04 January 2017

backgrounds

This was mentioned in my latest post about the tenner, but not on the thirty-eight. I bought cheap fabric in various shades of black, gray and blue to try making a different background on my aquariums. Saw right away that all the blues looked very similar, once they were behind the tank.

Black is very dramatic.
Blues looked odd because the side where the light comes down through the floating hornwort altered the hue!
I used the gray instead of the black because this one I got as felt, which is heavier and doesn't make wrinkles when I hang it. Fastened with tape (duct tape on the fabric, packing tape across that around the corner a bit onto the glass or trim).
It was an easy way to get a different look. I had thought for a while of getting large sheets of tinted paper from the craft store, but couldn't find any sheets large enough for my thirty-eight, and if paper gets wet it's ruined. Had plastic black garbage bag taped back there temporarily for a long time, which worked okay but makes wrinkles and has some reflection. Then I had a towel there, another temporary measure but it's too heavy really to stay long. So fabric was the way to go.

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