# My lazy man's "3D" background



## 6Gears1Speed (Mar 18, 2013)

I don't know if this has ever been done before but it looks good to me...

1. Go grocery shopping and when they ask "paper or plastic" say paper :lol: . 
2. Take your groceries home and once you've put your stuff away cut the bags into one big sheet for each bag. Cut as many as you think you'll need according to tank size.
3. Crumple each big sheet into a ball nice and tight.
4. Un-crumple the sheets and flatten them out.
5. Cut a piece of masonite or similar board into the proper size for your tank. 
6. Tape the wrinkled pieces of grocery bag to the masonite. I used packing tape. If the seams are lifted you can use some school glue sticks to hold the seams down.
7. Select your paint color and apply the paint. I used a layer of flat black then covered it with a layer of textured paint to make it look more like rock.
8. Tape the background to the back of the tank. I again used packing tape. I cut the masonite a half inch shorter than the width of the tank so I would have something to tape to on the sides.
Done! :thumb:


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## JimA (Nov 7, 2009)

I think the background idea came out good, that being said, I think the rest of the tank looks out of place with the background. Too stacked too organized, just my thoughts, it's your tank!!


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## PreposterousFish (Jan 8, 2013)

Wow. That beats the pants off those tacky stick on backgrounds!


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## 6Gears1Speed (Mar 18, 2013)

It depends on the goal I guess. I don't care at all about recreating the natural appearance of lake Malawi. I care about providing the fish with lots of nooks and cranny's to hang in. I filled it with water tonight and put my first fish in. He's going all over the tank in and out of tunnels and having a **** of a time, if fish can actually have a good time :lol: . I can't wait to put them all in there and see how they behave. Tomorrow things will be nice and clear and once the fish are in there I'm going to do a video of the tunnel system. I had a donor tank set up to start this one so the cycle should get going pretty quick.


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## notho2000 (Dec 8, 2012)

Very creative and simple.


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## 6Gears1Speed (Mar 18, 2013)

OK there are three in there now :lol: . I'm impatient by nature...


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## badspellar (Oct 14, 2009)

pretty dang good for paper and paint


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## drexel187 (Dec 22, 2010)

Love it, may give it a try! Cheers


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## ratbones86 (Jun 29, 2012)

It don't look to bad but i'm not a fan of the fact you still get a reflection of the back glass. Only downside I can see. Looks good though.


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