# Blue or Black background?



## sunsunsun (May 18, 2009)

i've painted a few of my tanks black, but im wondering what effects the blue would have.

Would you paint it blue or black? and why?


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## bluedog800 (Nov 24, 2010)

i have sprayed some light colour "stone" paint on first just a dusting, then black overtop, it is sharp and hides the algae well, stole the idea from cam @ kwas, that is something i have done on several tanks and till continue to do.

http://www.kwas.ca/forum/showthread.php?8539-New-Fish-Wall-Project&p=62972#post62972http://www.kwas.ca/forum/showthread.php?8539-New-Fish-Wall-Project&p=62972#post62972


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

Blackground FTW. Blue seems to washout the cool colours of the fish and plants, where black makes all/any colours look saturated.


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## sunsunsun (May 18, 2009)

Will said:


> Blackground FTW. Blue seems to washout the cool colours of the fish and plants, where black makes all/any colours look saturated.


alright, i was just wondering because a friend mentioned that he feels blue makes the fishes color show more where as black makes the tank look too dark lol

i guess i'll stick to black then lol


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## Will (Jul 24, 2008)

sunsunsun said:


> alright, i was just wondering because a friend mentioned that he feels blue makes the fishes color show more where as black makes the tank look too dark lol
> 
> i guess i'll stick to black then lol


Well you're friend does make some sense, since black does not reflect any light, and blue would reflect back some light, to that I say;

Adjust the lighting. Sliding the light forward and backwards makes big differences, or just simply adding stronger lights or a even a different spectrum of bulb.


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## sunsunsun (May 18, 2009)

i'll paint one tank blue and one black and play with the lights, and see which i prefer before i paint all my other tanks.

thanks for the info!


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## shadow_cruiser (Jan 26, 2010)

bluedog800 said:


> i have sprayed some light colour "stone" paint on first just a dusting, then black overtop, it is sharp and hides the algae well, stole the idea from cam @ kwas, that is something i have done on several tanks and till continue to do.
> 
> http://www.kwas.ca/forum/showthread.php?8539-New-Fish-Wall-Project&p=62972#post62972http://www.kwas.ca/forum/showthread.php?8539-New-Fish-Wall-Project&p=62972#post62972


Just wondering what brand of stone colour did you use and what colour should I be looking for?. That effect looks great!

I've had tried two tanks with a blue (reef blue) background and one with a flat black background. I find the colours on fish pop more with the blue background but the blue doesn't match well with planted aquariums. The colours on the plants popped more with the black background making them more vibrant.


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## bluedog800 (Nov 24, 2010)

i used the lightest colour that was sold at lowes, realistically all home depot related stores are the same then tremclad oil based black paint (in a can) on top of that cost effective that way. i think it was 2 coats of tremclad after the stone paint to ensure that hung equipment would not scratch the surface - i love the look and all but 2 of my tanks are like this. Just need to empty the 2 to convert them.


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## pat3612 (Jan 29, 2008)

I find black better I wouldnt use tremclad though to hard to get off if you change your mind.Up to you though I find blue tacky. I use to paint mine but now I find the black backgrounds better you can change them anytime you want plus if water sometimes gets on the back of the tank sometimes the paint comes off . If you get the background stuff you can take it off and clean it


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## bluedog800 (Nov 24, 2010)

pat3612 said:


> I find black better I wouldnt use tremclad though to hard to get off if you change your mind.Up to you though I find blue tacky. I use to paint mine but now I find the black backgrounds better you can change them anytime you want plus if water sometimes gets on the back of the tank sometimes the paint comes off . If you get the background stuff you can take it off and clean it


oil based paints will not come off with exposure to water, though yes harder to get off a razor blade will still do the job.


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## Riceburner (Mar 14, 2008)

liking the stone and black combo. I always thought a monochrome background too limiting.


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