For Those with 3D backgrounds...

So I just got my 3D background ;D! I have a question for those that have them:

Since it's 3D, there will be some space between the back glass and the back of the background. Do you normally try to make this watertight by tyring to fully silicone it to the back glass on the edges? Or just enough silicone to hold in place and not worry about water getting back there? I was just wondering since I feel like not much flow will be back there and if that would be a problem with possible stagnant water or something. Although I think it might be hard to silicone it such that no water gets back there.....

 

I don't have one of them. If I did, what i would do is cut small holes in it and epoxy some screen over the holes. The reason I say that is so that when you fasten it to the glass with silicone you will not have water stuck behind it that will go stagnant. Perhaps you can put like a small maxi jet to keep water moving back there. Stagnant water would be my concern with them. Another Idea would be to fill the voids with something aquarium safe to avoid having any gaps behind it. Don't know what you could use for that. It would have to be something with weight on it so they don't float. Maybe some type of epoxy.

 

That looks sweet! I actually built my own with spray foam and crushed coral. I used the light diffuser sheets from HD and sprayed my foam onto that. Since the back was flat I put a bead of silicone around the inside edge and pressed it flush against the tank to make sure water couldn't get behind it. Worked great. Since yours has a void in the back I would probably fill it with spray foam and then silicone it to the back so water can't get behind it.

On a side note..... where did you find your background?

 

Waterfall foam

 

Foaming seems like a possibly idea, what foam is safe for saltwater?

 

personally i dont like how its hollow back there. No telling what might get back there. Fish might wiggle back there and die or something. If it were me, I would fill it in with expanding foam (lowes sells it in the pond section for waterfalls), then sand it down flat or run it past a ban saw or something to get a nice flat edge, and silicone it to the back glass.