# Tall malawi tank boring background



## JohnnyG (Dec 30, 2010)

Hi fishos,

I have a Juwel Vision 260 that I've setup as a Mbuna tank. This tank is a 4ft bowfront and is quite tall. I've stacked up some Texas Holey rock to try to cover some of it because it's fairly stark but still looks a bit boring.










Don't get me started on the background colour! I wanted black but my g/f convinced me that blue would look nicer :x It's too hard to break down the tank to replace the background now though as I don't have another tank to temporarily keep the fish in.

I had thought of trying some floating plants to break it up a bit. Anyone had any success with these? Or maybe a bubble wall :-?

I also need to stock up the tank a bit more which will hopefully help. Thinking of losing the rusties and putting a few (male only) peacocks as feature fish. I wanna keep the yellow labs 

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Cheers


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

This is just JohnnyG's tank for him


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## skurj (Oct 30, 2011)

You could purchase a background, check out designsbynature. You can install them in an already setup tank.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I'd remove the breeder net (LOL) and rearrange the rock so it is stacked taller and not spaced out so evenly in the tank. Maybe a tall plant to camoflage the filter intake and turn the heater diagonal so it is behind the rock pile.


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## JohnnyG (Dec 30, 2010)

Thanks for the feedback and fixing my broken link (not sure why it didn't work).

I'd rather not have a 3d background because I don't want to lose that extra tank space. You can probably get fairly slim ones I suppose. It might make heater and filter intake suction cups useless though.

DJRansome - all good suggestions I'll take on board thanks. I might try having a rock stack at both ends once I remove the internal filter. Should make more territories then. The breeder net is temporary and houses one (yes one) rusty fry lol.


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## skurj (Oct 30, 2011)

JohnnyG said:


> Thanks for the feedback and fixing my broken link (not sure why it didn't work).
> 
> I'd rather not have a 3d background because I don't want to lose that extra tank space. You can probably get fairly slim ones I suppose. It might make heater and filter intake suction cups useless though.
> 
> DJRansome - all good suggestions I'll take on board thanks. I might try having a rock stack at both ends once I remove the internal filter. Should make more territories then. The breeder net is temporary and houses one (yes one) rusty fry lol.


I just received a slimline background that I am going to install in an already established 55g. Its 1.5 inch thick at the widest point. I was also concerned about losing space to it. For a true 3d I would say 18" width of tank at least.

You can cut the background for suction cups, as for my heater I may put it on the end of the tank or get one that runs inline with my cannister return hose. For the cannister intake I don't think i will need to bother cutting anything, the outside suction cup will hopefully hold it just fine.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

You don't say what type background you have. Is it something you can remove? If you have a painted background and some space behind, you might consider changing it. With space to work, the painted background could be removed and repainted with a different color with the fish in the tank. A bit of work?  A razorblade scraper made for removing paint from windows will take the paint off in most cases without a lot of trauma. Seal the tank top and use lots of ventilation to hold down the fumes. Then latex can be rolled back on without bothering the fish. Other than scaring their pants off!

I find I like a modified setup for African cichlids using some rock and some plants or wood as well. It does not bother me that it is not truly their natural setup and it does give lots more options. Finding the correct plants to go with the fish you have is a trial and error, it seems.

One thing to note is that the background will also get toned down some as the tank ages and algae grows over the back. It may not seem as much problem as time goes by.


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## JohnnyG (Dec 30, 2010)

PfunMo,

The background is blue contact (plastic roll) that I stuck on there with water and a bit of detergent so it's easily removable. The problem is that it's hard up against a wall so I'd have to empty the tank to get to it. If I could empty the tank I'd probably just replace it with a black background of the same kind, or black latex paint like you suggested.

I've been looking into some hardy plants but I didn't want to use driftwood as I've heard it lowers ph.

I'm a bit obsessive about cleaning algae so the background probably won't 'age' too much :lol:


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

> I'm a bit obsessive about cleaning algae so the background probably won't 'age' too much


Now that is a problem that is too big to tackle!!

