Suggestions on putting on a background

[Trioracles]

I heard people use water , Vaseline, baby oil as an adhesive for the background to stick on the tank. I wanna use water because just in case if I ever decide I wanna take it off, I won't have a hard to cleaning the water off the glass. I DONT wanna use Vaseline or baby oil because my tank is pretty big, and I really don't wanna move it if I ever wanna take the background off and clean the glass.

Well my main question is, will water last? Will it peel off? Thx


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[Fresh2o]

I just use clear tape on the edges.


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[PB_Smith]

Vaseline????

If your tank is the standard glass with plastic frame then just simply cut the background to fit so that it tucks into the top and bottom frames, then simply tape it all along the frame, top and bottom, to keep it in place

the corners may need to be trimmed as often there is excess silicone in the corners of the frame, but it's still a lot easier and cleaner than smearing some goo all over the glass.

another alternative method if the background you are using is laminated/plasticoated, you could simply run a small bead of silicone around the outside edge of the background and adhere it to the back glass that way.

 

[Linwood]

I used olive oil and a window squeegee, that was 5 months ago, it still looks perfect.

It looks MUCH better if you have something like oil between the background and glass, try it with a small portion if you don't believe it.

Oil (or even vaseline) are easily removable if you change your mind, just wipe any excess then clean with windex.

PS. If you do this, you have to press VERY hard with the squeegee to get all the air out. Some people have better luck with a credit card or a CD case.

 

[Tacit Blues]

What kind of background are you looking at? I have a "Ricepaper-Pattern Tinted Window Film" That just used a little bit of soapy water, and it seems to work just fine:

There's one spot where the HOB filter touches the back that has a darker marking, but other than that...

 

[Delapool]

I used olive oil and a window squeegee, that was 5 months ago, it still looks perfect.

It looks MUCH better if you have something like oil between the background and glass, try it with a small portion if you don't believe it.

Oil (or even vaseline) are easily removable if you change your mind, just wipe any excess then clean with windex.

PS. If you do this, you have to press VERY hard with the squeegee to get all the air out. Some people have better luck with a credit card or a CD case.

How much oil do you need to do this out of interest? Is it just a light coat.

 

[Linwood]

How much oil do you need to do this out of interest? Is it just a light coat.

Yes. Basically you want the (remember it's waterproof) background to have a very thin but complete layer when pressed to the glass. I just took a paper towel really wet with it, and wiped the whole thing down.

Note the background can be repositioned a bit as you put it (now wet) but it gets more and more stuck the more surface that touches, so get it aligned well along the top or bottom long way before you lay the rest on. It's not really stuck, i.e. you can pull it back off, but you can't slide it to get it in position.

And whatever you put it on with the glass should be absolutely clean with no grit - each piece of grit becomes a little air bubble that's very obvious.

By the way, they actually make a commercial equivalent of these oils people are mentioning. I haven't used it, and can't find the link, but it is the same principle -- something that won't readily dry up and is a liquid to hold it tight against the glass. What happens is this removes the air gap between; the air gap takes out lots of contrast and color.

If you want to see, take part of the background (or a spare old photo in color). Wet half with just water, and keep half dry, and squeegee it onto the side (where it's easy to remove) of a tank filled with water, and look at the difference in the two sections. You can't see as much difference in a tank without water.

 

[Delapool]

Yes. Basically you want the (remember it's waterproof) background to have a very thin but complete layer when pressed to the glass. I just took a paper towel really wet with it, and wiped the whole thing down.

Note the background can be repositioned a bit as you put it (now wet) but it gets more and more stuck the more surface that touches, so get it aligned well along the top or bottom long way before you lay the rest on. It's not really stuck, i.e. you can pull it back off, but you can't slide it to get it in position.

And whatever you put it on with the glass should be absolutely clean with no grit - each piece of grit becomes a little air bubble that's very obvious.

By the way, they actually make a commercial equivalent of these oils people are mentioning. I haven't used it, and can't find the link, but it is the same principle -- something that won't readily dry up and is a liquid to hold it tight against the glass. What happens is this removes the air gap between; the air gap takes out lots of contrast and color.

If you want to see, take part of the background (or a spare old photo in color). Wet half with just water, and keep half dry, and squeegee it onto the side (where it's easy to remove) of a tank filled with water, and look at the difference in the two sections. You can't see as much difference in a tank without water.

Hi, thanks for this - will have to give it a try! Would oil be better than Vaseline? Any thoughts?

 

[Linwood]

Hi, thanks for this - will have to give it a try! Would oil be better than Vaseline? Any thoughts?

I never tried Vaseline. I suspect it is a bit harder to get to spread easily and may last a bit longer, but that's supposition.