Aquatic background?!

tanyalbeck

Hi,
I have a well established tropical tank which is kept on a bay window sill (I am hoping to clear space to move it away from the window soon but the fish have been thriving there for a while now!) and I use an old piece of cardboard from a box as 'backing.' It doesn't cover the whole back and it looks lousy! Questions:
1) do I cover just the back or is it ok to cover the back and sides?

2) the aquarium (and filter/ heater/ bulb) is over 2 years old now. do I need to replace this stuff?

3) I have researched a bit online and like the idea of painting a background rather than sticking it on. However I can't get to the back of the aquarium without emptying it out to turn it around or leaning over the top and effectively doing it upside down! any tips?!

Thanks so much
Tanya
(proud mum to 2 human boys, 3 clown loaches, 5 guppies, 2 sucker fish, and 3 tetras.)

krlyr

I don't know loads about fish but do you mean painting it directly onto the glass? Inside or out? Could you not just paint a piece of card and stick that on?

tanyalbeck

yes - painting the glass on the outside. looks easy and very effective. I'm just not sure if I should do the back and sides or just the back!

tuttifruiti20

I personally would suggest just doing the back. This is because the clowns love to hide, as you may already know, and having the side stills visible easily will allow you to peek at the sides of the tank when looking through the front has left you unable to find one of your fish.

I speak from experience as I've had to do this today!

If your heater, filter etc is all still working fine then I wouldn't worry about replacing anything, especially if your fish are thriving. If you notice that the water is being heated effectively or the bulb blows then of course look to replace immediately, perhaps consider having a spare just in case of an emergency.

Unfortunately I have no tips for how to get to the back other than perhaps emptying some of the water in to a suitable container temporarily to turn it around, put the water back in and then with the back at the front now paint what you like, then do the same a few days later (so you don't startle the fish) to put the fish tank back round the correct way.

Good luck!

Froglet

Is it a big tank? I only ask because clown loaches get VERY big and need a tank of at least 5ft.

As regards the backing,I can't get round the back of mine but i can get my hands in.With two of us we recently taped down a large piece of wall paper cut to size that was a pale blue with mottled grey colouring,it looks a bit like sky ! But no don't do the sides,you need to grow some algae on the sides.Though keeping it in a window is not a good idea the temperature will fluctuate too much.

tuttifruiti20

I've got clown loaches and while they have gained some length they aren't massive and they've almost been in my tank for one year. I have a 3 1/2 foot tank (in width) and they're thriving in there.

Any smaller and I think you'd have a problem.

Froglet

Did you know they can grow to 12 inches or more in length? While they are small now they do need a lot of room and the recommended minimum is 5ft.So unless you want to stunt their growth and risk them getting sick you may ,for their own benefit,want to rehome them or get a larger tank at some point.They should NOT be sold to people with small tanks,but hey,goldfish are still sold to people to put in poxy bowls and with no help on proper care for them so there is a long wayto go yet.

http://www.loaches.com/species-index/clown-loach-chromobotia-macracanthus