The problem with the word about driftwood lowering PH is that it is not always true! People who write books and give advise can only write from their experience and often do no take the time to consider other places where the water is different. Wood is an organics just like the food and waste that build up in the tank. If there is too much and the water doesn't have a high GH/KH to buffer the PH, the PH can drop. Many of our writers here in the states are from the NE part where water is often lacking in the buffering needed. I think it is from that area that the driftwood tale was started and it has never been debunked fully. In the central part of the US, the water if often very hard and full of the buffering chemicals to prevent the PH drop. My water is sometimes referred to as liquid limestone and I would have a terrific fight to drop my PH.

You might want to do some checking on your buffering before turning down driftwood if it is something you might like. In this hobby there are many "rules" that don't fit all parts of the world. 
An article that I like for showing some things about water? 
http://www.freshwater-aquarium-fish.com/water_chemistry.htm
I'm no expert but this gave me the confidence to throw a lot of things in that I might have passed on otherwise. 
Even old dry cedar stumps do not bother my PH.


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## JohnnyG (Dec 30, 2010)

Thanks PfunMo. I do like the look of driftwood and the water where I live (Adelaide, South Australia) is notoriously hard so it probably wouldn't cause any problems. Not too mention it's a lot cheaper that buying mountains of rock! The substrate I have and the THR should be enough to counter any effects anyway.

Out of interest, is there any reason not to clean the algae off the back wall?


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## aquariam (Feb 11, 2010)

PfunMo said:


> > I'm a bit obsessive about cleaning algae so the background probably won't 'age' too much
> 
> 
> Now that is a problem that is too big to tackle!!
> ...


Afaik you aren't even supposed to use softwoods like cedar in an aquarium. They don't affect your PH they're just bad for other reasons which I forget. Lots of terpines n stuff.

OP Get a bunch of hornwort and float it. That ought to tie your whole thing together. Maybe get a manzanita branch make sure its dry and srew a hook into the back and have that as an upside down tree with the hornwort. *** done it easy to do don't need much light. Wood keeps the hornwort put.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

> is there any reason not to clean the algae off the back wall?


No reason that I've found. I've left it and I've often removed it. I find it looks better removed but is less work if left so some tanks get one and some the other. Both work the same.



> Afaik you aren't even supposed to use softwoods like cedar in an aquarium. They don't affect your PH they're just bad for other reasons which I forget. Lots of terpines n stuff.


I'm afraid that is another of those "rules" I've mentioned that should be thrown out and replaced with some written with a little more knowledge used. The large wood item pictured above is cedar. Does that mean the fish are dying? What that really means is that I did not use wood that had even a hint of moisture, sap, or tannins or whatever else we want to call it left in the wood. Cedar is a special challenge to find in that condition as it is famous for retaining the oils. We build fences and decks with cedar because these oils keep them from rotting so quick. But those same oils do eventually run out and the boards rot. It just takes much longer than other woods.

How about if we changed the "rule" to say you CAN use cedar but it has to be very dry and since there may still be minute quanities of moisture leaching out, you have to do water changes to reduce this pollution? I find that rules works for the cedar I use. I do a lot of water changing on cichlids tanks anyway! 
None of my fish die because I use cedar. They find other ways!

Sorry about the terrible glass cleaning and dirt. These are my breeding and holding tanks and they just never get the classy treatment show tanks might. The point is that these are cedar and cedar does not kill fish if chosen correctly.


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## PfunMo (Jul 30, 2009)

I wanted to post up a picture of a current tank which actually has pretty clean glass! 
I do clean them sometimes! 
I'm growing out about forty bristlenose pleco and some African cichlids ( Hap ahli and Lab. Chisumulae) and they all seem to love cedar. The BN like to have cover for when they rest so a hollowed out slab is easy to use. 









Rather than follow rules, I often let the fish and plants tell me what works. If it suits them it suits me.


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## skurj (Oct 30, 2011)

I read a forum post somewhere... not sure where.. it could have been MFK, but anyways it was by a guy who kept a restaurant or a business like that and he had very little time for glass cleaning, so he let the algae grow on the back and sides of the tank as much as it wanted and in the end it supposedly turned out really well with a thick green covering over those three surfaces and all he did was clean the front.

Not sure I would do it... but a large tank, lots of stacked rockwork etc it might work out in the long run... be good for the fries too!


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## Nodalizer (Nov 7, 2011)

I only ever clean the front glass.

I don't see algae as a problem thou, specially with cichlids who love it.


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