Backing Colour & Ornaments Advice

[charlieb]

Hi all,

Am in the process of setting up my new (used) 28gal tank, and having difficulty deciding whether to go for blue backing or black. I felt black would look better but mother (bless her) and my best mate both reckon blue would be better. I've seen plenty of pics of tanks with black backgrounds but so far have not found any blue ones on here. My local LFS uses blue backing but thats a shop with loads of unadorned tanks, its not the same as a tank in your living room. So i'd appreciate some opinions from the community

Also, i have a plastic model car that i wanted to drop into the tank for an ornament, i was going to leave out the windows so the fish could swim in & out of it. Only thing is i'm not sure if it will be safe for the fish as its a plastic kit that has been glued together and painted with Tamiya acrylics. I really like the idea of having this in the tank, anyone know if the glue/paint will be a problem?

muchos gracias

 

[Colin_T]

no idea about the paint and glue but a blue backing is better if you plan on keeping dark fish, (ie: black mollies, bumblee bee catfish). Likewise a black backing is better if you want to keep blue fish like Melanotaenia praecox. Personally I like a blue that is between normal blue and navy blue, not too dark, not too light.
If you can't find a blue backing at the local petshop, get some blue cardboard or blue pplastic from a craft shop. You can also paint the back of the tank or paint some card and glue/ sticky tape it to the tank.

 

[Carter]

deff black dude... i had previously a pictured back ground... however, the change to black has done a world of difference... however, i have a planted tank, so it is good for my setting... the green and the reds are defined against the black... it all depends on what you are going to be putting into your tank... however, i do suggest black... it looks amazing...

oh... lighting is also important... if you have good lighting, black looks really good