up yet!!

[john37]

I love my painted black back. But the key is to keep it clean.
Go black, just do it :D


http://i23.photobucket.com/albums/b352/johnjung37/IMG_3759.jpg

[Waxxiemann]

^:eek:

Su-weet

[Waxxiemann]

Yeah, you hear a lot of people say that they let algae grow on the back but I think it takes away from the display. It's also a pain to clean... :D

[hyeteck]

black is the way to go because black matches with almost any colorful bright color.

[Reeftreasures]

the thing that pushes me more towards black is that i have 2-2" black stand pipes in the middle of the bottom pane and i did't like the look with the blue but the wife likes it so i think i'm just gonna go black

[gfk]

i just painted mine black, and I LOVE IT. it looks so great, makes everything stand out on its own so much better

[tekknoschtev]

Originally we had ours with a black sheet of luan behind it (afterthought to having it setup) and when we switched how the plumbing was done we removed it and painted - best thing we ever did for that tank.