# An attempt at gradient, two-color background



## gherlevi (Dec 16, 2004)

Well, I'm setting up my fourth tank in the house... this time in the basement. After painting the background the first time, that's the option I've chosen for every tank since. Great, cheap way to get a background!

I always wondered what it would be like to try to fade in a 2nd color to make it brighter at the top. For my 125, I didn't dare try it, and went straight black (and I'm glad!). That works great for mbuna, but what about tropheus duboisi?

With a tank intended for black fish, I wanted to try something different. I used a cream-colored spray paint first, then went over it with a roller and green-aqua latex paint. Not sure if I like it or not, but what the heck. Someone else could probably do much better than me!

I wanted it to look like sunlight up top, but now it looks like a bunch of foam or turbulence. Well, can't say I chickened out this time... but there's probably a better way to get more even results than spray paint.


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## JWerner2 (Jul 7, 2008)

Try different rock structures and dont make it look so even on the background.


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## gherlevi (Dec 16, 2004)

With the rocks, I'm not so much worried about that. In fact, I might reduce the amount of rockwork, for this particular setup. In a short-length tank, I want a minimalist approach... as few excuses for the tropheus to set up territories as possible. The other approach would be to go "hog wild" with rocks, but I want to keep it pretty bare, hopefully to minimize aggression.

The background two-color fade in was something I wanted to try. Now that I gave it a shot (with mixed results IMHO), I thought I'd share the results for others to improve on if they like.

My pride and joy is the 125, and in that tank I took more time and energy to produce rockwork that looked as natural as possible.


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## Lindsey Dindsey (Jul 14, 2004)

Looks like a cloudy sky over the beach.


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## Hoosier Tank (May 8, 2007)

> but now it looks like a bunch of foam or turbulence.


That was my first impression... and thats what I like about it! I think you done good =D>


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## gherlevi (Dec 16, 2004)

Hey, thanks for the positive comments. It's not as impressive as accidentally inventing Dove soap, but maybe it's not as bad as I originally thought.


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## Stickzula (Sep 14, 2007)

I did something similar. I have Copad. Red Fins and they blend into the solid black bg on my 55. When I switched tanks to a 75, I wanted a painted bg that they would not blend into so well, but all the paint I had was lt green, dk green, black, and white. I painted it with a sponge starting with the lightest colors at the top working to darker at the bottom. I intentionally made the sponge marks random and mixed the colors as I went. Once I was satisfied with the colors, I let it dry and then rolled the entire thing with black so that no light would get through. It came out pretty good, but I am not sure I like it as much as I thought I would. I will try to get some pics and post them for your comments. I think I like the technique and the effect, but I am not sure about the green. When I post the pics I'll let you decide.


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## gherlevi (Dec 16, 2004)

Cool idea...

I think a sponge/dab technique would work a heck of a lot better than my out-of-control spray can technique.


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## Stickzula (Sep 14, 2007)

ok, here is the pic of my sponged gradient background. Let me know what you think.


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## gherlevi (Dec 16, 2004)

Very cool. That looks very effective.

If I ever try this again on a tank, I'm using your sponge technique instead of my spray can technique.

Nice job! :thumb:


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## iceblue (Apr 27, 2004)

Nice job guys. They both look great and add depth to your tanks. :thumb:


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