Tank background ideas

[millsn]

Has anyone seen or had any experience with tank backgrounds? I'm thinking about the likes of Juwel rock http://www.juwel-aquarium.de/en/motive_ ... one494.htm but I can see it getting pricey on a large tank.

Any suggestions please?

[Diana]

Looks pretty nice! Have you seen it in person?
Other ideas:
Use real rock or slate, and silicone it into place.
Cork Oak as it comes off the tree. Deeply fissured and contoured.
Put something outside, behind the tank then plant the tank. A black towel or dark fabric works pretty well.

[millsn]

I like the cork idea. Might investigate further. I like the look of rocks attached to the rear of the tank, not so 1 dimensional but kind of permanent, precludes further rearrnagement of the tank rather. I'mn starting to think cork at the rear, rocks piled up in front of that and sand substrate. I've never got on well with plants in a loach tank what with the high flow and low light.

How do you combine the two successfully?

[Francois van Brederode]

I used to have one of those Juwel backgrounds.

The words: utter crap com to mind.
They are very pricey, and dont last very long.
The paint chips away quit easily, and gets eaten by anything suckermouthcatfishy.

Also they are very thick, meaning you lose almost 5cm of you tank.

No I can't say I would recommend it.

Oh and plants in a Loach tank can work, you are just a bit limited in what kind of plants will work.
You need to find plant wich Loaches don't eat or destroy.

[millsn]

Curses, so that limits my options to cork cork or cork

[Diana]

Real rock can be used as a background. Slate, for example is thin slices of many sorts of rock. You want one that has no obvious minerals. Iron and copper are common, avoid them.
Yes, to be secure something that thin needs to be attached firmly, which makes changing it difficult, and moving the tank is more difficult. You might be adding 20+ pounds of rock to it.

[Francois van Brederode]

A friend of mine has glued small pebbles to the back of the tank.
It looks great, especially because it is a river tank and al the stones have a healthy green colour now.

Just a few points of warning:
It took him 3 days to glue the stones, 6 tubes of aquarium grade sealant, and ages to harden the sealant.
(not to mention the horrible stench that came of it, might have been smarter to do it outside)

He put the tank down on the back glass on a flat surface so he could work on a horizontal sheet of glass instead of trying to keep the stones from sagging under there own wheigt.

I have recently bought a 'Back to Nature slimline' background, and so far am very pleased with it.
The top layer is much much tougher than the Juwel background (epoxy layered on styrofoam vs painted styrofoam)
The price is also quit a lot higher.

[millsn]

Thanks Francois,
What an amazing site they have http://www.backtonature.se/english/contest2005.html. Love the images. Now to find out what it costs!!

[millsn]

Seems the back to nature stuff must be made from unobtainium. £500 quoted from those who were unable to get a price from them. Their distributor thoroughly unhelpful. Tried TMC who recommended an outfit in Poland. Outfit in Poland have had two days and still no price, no leadtime. Amazing that spending money should be so difficult

[Francois van Brederode]

http://www.aquaristic.net/en/Decoration ... ackground/

However they do not seen to stock the slimline ones I've got.
I got mine in a LFS anyway, just form the shelves, we are rather spoiled rotten over here...

[millsn]

I have seen those ones but they seemed to work only for smaller tanks, I couldn't see how they worked on larger ones. I'd need alot of those tiles to cover my background.
Took me a while to find a UK distributor for the Polish backgrounds but here it is http://www.aqua-maniac.com I thought their the site was very good

[astex]

If you are willing to DIY something, google drylock backgrounds or drylock and aquarium for some nifty ideas. I know drylock is an american prdouct, but I'm sure some form of masonry sealer is sold pretty much everywhere.

[millsn]

thanks but I ordered the Polish outfits background last week. Will post pics when I get it in but I still have to firm up dimensions with them