Best method for attaching photo background to tank?

[teamgs]

Greetings,
I have had a photo background on my tank for a little over a week, and used soapy water to help it adhere to the tank. While it looked AWESOME when first done (Virtually bubble free), after a few days, bubbbles started to appear. Now, it looks terrible.

Any thoughts as to a better method? Can anyone who has used the vegetable oil method tell me how long it lasted?

I guess I could try some sort of adhesive.

Regards,

Gary

[Fishyfanatic]

I use tape and have never had any problems. It holds on perfectly fine. Some people use oil or vaseline.

I used veg oil on a background last summer for my 55 and it still looks the same as the day I applied it. No bubbles, no discoloration, no complaints, etc.

[7Enigma]

Aquarious said it. You apply it with a flat tool such as a cd case or credit card, and you can force all of the bubbles out. The background will stay stuck to the glass and since its oil and not water, it does not evaporate. I installed my back in January and it looks the same now as it did when I put it on.

[Umberle]

how does that work with the oil? do you paint it on the tank and then put on the background?

[MSU Fan]

basically, just place the oil on the tank (if possible, put the tank on its side to make things easier) and spread the oil around so atleast every part of the back of the tank has oil on it. Then place the background on the tank, and use a flat tool to smooth it out. most likely, there will be some excess that you will need to wipe up, but otherwise, it works great.

[scalesojustice]

i just taped mine on as well. looks great. though i wish i would have had the fore sight to stretch the background out and flatten it before taping it on. battling a background that keeps curling is not so much fun.

[teamgs]

Thanks everyone. I used the CD case with the soapy water and it was perfect, without any bubbles; at least it was for around 2 days! I did also tape the edges, BTW.

I will use the oil method tonight.

Regards,

Gary

[7Enigma]

I used a paper towel and dipped it in oil, then wiped that evenly across the background. I never put any directly on the tank, and it worked fine. I'm sure either method will work fine, it just seems like the least amount used to get the job done gives the best contact.

[QTOFFER]

Don't use vaseline.
I applied my first backgrounds with it and it started to pucker within 6 months. The vaseline also damaged the plastic background - causing little bumps and wrinkles. It was a royal bear to remove from the glass too.
Never again.

My second time around, I used olive oil (cheapo corn oil should work too). I wore a latex glove, poured some oil in my palm, and slathered it right on the glass. I used a very thin squeegee to squeeze out the bubbles and wiped up the excess oil from the tank stand with a paper towel. Looks great after 6 months! I didn't have to tape the edges at all.