attaching an aquarium background with oil

[pandamonium]

hey everyone,

so i know most people paint the back of their tanks before putting anything in it. i unfortunately did not do this as i didnt know if i ever wanted to sell the tank or use it again for a different purpose. i regret that decision. to make matters worse, my tank is located near my window and the sun rises on this side of my house. this led to a few algae issues in the early stages. now that i have more plants, that has bottomed out.
what i did was use a pure black aquarium background i bought to cover the back. previously i used tape and it has that dulled look to it, like you can see your reflection through the tank. i saw a product called seaview/clearview that basically says that one can apply this mixture and all of a sudden, the background pops with clarity and color. i did some research and found this was basically vaseline-ish. others have used vegetable oil with much success, so i tried it.

STUNNED at the results. i thought it would fall off quickly but nope. it took me all my strength to pull it across the back of my aquarium. once it stuck, i was able to attack my suction cups to the outside of the backing with no problems. i am wholeheartedly for this method.

what i did was use some oil on a paper towel and apply it to the side of the backing that would face the aquarium. then i stuck it on and it sticks very well. after that i took a credit card and squeegeed the bubbles out. looks amazing! just though i would share that the methods works very well if anyone else forgot to paint like i did

here is a picture of my tank with the background on it to see.

[Bananariot]

Very nice, just make sure theres no open flame by your tank ;D

[pandamonium]

lolol hopefully no short circuits or else ill have a flaming tank of death.

[jcgd]

Another thing that works very will is about a tablespoon of J&J baby shampoo. Just mix it with some distilled water and then let the bubbles settle out. Use a squeegee to get all the air out.

You create a vacuum by getting all the air out. The strength of the resulting vacuum is something like 14.7 pounds per square inch. That's why it can be very touch to peel the background back off.

[pandamonium]

i read about that one online as well but i heard there were issues with the water evaporating and causing some bubbles so i didnt do it. only for some people though. also i looked for j&j baby shampoo at home and i didnt have any haha. others have said to use soap but because its a detergent, it has different effects. from what i looked up, vaseline, j&j + water, and oil are the ones that work fairly well

[RainSong]

I tried this on my 90 gallon acrylic but failed. Basically the tank wall bulges out and because the back paper was flat it would constantly develop a fold. :-(

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[pandamonium]

did you also use oil to attach it, rainsong? and by fold do you mean crease or just bend?

[Diana]

So timely! I was about to sign off and go move a (taped on) background from one tank to another! I will try the oil-on-paper-towel idea!

[mistergreen]

Veggie oil will dry up overtime like linseed oil, stuff in oil painting. Try baby oil next time. It's petroleum based.

[pandamonium]

thanks mistergreen when this background begins to fall off, then i will reapply it with baby oil. i didnt have that lying around the house so i resorted to the only oil-like substance i had haha

and diana i hope it works well for you like it did for me!

[mistergreen]

Actually you might want to remove it now. Dried up veggie oil is no fun to remove. You'll need a razor and mineral spirit/turpentine.

Just wipe off with a taper towel.

[pandamonium]

if i remove it, do i need to remove the oil from the background as well? i plan on not needing to remove this background in the future. how long will this current oil hold? i have read that it holds for 2 years.

[mistergreen]

Usually it takes only a week or two for natural oils to dry up when exposed to air. I might be overly cautious since the oil under the background isn't exposed to air.

[RainSong]

I used the stuff that came with the Seaview backdrop. Stuff wurks great, except for the fold/sag i kept getting because my tank was not flat.

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