Hey, I recently got my first aquarium and was wondering what color background you guys think is the best to display fresh water platies and neon tetras. I set up a poll, please vote for the one that you think showes the above fish the best. Keep in mind that the aquarium has tan substrate...If you could vote and then explain why you picked it that would be awesome.

Thanks,
Molecularmann

I would just do what you want. Everyone's taste is different.

True, everyone has their own style and any (or no) background can look great. I love tasteful backgrounds though, they seem to just add more to the tank.

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

Black!

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4 g snail and moss tank, 10 g quarantine, 15 g empty ( freshwater puffers soon?), 6.5 g male betta, 55 g planted community

well it is up to you, like ben said do what you like, i have had no back ground, black background, blue back ground, it just depends on what you like, i like my blue for my tank i have now

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What happens if you get scared half to death, twice?

I've had black and it really brought out the colors of the fish. I also had a dark substrate.

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20 gallon long:Amazon Swords, Ruffle Swords, Red Flame Swords, Fanwort, Wisteria,8 Lemon tetras,
6 otos, 11 Amano shrimp, 3 mystery snails, 3 Bolivian Rams, 3 black skirt tetra and 2-3 lemon tetra fry
10 gallon: 30 lemon tetra fry, give or take...1 gallon Anubias, Fish: 1 betta

I've never seen black backgrounds... I'll have to look through some pics on the site. Sounds cool.

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

My last tank was a SeaClear 40 gallon that came with a black background.

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20 gallon long:Amazon Swords, Ruffle Swords, Red Flame Swords, Fanwort, Wisteria,8 Lemon tetras,
6 otos, 11 Amano shrimp, 3 mystery snails, 3 Bolivian Rams, 3 black skirt tetra and 2-3 lemon tetra fry
10 gallon: 30 lemon tetra fry, give or take...1 gallon Anubias, Fish: 1 betta

The backs of my tanks are painted black.It shows the fish and plants great.But its also my opinion,and yours may vary.

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http://bountifulbettas.blogspot.com/

"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

I painted my own background. I had some old roller blinds that I was no longer using and cut to the size of the back of my tank. I then used cheap paints to create my own background, you can see it in my gallery.

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55 G Community Planted: 2 Pearl Gourami's, 2 Angels, 5 Zebra Danios, 6 Cherry Barbs, 6 Ottos, 7 Peppered Cories

Ive had em both, black and blue, IMO my latest shade of blue REALLy pops everything in the tank, I am using a shade called HOMETOWN HERO BLUE, under the lights and with the slight tannin stained water it turns nearly an aqua blue-green. I really like it.
My 52,45,40,29,28 and 210 are all black, when they get torn down blue will be the new color.

Oh and I roll paint my backgrounds, not spray them, found a few tricks to get roll on to look identical to spray and I get 1000+ more color choices.

Dont rule out watermelon pink, thats a really nice color with darker fish.

Wow, Whiteglove, you've got it going with the backgrounds, way cool. I did my own custom paint jobs on two of my tanks using dark blue, light blue and white. I start with mostly dark blue near the bottom and up halfway along the edges, sort of a U shape darkness, then I add and blend the lighter blue more in the center and up to the top, blending in the white. On my 55g Cichlid tank, I have just drapped a dark purple silk fabric over the back.

I know that I have freshwater tanks but what I am trying to achieve is this. When scuba diving in deep water in South Florida, I'd be doing all the crap you have to do just before a dive, hot, sweating in my wetsuit, dealing with some dumb###, etc. Finally, it's time to go.

Just after splash in, after my surface safety check, I'd sink about 6 feet and look around. Ahh, finally cool. With super clear vis, say 100 feet, in water 130 feet deep, the surface water was light and clear, deepening to dark blue/purple as I looked down. Along the sides it's light at the top, darker to the deep. I swear, it fires neurons that have been idle my whole life. Everything, and I mean everything, other than that view, disappears from my mind. It is magic. Then I descend into that blue. Forty minutes of an altered state.

Oh, and when wreck diving, about halfway down, a ship, sitting on the sand, slowly comes into view. If it is a deep wreck, everything is blue/purple (no other color makes it that far down the column) More idle neurons fire. ;-)

Sometimes when you see something that is very, very far from any prior experience, your brain can not process it in a meaningful way. I watched the Challenger explode and about all I could say as the solid rocket motors flew away from the conflagration was, "That's not right." The enormity of the situation was lost on me.

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60g tall, all artificial plants, Rainbow tank; 55g for African Cichlids. 20g long for fry; 20g hex, 2 black Angels at my desk; 10g planted, with 50 Molly fry; 10 gal, 2x 13w cfl lightning, planted; 2g hex for "Buddy the Betta"; Wanting a 200g +, MTS getting bad.