Habitat - Indoor :: Aquarium backgrong IN the tank?

[imderanged]

I want to take out all the river rocks in my 75 gallon. They are trapping so much garbage, it's disgusting. I'm trying to decided what to do instead...bare bottom or sand.....OR
They sell this aquarium background at the petstore that is made of vinyl or something and is listed as "waterproof"...the guy at the shop told me it was ment to go on the INSIDE of the tank and the water would hold it down. it looks like blue bubbles and would look cool as hell on the bottom of the tank. My turtle doesn't eat the plastic plants, so I think it will be safe, but can anyone see any reason this is a bad idea before I do it? [/code]

[SeattleSlider]

if your tank has a clear bottom I would tape it to the underside or use standard sponges ( not wet to hold it in place. Otherwise waste will find it's way underneath no matter how "waterproof" it is. Depending on your tank I had a smaller tank that had a clear bottom and I put small marbles under it. I have also seen tanks with polished pea gravel underneath.

[steve]

Hi SeattleSlider, I think someone had previously posted an image pattern of river rock for exactly what you have described.

[Chrisbarnett]

If you put it in the tank, you're going to have to silicon it down because its weight will be displaced in water. It won't be "held down" by the water.

I've seen a lot of people silicon in there backgrounds on the inside of the tank, it works well.

[imderanged]

I could tape it to the bottom i guess, but i really didn't want to try and more a 75 gallon tank...

[Chrisbarnett]

Tape is going to lose its sticky in water after a little while.

[imderanged]

Ohh I meant UNDER the tank! LOL. it's just that it's gonna be a pain in the butt to empty yhte tank and take it down from the stand since its so big and all the tubing for the filter is attached over the side. Also there is a plastic bar across the bottom that is some kind of support, but the background is thin so maybe I can slip it under the bar. The reason I want to do all this is purely aesthetic, but the tank will look really silly if I take out all the rocks and don't do something else, because the way the stand is built, you will be able to look down though the bottom of the tank right at the filter and everything.

[Chrisbarnett]

Ohhh okay. Just be aware that you will only be able to see it from a certain angle then because of the glass's reflectiveness.