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question regarding tank backgrounds

Discussion in 'Aquarium Equipment & Decor' started by Anonymous, Sep 5, 2008.

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  1. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Tank Backgrounds

    Im thinking about painting the backside of a couple of my tanks a dark blue, a duke blue. might even stencil one up with a Big Duke logo haha. Anyway, is there a way to do this without it being permanent? The reason I ask is that what if you get a rediculous scratch on the front side and you have painted the back, the tank is now ruined. However, if you can remove that paint and turn the tank around, well then my friends you have just made lemons into lemonade! Anyway, I was also thinking and wondering if there are easy ghetto ways to make a dark blue background because I can no longer reason to myself paying $20 for a background for my tank, its senseless.
     
    Anonymous, Sep 5, 2008
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  2. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

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    Latex paint should scrape off easily if you need it to. You can also try acrylic paint. I'm not sure how evenly it will go on though.
     
    Anthony, Sep 5, 2008
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  3. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    i just emailed the website skinit.com to see if I can skin my tank haha. Probably just opened their eyes and pockets to a whole new niche!
     
    Anonymous, Sep 5, 2008
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  4. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

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    LoL that would be cool. They have a lot of designs and let you custom design your skin.
     
    Anthony, Sep 5, 2008
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  5. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    What if you got a background of your show fish on its tank!? lol, sorry.
     
    Anonymous, Sep 5, 2008
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  6. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

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    LoL What ?
     
    Anthony, Sep 5, 2008
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  7. crazhrse

    crazhrse New Member

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    sorry but i try to save money, what i do is go to the family dollar and get a cheap3-5 dollar shower curtain and cut it to fit that way you can do a couple tanks with the same curtain then change for under 5 dollars and it works great ;)
     
    crazhrse, Sep 5, 2008
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  8. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    And thats what Im talking about, exactly the idea I was looking for!
     
    Anonymous, Sep 5, 2008
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  9. trajik ink

    trajik ink New Member

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    yeah, that's not a bad idea.
     
    trajik ink, Sep 5, 2008
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  10. eeyipes

    eeyipes New Member

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    Yup .. I was going to say check the cheap fabric remnants at craft store. Maybe you can find a Duke print .. a little hot glue and voila!
     
    eeyipes, Sep 6, 2008
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  11. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

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    I used leftover wallpaper on my 20's.
     
    Anthony, Sep 6, 2008
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  12. trajik ink

    trajik ink New Member

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    i guess you can use just about anything.......it's up to your creativity!!
     
    trajik ink, Sep 6, 2008
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  13. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Bought a shower curtain today, was a little apprehensive because all they had were ones with seashells imprinted on them, but I got it anyway. I cant even tell that there is a pattern on the curtain and just to let anyone else that wants to use this same cost effective idea, the curtain looks darker behind the tank than it does in the bag. Also, if you use the bottom of the curtain there are weights made into the vinyl so you can run it a little long and you dont have to worry about taping it, as the weights hold it straight.
     
    Anonymous, Sep 6, 2008
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  14. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

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    Gonna take some pictures to show us ?

    I see you made it through the hurricane.
     
    Anthony, Sep 6, 2008
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  15. Anonymous

    Anonymous Thread Starter Guest

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    Yeah, Ill snap some pictures after I finish cleaning the house/room.

    Hurricane my ass, power went out for two hours, there was no rain after 9 pm last night, just wind and lots of it. The most annoying this was that I had to use all my aerators for a sum total of two hours so now I cant return them haha. But we were real lucky for the storm to be as docile as it was.
     
    Anonymous, Sep 6, 2008
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  16. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

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    LoL. We just got about 1.5" of rain and some wind. Nothing fun.
     
    Anthony, Sep 6, 2008
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  17. MOD_Dawn

    MOD_Dawn Active Member

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    I posted a pict in one of the forums...it was painted with acrylic paints (the ones like Wal-mart carries for about 58cents a bottle)...then once it was dry I covered it with a old background to waterproof it. When I changed it all I had to do is remove the background and use a solution of soap and water and a hard plastic sleeve from one of my kids trading cards (shh!) and it came right off.

    I've also did:
    Shower Curtains
    Shower Board from the hardware stores (can paint it also)
    Alum. Foil
    Fabric Remnants
    Contact Paper
    3-d Project boards (posted a picture of my 90g with one in the planted forum)
    poster board (the foam kind is really nice)
    glue gun and gravel (didn't like it after it was all done though, plus was messy)

    :) What can I say, I get bored easy!
     
    MOD_Dawn, Sep 7, 2008
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  18. BobV

    BobV Member

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    I've done a few of my tanks with fleckstone paint. I really like the results. If using fleckstone, you're gonna want to go over it with black paint, because the fleckstone is slightly translucent and will let light pass from the outside in. Then figure out where your filters etc will rest on the back and lay a couple strips of tape across that area, so when you move the filter, you don't take a chunk of paint with it. Here's a few examples.
    grey fleckstone on a 33 long
    aimg.photobucket.com_albums_v420_BV77_Fish070305001.jpg
    teal fleckstone on my 90 gal
    aimg.photobucket.com_albums_v420_BV77_Fish111104_A01.jpg
    another shot of teal fleckstone on a 20 long prior to adding fish
    aimg.photobucket.com_albums_v420_BV77_Fish111104_A03.jpg
    another 33 long with grey fleckstone
    aimg.photobucket.com_albums_v420_BV77_Fish092505008.jpg
    all in all , I personally like the effects of fleckstone...after seeing the results, I prefer the grey over teal. Fleckstone is available in many other colors as well. It is easy to remove with a razor blade, and is not subject to getting water spots under it like paper or fabric backings would.
     
    BobV, Sep 7, 2008
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  19. Anthony

    Anthony Active Member

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    That looks really nice. I'm impressed. ;)
     
    Anthony, Sep 7, 2008
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  20. trajik ink

    trajik ink New Member

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    that's a very good idea, looks nice and clean.
     
    trajik ink, Sep 7, 2008
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