Black background tip

[evil Nick]

Not sure if anyone tried this yet but today I decided to go black background. Really the only thing that made me hold out was tape on the tank.
So I went to auto zone and bought the darkest tint sheet I could and for 9$ you get enough to do a 55 gallon if needed, which is good to know cause were thinking of upgrading.

Put some glass spray on the back of the tank then apply the tint and use a dollar store rubber squeegee to get the bubbles out and wha la

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[Gillie]

I used tint on a 10 gallon, but ended up removing when it started to bubble after a while.

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[Mebbid]

I just bought a pint of black paint and used a paintbrush I had laying around. I painted a 40g, 90g, 2 10g, 2.5g and a 20g for about $6

 

[evil Nick]

I used tint on a 10 gallon, but ended up removing when it started to bubble after a while.

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know what made it bubble? I cant see it bubbling if put on well since its meant to be used on cars but anythings possible.

 

[IllusionX]

Ahh! Thanks for the tip!

I'll let some cling tint for my smaller tanks, so they can be removed easily instead of having to remove the glue when you want to remove it.

 

[Reo]

Sounds like a good idea. I used black latex paint on a 65g and it took 5 coats with a roller.

 

[TMRC Exotics]

Not to hijack but has anyone tried plastidip? It peels off if needed to remove. I'm not sure on the glass adhesion.

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[Gillie]

know what made it bubble? I cant see it bubbling if put on well since its meant to be used on cars but anythings possible.

I'm not exactly sure, but I know there were no bubbles in it when I put it on. It may depend on the quality of the film and adhesive. The corners and edges may lift and curl over time, the adhesive doesn't stick to the little bits of silicone that are exposed.

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[candymancan]

What type of fish are in this tank ? Some fish actually get really stressed over dark gravel and backgrounds.. I hope you aren't using discus.. just wanted to point this out

 

[Fresh2o]

Post a pick if you get the chance.
Was thinking of painting my tank. Currently using a black sheet of heavy blotter board (looks like thick poster board) on one tank and a black hefty trash bag on the other (with tape). It's classy.


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[Gillie]

What type of fish are in this tank ? Some fish actually get really stressed over dark gravel and backgrounds.. I hope you aren't using discus.. just wanted to point this out

What do discus have to do with the background and substrate? As far as I know and with all of the types of fish I've kept in the last 25 year none have been stressed by dark substrate, a dark background or a combination of both.

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[evil Nick]

Post a pick if you get the chance.
Was thinking of painting my tank. Currently using a black sheet of heavy blotter board (looks like thick poster board) on one tank and a black hefty trash bag on the other (with tape). It's classy.


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Ill try to get some up but really if you go to my gallery and look at the 29gallon just make the background black now.

I will say it does make the colors POP much more

 

[candymancan]

What do discus have to do with the background and substrate? As far as I know and with all of the types of fish I've kept in the last 25 year none have been stressed by dark substrate, a dark background or a combination of both.

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Do some research on it if you don't believe me. Have you ever owned them ? They get really dark in dark subtrates and dark backgrounds.. And the Pigeon blood strains pepper badly with dark substrates and backgrounds.

This is why most discus breeders have blue or white backgrounds and paint the bottom of the tanks a light color, and this is also why most discus owners who know what they are doing use lighter substrates and light color background.

I have 8 discus myself, and I noticed the same thing, with black gravel in my tank, the discus who could turn colors like the turquoise and the Leopard discus all got dark and stay dark. And anyone knows when a discus gets dark they are stressed. As soon as I changed my substrates to light tan pebbles and put a white background in the back.. They lightend up. bars went away and looked a lot better.


This 2nd pic you cant see the gravel but I had black floramax in there. and the 1st pic is when i changed to a more white/tan color and shartly after I also put a white background in there so they wouldn't see my dark green walls, also discus tend to get spooked when you wear black clothing vs brighter color clothing

 

[Gillie]

Do some research on it if you don't believe me. Have you ever owned them ? They get really dark in dark subtrates and dark backgrounds.. And the Pigeon blood strains pepper badly with dark substrates and backgrounds.

This is why most discus breeders have blue or white backgrounds and paint the bottom of the tanks a light color, and this is also why most discus owners who know what they are doing use lighter substrates and light color background.

I have 8 discus myself, and I noticed the same thing, with black gravel in my tank, the discus who could turn colors like the turquoise and the Leopard discus all got dark and stay dark. And anyone knows when a discus gets dark they are stressed. As soon as I changed my substrates to light tan pebbles and put a white background in the back.. They lightend up. bars went away and looked a lot better.


This 2nd pic you cant see the gravel but I had black floramax in there. and the 1st pic is when i changed to a more white/tan color and shartly after I also put a white background in there so they wouldn't see my dark green walls, also discus tend to get spooked when you wear black clothing vs brighter color clothing

Yes I've kept discus, they were over a darker substrate and I always have a black background, I've never had issues with stress unless something was off with parameters. Peppering on pigeon bloods was found to be genetic, the spots are remnants of the vertical banding on wild discus. I'll post a link to the scientific paper if I can locate it again.
Your discus also still look quite young and will still show their vertical bars for a while.

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[candymancan]

Yes I've kept discus, they were over a darker substrate and I always have a black background, I've never had issues with stress unless something was off with parameters. Peppering on pigeon bloods was found to be genetic, the spots are remnants of the vertical banding on wild discus. I'll post a link to the scientific paper if I can locate it again.
Your discus also still look quite young and will still show their vertical bars for a while.

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I know its genetic but it gets worse with darker colors.. If you don't believe me just do a google search on it.. Or go to the forums that are specific for discus.. Not many people on this forums know much about discus at all

Discus Basics for Beginners

 

[SFAquariums1]

I know its genetic but it gets worse with darker colors.. If you don't believe me just do a google search on it.. Or go to the forums that are specific for discus.. Not many people on this forums know much about discus at all

Discus Basics for Beginners

It seems like you don't know all that much about them. I've kept them multiple times. As gillie said the only time they ever seemed stress it was due to water parameters, and once those got in check the discus color was fine. Again, as gillie said your discus look like they're very young, so as they age their colors will lighten up, vertical bars will fade, and their colors will change ever so slightly.

Now to go as far as saying most fish are stressed under a black background? Not true, I keep yellow tangs in a black background tank and they didn't turn brown, they're still as bright as ever. There are some fish that will adapt slightly to the color surrounding them but colors don't stress them out, especially if the light is on


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[TMRC Exotics]

Agreed. The black background or dark substrate doesn't hurt a thing.

 

[Mebbid]

I know its genetic but it gets worse with darker colors.. If you don't believe me just do a google search on it.. Or go to the forums that are specific for discus.. Not many people on this forums know much about discus at all

Discus Basics for Beginners

Its not a stress reaponse at all. many fish will darken or lighten up based on their surroundings. Thats why light color substrates can sometimes tend to wash out a fishes color, because they do.

If you have poor quality discus with a lot of peppering present then it will be more pronounced with a darker substrate because of their darker colors.

It comes down to personal preference, if you like darker color discus then go dark substrate, if you like lighter colored discus then go light substrate. But dont assume that because their colors are different that its a stress response.

 

[PoppaRyno]

I know its genetic but it gets worse with darker colors.. If you don't believe me just do a google search on it.. Or go to the forums that are specific for discus.. Not many people on this forums know much about discus at all

Discus Basics for Beginners

Check yourself now. I breed several strains successfully. And have seen peppering from darker substrate, also have Not had it happen.

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