help with background

[riker032]

hello everyone.. this is going to sound really stupid. but i have a light blueish colored background i want to put on my tank.. but it wont stick to the back.. i have tried taping the 4 corners but it doesnt really stick to the glass and it now appears alot darker than it really is... any suggestions???

thanks soo much

 

[Inchworm]

Hi riker032

I moved you thread here because I think you'll have a better chance of getting a good number of responses.

I just use magic tape to put my backgrounds on, but I know there are better ways of doing it.

 

[CMC]

We had the same problem with our scenic background. Somewhere, either on this forum or another forum or the web, someone recommeneded lightly rubbing a clear type of cooking oil like vegetable oil on the background and sticking it to the tank. You will still need to tape the edges. We did that with our 55-gallon and it worked and looked good (we have since changed the background though). However it did take some time to get the air bubbles out. We had to rub quite a bit but finally got them out. When we took that background off, there was oil on the glass but I stuck a plain black background on it and it stuck pretty good.

 

[pendragon]

When I bought my background, I was told to put it up with baby oil. Rub the back of the tank thoroughly to cover it with a thin film of oil (but not too much), then do the same to the background. Press the background against the glass, and use a squeegee to draw all the air bubbles out the sides of the background (have a rag handy to wipe up the baby oil that seeps out the sides when you squeegee). It's easier if you have a helper, but it can be done by a single person. My parents put a background on a 55 Gallon like this once and it held for almost ten years. I've heard you can do the same using vaseline.

However , when I tried this myself it never worked. The baby oil would hold it up for a couple of days and then it would fall. I don't know if my background was made from a different material, or if the kind of baby oil I used was inferior, or what.

I ended up taping mine to the tank using small strips of transparent tape. Not the elegance I had wanted, but it works. In retrospect, I wish I'd painted the back glass of the tank and been done with it.

pendragon!

 

[scott76]

I make my backgrounds out of poster board and use clear double sided tape at the edges and along the top. Haven't had a problem in 6 months.

 

[fishdudein]

I always have better luck taping the background to the top and bottom plastic molding. Even then, it doesn't always stick, but I can never get it to stick to the glass. The oil on the back of the tank sounds interesting--bet it makes the background look like it's actually part of the tank. Maybe combination of oil and tape?There used to be product years ago called crystal craze that you could brush on the back of tank, and as it dried you would get crystalline patterns. Don't know if this is around anymore, though.

 

[silver]

Wierd.........tape has always worked for me. You just have to put two pieces on each corner and it works great!!!


Silver

 

[ladynaoko]

I stuck mine to the wall behind my tank