Background Colour : thoughts & examples please

[andyroo]

My lovelies,
Please provide pictures of white, light, textured (not habitat, just colour) and dark backgrounds & how they show fish &/or fill the room incl. lighting. Your own or from the net - I need to provide wife/designer with examples & options.

For:
The in-wall build's coming along, albeit kind'a slowly, within a total farmhouse renovation- see images. The original intent was a white epoxy sealing coat with a fade from white at the bottom to a pale green at the top to give a little in-wall depth. However, this pictured final steel-float render came out kind'a dark... & pretty fantastic (NB: may lighten as it finishes curing). And now, the quandary: to bother with the epoxy including the colour, or to just leave it as mottled grey.



True colour (though no light) and a little context within the hallway: camera is 1/3 down the hall, door is another 2/3ds (20') behind. Tank is 3' tall by 7'2" wide, though annoyingly only 17" wide - no space for a 3D insert. Whole thing will be famed in blank white drywall/ply/paint with access panels/doors top & bottom. Below (where inverted sinks are) is where filtration will be - still deciding on sump -vs- can as there was a SNAFU in the final dimensions of the wet-raceway - the bucket on the left was supposed to fit into the wet-raceway gap... which didn't happen (don't ask). Electrical plugs are exterior grade & visible above and below the tank. Tap & drain are behind the bucket. Apologies for not tidying in the construction junk, but you get the idea.

View attachment 1402244

Detail of the mottling and the 1.5" inlets/outlets at 36" deep to the bottm lip which run through the wall to the below filter/wet space. Photo is "warm" & not the true colour - camera settings, sorry. Again, apologies for the construction junk.

The mason does a lot of swimming pools & water-tanks; his father did the rain-tank that this aquarium will be filled by in the 60's, thus I've no expectation that it's not waterproof as-is. Issues with concrete may/will be the chemistry of curing, affixing suction cups and, of course, the colour/darkness. F fishdance has been fantastically helpful in the design & logistics - thanks again.

The off-the-shelf Berger epoxy for potable water tanks comes in white & blue, and the white can take a little pigment. Alternatively, I've got a couple of gallons of WestSystem on-hand that's more or less clear & also takes pigment (...assuming it sticks to rendered concrete).

Stock currently on-hand includes angels, silver-dollars, ABK & clown loaches and some native stuff incl. crabs, fan-shrimp &/or juv. Anguilla if/when I can find. SilverAro is also to attend, though she will likely outgrow before 2021. Decor will be white "Oats" sand with long/vertical plants set into hardwood flower-pots. Bamboo for habitat, set both as piled horizontal segments & verticals at/around the intakes (side walls). I'm curious to see how the CaCO3 Halemida oats will fare with rainwater rather than our usual hard-as-hell tap-water... let's see.

As you can see, the tank is to be an end-feature to a long hallway and will be lit from behind cupboard doors above. Bedroom doors to L&R are unfortunate vis-a-vis startling the fish, so stocking & decor will take that into account.

Caveat is that electricity is costly around here, thus looking to minimize the amount & strength of lights as well as try to keep it as a multi-chamber sealed canister system rather than sump. There are also some queries as to 2 or even 3x 1.5" pipe's capacity to grav-feed a sump for this tank, and then the noise. I'm leaning strongly towards cans, plus all of my experience is with cans.

General aesthetic theme is per my interior designer's favourites: <http://www.rachaelrobsondesign.com/portfolio-cottage-11.html>
which likely errs towards a starker white. This may suggest a fade from the white at the bottom to a transparent towards the top, the mottle grey showing through rather than green/blue.

Please send pictures.

Thanks in advance,
and Happy New Year!

PS: no, I have no idea how I'll be reaching the bottom of this thing... long sticks & pinchers.

 

[Rob909]

first image is the tank with tannins from the wood and what the tank usually looks like. Second photo is what the tank looks like after a water change.
the fish stay pretty light in this bright of a background, but colors other than blue tend to pop a lot more.

 

[andyroo]

Blue & speckle looks great but won't go with wife's colour-scheme

 

[Rob909]

Lol the speckle is algae

 

[andyroo]

Ah! An Ecosystem approach

 

[FJB]

Mate black (craft paper attached to outside of tank).

 

[esoxlucius]

I'll be honest with you, if I may. I think that mottled grey effect on the wall is awful and I wouldn't care to look at it through the back of my tank.

The options you have are few really. Leave the back glass clear so can see that back wall, if that's what floats your boat.

Have one of those naff plant effect back grounds stuck to the back of the tank.

Have a 3D false background but like you said your tank is so narrow even a very thin background would take up valuable space.

That leaves the obligatory blue or black painted background. Personally I like black and F FJB has posted a nice example. With good lighting and good choice of dark/light substrate, depending on what fish you have, and how you want to maximise their colour display, you could end up with a stunning tank on that back wall which is a real joy to look at as you walk down that corridor.

 

[Manish Kolge]

 

[fishdance]

It's purely personal preference as to what will look good but on a deep depth tank, I suggest going for a lighter hue for background even if this means an epoxy coat. As you mentioned, it's relatively easy to tint a white base epoxy to anything darker and this in turn will darken further when it cures. If you do want to keep the back dark, suggest you have very light substrate similar to some of the recent posted examples. The contrast is what creates the effect and you will have a hard time seeing fish otherwise (deep tanks get dark )

Another suggestion is to look into 12 volt dichroic spotlights in addition to whatever lights you hAve planned. They are commonly used in glass jewellery showcases in retail outlets. They add clear sparkle and can make a display tank pop and will provide that lovely ripple - dapple water shadow pattern effect on the substrate if you like that sort of thing. However, it will also show up algae and dirt on inside of glass too !

As you are undecided, another option is to paint up some plywood or corflute pieces and place side by side at the back when the tank is full. Essentially colour samples. Epoxy can be recoated with more epoxy if you change your mind so it's not the end of the world.

 

[andyroo]

Any images that I might show to the "filter" (IE: wee-wifie), F fishdance ?
The internets are rammed with imagery of dark/black backgrounds, simple blues and even subway tile (white), but I've only seen one of a fade (for an illusion of depth) on a giant discus tank with midwater lilies - stunning, but I can't seem to find it again.

A sponge-effect has also been suggested here on MFK, though I forget by whom or where - very worthy of consideration, though I think I might opt for simple fade if that becomes the direction. Sponge may help with the blending, though.

I adore the idea of per-plant spotlights. Let's see how V1 comes out.
Colour samples are a great idea, but I think I'd rather do it once & complain for the 10years until rebuild

I'll have to set epoxy around the edges to stick the 5200 (steel-braced glass) anyways. White is as good as clear for this, and the 5200 is gleaming white so will really gleam if against grey.

esoxlucius , of course you can be honest- I would really hope you would. I'll also disagree me, I'd rather a bit of mottle, a bit of texture to a background, which is why I quite liked this grey. Lighter hue'd be better to have to provide less light, but the dark would be a more interesting alternative to mat-black akin to an actual habitat insert. I concede that it might detract from the fish-specific, but with a white substrate i do still think it'd be, as you say, a real joy as I walk down the hallway.