Background Needed?

[davidkye]

Is a background necessary for the fish tank? I got some cichlids, gator gar, and fahaka.

 

[duke33]

IMO they are just to please you.

 

[beblondie]

Necessary? no however they do hide the junk hanging off the back of the tank.They can make the occupants feel more comfortable and can help bring out the colors of the fish contrasting against it.
All my tanks have the backoutside glass painted black for the background

 

[Wolf3101]

Having a background can reduce stress and hide clutter. Paint... window tint and even a thin sheet of colored plastic are all options. The fish show up a lot better and you have a much neater set up. That said theres really nothing wroung with a simple bare bottom no frills tank. My wife and I have several closely spaced fish tanks and we discovered that the fish react to each other through the glass. We are planning on putting dividers between the tanks very soon to rerduce the risk of stress.

 

[hle_81]

If you don't want to buy the background at the LFS, just paint it on or buy a couple of posterboards and tape it to the tank.

 

[toehead11183]

i always use black. it covers the wires but doesn't take away from the tank

 

[davidkye]

Thank you to all that replied...Much appreciated!!! You guys rock!

 

[davidkye]

I think ill go with the black posterboards...sounds very money efficient.

 

[Jb909]

what kind of glass paint do you use for it i want to do it to my tank 175 gallon glass

 

[throttle]

I have used regular spray paint and regular interior latex paint. The spray paint if done right will give you flat consistent color. You can use a brush with the latex to put patterns on the back of your tank if you don't like the plain look.