Habitat - Indoor :: A couple new things in sheldons tank

[happycamper]

Trying to be frugal I bought some blue wrapping paper and used it as the background. I liked it for a couple days but I'm over it... think I'm going to order a new one online.



I got this big bunch of anacharis for $3.99 at my LFS! Sheldon took a couple bites but seems to prefer just hanging out in it...



Random picture of my killifish, cause he's awesome!



My plecos favorite hang out



Thanks for looking

[steve]

It does look nice though. What about some fabric instead?

[happycamper]

I like that idea, maybe I will see if I have something that will work tonight

[PridgNYC]

The problem with backgrounds is that anything that is not painted on to the glass or attached to the glass with a low refractive index fluid (like oil) will end up looking very dull.

[Mom2RES]

I personally like the blue background. It does not take away from the actual things in the tank.

What size tank is that?

[happycamper]

I had a tapestry hanging behind my last tank actually, it looked kinda neat but it was attatched to the wall so the cords were still visible. I also had a blacklight and the tapestry would glow slightly... kinda fun.

I am eventually planning on getting a 3d background, but that won't be happening until next summer. I have one on a smaller aquarium and they look fantastic! They are pricey though and I have to buy a new filter before that happens...

I think I would like the blue if I had more plants... it's a little too bright I think.

The tank is 100 gallons.

[Love of Animals]

Great tank! You're so lucky Sheldon doesn't eat your fish.

[happycamper]

I got a new background! These aren't the greatest pictures... crappy lighting but you get the idea



Killifish and cool reflection. I have too much time on my hands at work lol



My new fish, he's a German Blue Ram. Very colorful!

[VeipaCray]

Looking great. Are you going to stain that pine ATBA to match the pine stand?

[happycamper]

Yes! I think so at least. What I really want is to have my dad paint a bunch of awesomeness on it for me, he painted all those "shop signs" hanging above... he's too busy trying to make money all the time though.

I have never stained anything, I'm guessing it's pretty easy to match the color?

[VeipaCray]

What you want to do is get another piece of pine (cheap) and get some sample stains that are close to the color. Stain your test pine board with the samples. Narrow it down to the closest two or three. Then you get to play with sample saturation times. Try leaving the stain on for different times before wiping. If its still not right, you may need to play with the grain... Ie wet the wood, knock the grain down with some fine sand paper then stain. Opening the grain will allow more penetration and more color pigments to enter the wood.

Water based wood dye is easier to work with vs. stain.

Applying the stain is super easy. Getting an exact color match can be a PITA. Fortunately pine is fairly easy to work with.

[happycamper]

It all sounds like a pain to me... I don't even really like the color of the stand. I should just paint it all black!

Thanks for the info though, if I do stain it I will refer back to this thread

[redforman]

I absolutely love your tank!! That is so so nice! I hope to get one that size eventually and hopefully it will look as great as yours does!

[steve]

Looks good, can't wait to see it all finished. Those signs look pretty cool too... nice pics as usual