# White background



## Cthulhu

I would like to do a white/blueish background, like what is seen in many aquascaping tanks, for exemple :
http://i.imgur.com/NoE33l.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/TwBBzl.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/zlOQ1l.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/ebNpil.jpg

But I don't know how I can achieve this kind of result. 

I remember a video from the Green Machine, where a frosted film was glued to the back glass and a white sheet was placed behind it, and the result was really nice. So I tried this, but as you can see it didn't work too well.










(don't mind the lighting, it is usually stronger but my ballast broke so I am using some backup light in the meantime)

Probably the frosted film I used is not frosted enough, so it doesn't blur the sheet very much.

Also, to make it a bright white I intended to place a light behind the sheet, probably coming from below as I've read Amano suggest. I tried it (not when I took the picture) with a desk light I had available, but it doesn't spread well enough and doesn't light up the whole sheet. 

And I don't really know how I could add a blue tint.

So, what should I do to get a nice white blueish background?


----------



## zoo minsi

the backgrounds ive read about like that they spray painted the background with a frosted spray paint then used an led back light. The LED could be any color, ive seen some really cool affects with blue and red leds respectively.

something like THIS for the backbround

and maybe THIS for the light


----------



## Jahn

backlight? you just gave me an idea of what to do with my leftover hood light - maybe prop it up behind the tank for some back of the tank light at substrate level!


----------



## norbot

I've tried frosting a piece of acrylic and adding a backlight. It worked pretty well but it cost $20. Then I tried a shower curtain from $1 store. Iron (on very low!) add a backlight, I like it and only a dollar, its on my 29g


----------



## Jahn

Thanks for this thread, all! I really like how it hides all the stuff hanging off the back of the tank like the filter, cables, CO2 line with a white foamboard, and at the same time serves as a backdrop for light diffusion. Backlight is the old Aqueon CFL hood's full spectrum bulb, and now that the HOB is propped by the foamboard i could use the HOB's plastic offset dongle to offset the aqueon hood light from the back of the tank at any angle needed. Separate outlet from the LED so it could run even when the LED turned off due to the timer, and bingo - done! Here's the setup, and some examples of how it looks with the Current Freshwater LED plus - RGB madness!










Here's a Sunrise look, with a low light orange coming from the LED:










Here's a little moonrise:










Here's a Blair Witch Project look with the LED off and just the backlight on:










And here's my son's favorite, an Aqua look that makes it seem like the water is blue and the plants still pop green:










Total cost - 10 bucks for the foamboard, that's it!


----------



## Big O

*Cool!*

Super cool! I was thinking the same thing. 
Brought home some white board my work was throughing away. Haven't tried it yet, but now, for sure.
Thanks for the inspiration,
Big o


----------



## Cthulhu

I thought about painting the bak glass with frosted spray paint, but unless I am sure it will work well I prefer to try something less permanent.

I like the idea of a shower curtain! I'll see what can be done with it!

LEDs are a great idea for back light!

And Jahn, your background it wonderful, I will look into that too!


----------



## Cthulhu

It's starting to look like something!
The tank looks very dark by contrast, but it still has the same lights as on the first picture! As I said my old lighting broke so I used something I had on hands but it's weak. I really need to go buy some real lights.

This is just a test setup of the background. I used a white sheet, but a board would do a better job. 

I like where this is going!


----------



## Jonny

I think this is the stuff you are thinking about, Olive rKnott shows it at the start of this aquascaping 



 with thegreenmachine. ABout 1 min 30 seconds he shows it and how it works.

I noticed that yours clearly isn't flat against the glass as you can see shadow ripples on the background you have. The foil he uses is anti-static and he sprays water first to make it 'cling' flush to the glass giving it an almost frosted glass effect.


----------



## Cthulhu

And another step forward!
I replaced the sheet with a wooden board, it looks much better.

I still need to change the tank's light, I am currently learning how to assemble my own LED lighting.


----------



## Jonny

A definite improvement, does your lighting come from the bottom at the back?


