This is going to be a ramble-y post. If you're not interested, feel free to skip it. I'll post pictures later today.
Yesterday I went out and bought some of this
Gila 4 ft. x 6.5 ft. Frosted Privacy Window Film-PFW486 - The Home Depot for the backs of my tanks. I've always used the standard backgrounds sold at pet stores which is fine, but the tanks look like they are lost in a black hole at night and I got tired of it.
I didn't apply the film as suggested. Instead I cut it down to size and used tape to hold it in place. I didn't have any problems, however, as to be expected, my Bleeding Heart Tetras freaked out and knocked their noggins off of the tank lids a few times. All of them are fine, nobody hurt their little melons.
Since I had more than half of the roll left when I was done, I decided to do some 'problem solving' with the rest.
The 10-gallon has a table lamp sitting next to it with a LED bulb which I think is contributing to my minor diatom problem. The film doesn't block the light on that side of the tank, but it does knock it down quite a bit. Along those same lines, I did the same with the nano, but not for the same reason.
The little female ram (first pic in this thread) can see out into the hallway from where her tank is. I don't know how far she can see, but she knows when my son goes into his room as it is right next to my office which leads to flaring. She doesn't like my son ( or hubby) anyway, but I got tired of the endless attitude, so I stuck a piece of film on that side of her tank which seems to be helping. Only time will tell if my fix sticks or not.
And finally, my office gets lots of morning sunlight which means I've been leaving my office blinds closed more than I would like. Since my office is the second smallest room in the house with only 2 windows, I decided to use up the film and apply to it the windows.
I did actually install it for that and I'm not going to lie, it was a total pain in the butt. That said, the sunlight is now diffused in a way that I don't have to leave blinds closed if I don't want to. Other benefits include no longer having to look at the ugly house across the street and denies the prying eyeballs of my other neighbors. I don't know what they expect to see, but every time they drive by the house they literally gawk at my house which they see everyday. Creeps.
Who knew that a single roll of privacy film could solve so many issues.
In other news, I've been window shopping for things I'll need for the 40 gallon that I want. I called Pet Smart the other day to ask about this stand.
Top Fin® Center Shelf Aquarium Stand | Aquarium Stands | PetSmart. The manager I spoke with told me I had to order it as they didn't carry it in the store. If you click the link, it says this particular stand is not sold online. *facepalm*
After going to Home Depot to get the privacy film, I took a trip around the Pet Smart I called to see if they had said tank stands. Not only did they have one, but they had 2.
I don't expect a manager of a pet store or any store for that matter to know what exactly they have in their inventory in their heads at all times. However, I don't think it would have hurt said manager to go check to see if they actually carried said stand instead of completely blowing me off. I honestly don't think such reasoning is that unreasonable. Also, said stand is more expensive in the store which i found interesting.
I'm sure when the time comes Pet Smart is not going to refuse my money, so going out of their way for less than a minute while on the phone shouldn't have been a big deal. Gotta love big chain pet stores....