PART DEUX!!! - Epic Overhaul (3D Backgrounds/300g, 250g, 120g tanks)

LOPAKA

Fire Eel
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Mar 21, 2008
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looking better Justin but I personally would of gone with a brown background to contrast the greens, yellow, oranges, and reds of festae..... None the less the tank in general looks great and the lighting looks much better that way. Still waiting to see some scaping but hopefully it will dull some of the grey tone out
 

West1

Peacock Bass
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Looking good J!
 

gangster

Arapaima
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The lighting looks great! Cant wait to see some plants in there to add a little color in there. The festae are bright and all...but the tank needs a little green.
 
Since I can't do any physical work right now, I am playing around with lighting and think I found a combo I am quite happy with. I wanted natural soft light that shimmers and is darker on the sides of the tank. What do you guys think (about the lighting, not the incomplete scape)?

View attachment 766439

They are both still washed out and looking dull sorry.
Remarkable. Incredible. without equal. in my book :) Honestly, it looks really fantastic.
 
I like the lighting a lot. I think people often go with too blue of a temperature, but I really like this. What are you using?:popcorn:

Lighting is the last thing I need to decide on for my 110 long build I have been working on, so I am really curious.
Agreed about the blue temps.
 

JK47

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I like the lighting a lot. I think people often go with too blue of a temperature, but I really like this. What are you using?:popcorn:

Lighting is the last thing I need to decide on for my 110 long build I have been working on, so I am really curious.
I'm using a 48" T12 with a soft bulb (only one) with a 36" LED behind it about 18", over the background. I get the shimmer effect from the LED over the background center but it shades out on the sides of the tank until black where they can hide (in the first pic they are hiding for example). The T12 keeps the center floor of the tank lit up but not the back of the tank so the background still disappears and the substrate gets a more natural look. This is how it looks with just LED's (first pic) and the combo lights (second pic I posted from last night) for comparison, you can see why I added the T12 to get natural colors and the BG/shimmer effect from ther LED when the pics are next to one another:

04-01-12.JPG
04-05-12.jpg

The LED's create a tower of light which is a cool effect but you see how it makes everything appear white in this tank in the first pic? Using the LED only on the BG and the soft light over the center of the tank you get the best of both worlds for dirt cheap ;)

love that lighting. theyre really gonna pop once they color up and get comfy.
Thanks, they should by this weekend hopefully.

looking better Justin but I personally would of gone with a brown background to contrast the greens, yellow, oranges, and reds of festae..... None the less the tank in general looks great and the lighting looks much better that way. Still waiting to see some scaping but hopefully it will dull some of the grey tone out
I considered the color when I bought the background. This is the only model I could find with places in the background she can hide from view of the male if needed. All of the brown colored backgrounds I saw didn't have the depth to pull this off except for one (below). 3D backgrounds are great looking but if you use them to help provide escapes from angry males etc.. that's taking advantage of the space they take up in your favor because they become functional and are a hell of a lot better looking than clay pots and dividers..

This is the other one I considered, the "Bulge BJ891-6" but you can see I wouldn't have been able to hide my intakes and get the lighting effect I am going for. My next tank will be brown for sure though.

BJ891-6.jpg


Looking good J!
Thanks bro!

The lighting looks great! Cant wait to see some plants in there to add a little color in there. The festae are bright and all...but the tank needs a little green.
Thanks Morgan!!! It will get some wood but no green, only the forest on top of the tank ;)
which I haven't started on BTW. Maybe some vines growing down over the background but not too much. We'll see what this weekend brings.

Remarkable. Incredible. without equal. in my book :) Honestly, it looks really fantastic.
Thank you sir :D

04-01-12.JPG

04-05-12.jpg

BJ891-6.jpg
 

LOPAKA

Fire Eel
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I see what your saying and valid point for what you had in mind..... I think when you add in the wood it will look better so I am waiting to check it out.
 

Yeobster

Feeder Fish
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what can i say..J your lighting setup is impressive. its all in my dream..lol..really appreciate it if you can show in detail how you position the T12 and the LED to get that kind of natural effect. thanx dude.
 

JK47

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what can i say..J your lighting setup is impressive. its all in my dream..lol..really appreciate it if you can show in detail how you position the T12 and the LED to get that kind of natural effect. thanx dude.
You bet, I'll take pics tonight. Thanks for the kind words :thumbsup:
 

JK47

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Sorry I have not been loading pics or making progress on my build latelly guys. I have had some health issues latelly and have to take it easy per Dr orders for a minute.

I'll try and get things going again this week though, I am only 50% done with the tank for this thread..
 
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