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.

 

[Guest]

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.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I painted my background on and it still looks great.

 

[Bubble_B0y]

confused..


oil ???
but how does oil make it stick? Isn't oil slippery?

 

[Satsumas]

I just put mine on with tape! Wish i'd used the oil method now judging by the response but i am also a little confused at how it sticks exactly. I suppose it would stick somehow i can't explain it or put it into words but i can just see it doing so.

There are a few little bits on the edge that need some sticking so i may try the oil method on those, vegetable oil that is

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Actually, the oil doesn't make it stick. It acts as a suction. When you squeege all the air bubbles out, it's like taking air out of a plastic bag and creates a vacuum. There's no air, and the only thing between the background and the glass is oil. So it stays in place. The only reason I don't do it is it has to be redone occasionally, as oil is still a liquid, and does slowly comes down to the bottom of the glass. But because of it being thick, it's not very fast. It's like old glass windows that are 30yrs old, if you take the glass out, the glass at the bottom of the window is thicker than at the top. Yes, glass is not a solid. The oil will do the same over time, and eventually will end up at the bottom, and the background will start peeling away from the top.

 

[Bubble_B0y]

Actually, the oil doesn't make it stick. It acts as a suction. When you squeege all the air bubbles out, it's like taking air out of a plastic bag and creates a vacuum. There's no air, and the only thing between the background and the glass is oil. So it stays in place. The only reason I don't do it is it has to be redone occasionally, as oil is still a liquid, and does slowly comes down to the bottom of the glass. But because of it being thick, it's not very fast. It's like old glass windows that are 30yrs old, if you take the glass out, the glass at the bottom of the window is thicker than at the top. Yes, glass is not a solid. The oil will do the same over time, and eventually will end up at the bottom, and the background will start peeling away from the top.

thank-you!!!
everything makes sense now

 

[teamgs]

I wonder if I didn't use enough soap in the water when I did the job. It should have lasted longer than 1 week.

Oh well...live and learn!

Gary

 

[Sicklid]

Another benefit of using oil is that it enhances the background like a clear coat, makes it much more vivid. Soap is a dangerous thing to have near an aquarium, I think. Vegetable oil from the supermarket is what I always used.

 

[kickeralpine]

just did mine over after resealing my tank i used veg oil and got bubbles out and used packing tape all acrossed the back from top to bottom then made straight cut where i wraped the tape on the side of the tank it aint coming off this time and with packing tape you really cant see it on the sides of the tank hope this tip helps worked for me

 

[zenkatydid]

on a similar vein, what material did you use as the background? for you folk who have used black, did you use black plastic? what thickness? where did you get the black material from?

 

[Doog]

i just used a trash bag cut to size not but 10 minutes ago using the veg oil method. looks great and very very easy