Daft question

[Humphshouse]

) Okay, I feel really silly asking this question, couldn't decide whether to put it in the beginners forum or this one, so apologies for asking something stupid, but.... I have just bought my first tank, I've been cycling it fishless for a couple of weeks with some gravel and bogwood from my partners tank to help it on its way. Anyway, I just bought the backdrop picture to decorate it, but before I put it in the tank, I'm confused about something . If I just put it against the back wall of the tank, won't the weight of my heater pull it over? How do I do this properly, I think I'm missing something obvious. Thanks in anticipation of your help!

 

[lizard]

tank to help it on its way. Anyway, I just bought the backdrop picture to decorate it, but before I put it in the tank, I'm confused about something

My assumption/understanding was that the backdrop goes on the outside of the aquarium. Seeing as how I've never used one, I could be wrong. My guess though is that it goes on the outside. Have fun with your tank!

Pamela
aka Lizard

 

[Alien Anna]

You can put it on the inside, held in place by the weight of the water, or on the outside, stick with silicone gel or double-sided sticky tape. The downsides of the first option are as you stated and also the wretched thing gets dislodged by curious fish.

 

[Humphshouse]

Just wanted to say I did initially have the backdrop on the outside of the tank, but stupid though it sounds, it's not visible that clearly. I did experiment with smearing the face of the image with...wait for it...washing up liquid! It did look great actually, but I got paranoid about the liquid contaminating my tank, so decided against that idea. Are there any other ways of doing this more safely?
Thanks again.

 

[Phase2]

Heres how I do it

Cut it to the perfect size (using the front of the tank as a guide) then wet the backdrop on the face side....stick it to the OUTSIDE of the back of the tank.....then squeegy out all the water and you will have a crystal clear backdrop.

 

[freshmike]

Use vaseline.

 

[denbob]

I've a backdrop on my tank which I cleaned with warm water no additives, cut the backdrop to size and stuck in place with sellotape on the outside of the cleaned glass of my tank

 

[Rift Man]

Hmm I dont use backdrops i paint the backs of all my tanks with, Emulsion paint, works great and it dont fll off and stuff like backdrops used to do

 

[fishfeind]

I don't understand why it is so hard to use a backdrop. I just cut mine to the size of the back panel, then put clear hockey tape on the side edges. it looks just fine.

 

[Moe]

I had mine stuck on with tape but you could never see it very clearly. Someone here told me to cut it to size, submerge it in water with a tiny bit of dishsoap and stick it to the outside of the tank then squeegee. The difference was amazing. It looked like the background was inside the tank it was so clear. Be careful though don't get any soap in your tank.

 

[StiX]

Another thing you can use is baby oil