----------



## creekbottom

zoo minsi said:


> something like THIS for the backbround
> 
> and maybe THIS for the light


I've been following this thread and doing my own digging around. I ordered the lights from amazon from the link above. Really nice little things and the remote gives lots of color options.

Instead of the frosted paint you can get 'window film' from Home depot. You have to be careful what brand but the one HD carries goes on with water and just peels off. No adhesive needed, some other brands require you to purchase an application kit as well. The film comes in a range of patterns and even colors so careful what you pick. I haven't tried this yet but I'm going to pick up the etched glass film and with these lights it should look great.

I've only tried it so far with a white paper behind the lights at the bottom back of the tank. It looks so much better than any of my paint jobs!


----------



## peachii

Just a suggestion, as I did this in one of my tanks that had a spray bar. Could you replace the green tubing with clear and put the appropriate holes in it? or move it to the side wall so that it isn't the focal point of the background?


These background look really nice. We also have a bunch of old LED lights laying around since we changed them all for plants shortly after we bought them. I've not been happy with any backgrounds so far so I will have to look into giving this a shot some time.


----------



## Cthulhu

Yes the lighting comes from the bottom at the back. I used a simple fluocompact tube from the hardware store.

There is a bit of blue that shows in the middle. I used some blue acetate sheet that I placed in the middle of the light tube. It was just a first try, I still need to work on that to get the effect I want.

The frosted film I used on the back glass seems kinda cheap, and I didn't manage to put it on without creating trapped air bubbles. If you look closely you can see them mostly on the left side, it doesn't show that much but I will want to correct that. Creekbottom, the frosted film from Home Depot you talk about, is it easy to place without creating air bubbles? Otherwise I will just use frosted spray paint.

I plan to replace the green tubings with clear lily pipes and intake, and change the heater for a inline one. I haven't looked much into that yet.


----------



## creekbottom

Not sure, just picked up the roll today lol. Customer reviews said it was easy to apply and everyone was happy with the product.

I still have to get rid of the black paint on the back of the 30 gallon I plan to do this on! I want to try this first before I paint the back of another tank, I hate removing all that paint.


----------



## creekbottom

Ok, paint gone. Film applied... I spent more time reading the instructions and gathering tools than it took to put the stuff on! Soooooo easy!!! No bubbles, no mess! 

The secret I think is to use lots of soapy water. I'm still in shock about how well and easy this was lol.


----------



## meppitech

No pic of end result?


----------



## flight50

I would like to see a pic as well. But yeah the window film is the method I see most use. Less headache and easy to remove when needed. I will jump aboard with it eventually. The results I see on some tanks look amazing when it works with the aquascape itself. You can't just throw back lighting on a tank and expect instant beauty.


----------



## creekbottom

This is what you get with just the film applied.



Then you put a white paper behind the tank to add a little substance to the film.



Then when you've backlit the tank this is what you get.



I just have a light strip at the back on the bottom of the stand and on a 30 gallon tank with the daylights on, a colored background isn't really possible as the LED's don't really show up. I was thinking I could mount another strip in the hood and aim it at the back of the tank, but I haven't gotten there yet.

Also, because it's a white background, ANYTHING growing on the glass is noticeable. Right now I'm going for the late Industrial Revolution look as I'm in the middle of a brown algae phase and the sky looks a little smoggy lol.


----------



## meppitech

Was thinking you have to be able to get film that is frosted to different degrees. Anyhow, i came across this thread and thought it might wrap up nicely with the final product. Especially for those that pull up this thread looking to try it themselves. Very nice with the lighting also.


----------



## creekbottom

I guess you could double layer it. When I was shopping it comes in different styles but this one was the most uniform. You could also try painting it with an etched glass kind of paint.


----------



## flight50

meppitech said:


> Was thinking you have to be able to get film that is frosted to different degrees.


That's what I assumed. I also figured that since the majority of tank backgrounds are black, that the smoke or privacy would get you a pretty good gradient from dark to well lit backlighting. Nevertheless, looks like your getting a pretty good effect though. Thx for posting your results.


----------

