Best way to attach a background?

[jphendren]

I have been searching for something that actually works. I have tried baby oil, distilled water, and vasoline. They all started to peel and bubble after a few days. What is the trick? I would paint the tank, but it is already set up and stocked. There is about 7-8" of space behind the tank, maybe I could use a roller or something?

What is the best paint to use?

Jared

[neilanh]

I don't know of anyone that's tried to roll paint on a tank, that might be a bit messy to do with the tank setup.

Same thing with trying to attach a background. For the oil method to work, usually you place the tank flat on the ground with the back facing up, apply the oil, put the background on and use a credit card or some straight edge to squeeze the oil out, causing the background to adhere to the glass.

[jphendren]

When I initially set up the tank, I set the tank face down on my kitchen table and applied the background with distilled water and a credit card. It looked great for about a day or so, but then it started to bubble and peel. At this point I had to re-attach the background with the tank set up using baby oil, this also looked great for a few days, but alas, it also started to peel and bubble. Would Seaview gel, or whatever it is called work better then what I have tried?

I was at my local reef shop, and they were setting up a new display tank, and he was rolling black paint onto the back of the tank. That is where I got that idea from.

Jared

[Tim Wheatley]

As it is on the outside of the tank I have always used spray paint to paint black or blue. Most recently though with a redesign of my tanks which had no backing I actually hung wipeable fake leather fabric by clips. It has a good texture and I can clean and remove/attach it easy.

So try some big office clips and hang it from the top.