DIY Ambient Aquarium Background

Outside of school from 2009-2011, I spent most of my hours working in the fish and reptile section. of a local pet store. This was a great learning opportunity thanks to my passionate dept. manager, who was full of advice and experience with all kinds of fish. In addition to gaining lots of input from fellow enthusiasts’ successes and struggles, I was also fortunate enough to see all kinds of new and interesting products move through our store. One thing I noted (even when working at a large store) was that there isn’t a lot of variety when it comes to decorating the background of your tank. First of all, if you have a particularly large tank, almost none of the backgrounds are tall enough. Next, there generally seem to be only three choices when it comes to tank backgrounds. 1: generic saltwater images, 2: generic freshwater images or 3: generic black or blue wavy backgrounds that don’t even remotely resemble what I assume is supposed to be water.

But what if you want something different?

Well you can always go print off and laminate your own image to make a custom aquarium background, but if you’re going to do it yourself, why stop there? The following is a step by step process for how I created an ambient, color-changing background for my 120 gallon tank. Using led lighting strips from Ikea, and simple supplies you can find at your local art store.

You will need:

• Led light strips (I found mine at Ikea. They change color, include 4 strips and a controller, and can be added on to each other to accommodate the length of your tank.)
• Vellum or tracing paper (You can use normal card stock paper if you like but the tracing paper gives a really nice soft look and adds to the effect really nicely)
• Clear cello tape (for attaching to the tank)

 1 Ikea light strip set is enough for about 4 feet of tank

You can find the exact lights I used here.

It’s Simple!

Step 1:

Fix your led strips to the back edge of your aquarium stand behind your aquarium with the lights facing upward.

Step 2:

Using pieces of white tissue paper slightly taller than your aquarium height, fix the tissue to the TOP half of the tank using clear tape.  Allowing the paper to hang slightly over the back will leave the light strips in between the tank and the paper, bouncing the light back towards the tank.  (If you tape the bottom half tightly against the tank with the lights behind, it will not be effective.)

Continue to layer more sheets of paper until you are happy with the opacity (ex. have obscured the cords etc. behind the tank.)

Step 3:

Play around with the different features and colors until you find one that you like and enjoy!

*Safety Reminder*

As with all things electronic, make sure to leave a drip loop (an extra loop of cord that dips below the level of your outlet) To prevent shocks in the event that water ever finds its way down the cord

This is a really pretty and simple way you can decorate the back of any tank. Please feel free to email me if you have any input or ideas for what worked for you and I will be sure to add them.

><> Swim on! <><