I really want to make a DIY background with the styrofoam and quickrete, but it isn't practical right now with the big move coming up. I hate all those tacky LFS backgrounds, especially when it comes to making pics with the shiny stuff makign the glare off the glass even worse. So, we decided to try something new...

We got heavy duty corrugated cardboard, the kind that feels like plastic and has some sort of coating over it? I bought a huge piece of black material, just plain old cotton, nothing fancy. Actually, I got the end piece of a bolt of material and it was almost 4 yards for less than 6 bucks. We covered the corrugated cardboard with it using staples around the edges to hold the material in place, and then we got out the acrylic craft paints and sponge painted all different colors on it, mostly earth tones like rock and algae colors, with a bit of metallic gold on top. (To sponge paint, you just take any type sponge, dip it in the paint, blot excess out on a newspaper or papertowel, and apply the sponge to the material you want to cover in blotting motions.) You can do colors on top of colors, and it dries really quickly.

The majority of the background is still black, with just a muted hint of color, but it isn't shiny, and it photographs really well. It looks much better than it did before, and if you choose your colors carefully, you can even bring out the coloring in your fish rather than have them blend in with the background.

I will try to get some pics next time we take them off. We kind of spazzed and stuck them on without taking any.

Kim

Okay, here are the pics...I made Pete do this one for the fry tank, since I had already done the first two.

Here is the cloth covered corrugated cardboard...

The cheap black material is held onto the cardboard with staples around the edges, so you can't see them from the front.

And here is the paint we used, just regular acrylic craft paint...

We used a filter sponge to apply the paint with. Just pour out the paint in a paper plate, dip the sponge in it, and depending on how much paint you actually want to show on the background, you can press the paint soaked sponge on paper towel or newspaper before applying to cloth.

Here is the finished product...


And here it is behind the tank...


It's a nice change, and much easier to photograph than the shiny backgrounds you get at the LFS.

Kim

Hey thats different.
I like how the color blends in with the color of your fish.

I must say that you're right about the "glare", there is'nt any!!! cooool1

Tell me,,,did mrcrazy think of this by himself??? ROFLMAO Killin' me

J/K

Outstanding job guys! I currently have black construction paper on the back of my tanks it looks ok but its cheap. I'm not really into aquascaping but your idea fits right into my budget! bouncered bouncegreen bouncered bouncegreen bouncered bouncegreen

The idea was Kim's I must admit. The design of this one is what I did actually.
She did the biggger tanks and they look great. thumbs up thumbs up
Pete

that looks cool!! I need some DIY backgrounds for a few of my small tanks!!!! Awesome idea!

Thanks for the compliments...It actually looks better in person than in the pics. I suppose you could use any color material you wanted, I just had my head set on black. We used paint colors that were earth tones, browns, greys, greens, etc., then sponged over the whole thing with some glittery gold. Now we're thinking about making some "stencils" and trying a different approach.

And Pete did this one all by himself! He's actually the more artistic minded out of the two of us.

Kim