Poll - Reef Background Color

[Madmak]

Since I am changing my DT to an in wall setup I need to do something with the background. It currently has a nice medium blue vinyl background but only on the rear. I assume that I should create a background that wraps both sides and the rear. There are many opinions on colors and I wanted to see what the current consensus is.

I also wouldn't mind hearing opinions on paint vs vinyl and brands or sources of each.

[FitoPharmer]

Blue or black.
I like black, IMO it makes colors really pop.

In the end everything turns purple

[reefwars]

black is my fave but it really brings out any floating stuff:P

[tt101]

this poll couldn't have come at a better time. im trying to see what color to paint the back or if im going to use a vinyl background. both colors have their merits. like i think black helps make fish pop but blue really brightens up a tank and gives it a more serene feeling. you could paint the back light-ish blue and the sides a darker blue to give the effect of a wider and deeper tank then what it actually is and makes sense because the ocean is like that where its darker as it goes on

[Madmak]

If I knew a way to do it I would love to have a fade from black at the bottom through a darker blue in the middle to a rippled sky blue at the top. Similar to what you see while diving. Seems risky though...

[lastlight]

i went back to black about a month ago. hung a pair of king-sized black sheets on the wall behind my tank lol. the blue made the 3 feet front to back seem deeper than it was and the black kills that effect. but everything i'm keeping in the tank looks far better.

[tt101]

Originally Posted by Madmak

If I knew a way to do it I would love to have a fade from black at the bottom through a darker blue in the middle to a rippled sky blue at the top. Similar to what you see while diving. Seems risky though...

im not sure what your budget is but you can propbably hire a professional artist to paint the fading for you. it'll cost a 100-200 but its totally worth it because of the effect it would give and how uncommon it is

[Bblinks]

I had blue back ground on the 210 and it was really nice until stuff started to grow on it, you are always obligated to clean it up or it will look like carp. Black on the other hand will allow you to go weeks maybe even month without cleaning it and it will still look decent.

[Madmak]

I've always experienced that if the background material wasn't adhered to the glass it looked crappy. Is this not the case with black maybe? I do like the idea of a removable background because I will have full open access to the tank from behind, which doesn't help much if you can't see anything.

[sphelps]

On the right tank blue can look really good but on a standard type size such as 120 or smaller I don't think it looks good at all. Black for sure.