Cut your pieces to height but leave the length on for now. To trim the piece just cut  the back of the background with a utility knife (dont need to go all the way through) and snap. Or you can use just about any type of hand saw.

Make any adjustment to the flap that overlaps the adjoining piece, trim cut or sand as needed. Silicone together to create a longer piece, remember if you have a brace on the top of your tank keep in mine that you may need to wait for one of these joint to glue together after the pieces are inside.

Allow plenty of time to dry and cure.

Next cut your piece to fit the length of your tank, allow a 1/4″ gap allong the sides for room for the silicone. Choose where you want your water intake holes to be to allow water movement to the back of the background so it can reach your filter. Create your holes and you can either use plastic mesh or filter sponge to cover your hole to keep fishes out.

You will also want to create an overflow/skimmer on the top of background, just in case the intake holes get pluged the water will just flow over the top.

next place the background back in the tank,(you may need to glue the remaining pieces to length) determine how far you much room you want behind the background. Fill the spot with anything that will help hold the background in place while the silicone dries. Apply a bead along the bottom and sides of the background and soprinkle sand on the silicone while it is still tacky to help blend the silicone to the background then allow to dry. Its a really good idea if you are doing this type of install on a tank longer then 30″ to use a few support braces glued into place behind the background attaching the background to the glass to eliminate any bending of the background.

Add your substrate and decorate!!

1)  measure inside of tank carefully. Layout your pieces side to side and arrange them up and down (to break up any pattern) to see where you want the pieces to over lap. and cut all pieces to height just a smidge big if anything.  Connect your pieces side by side and determine what end (or both) you want to trim down to the length needed. Give all pieces a good rinse. 

2) clean the tank up, and remove all equipment too either one side in the back of the tank or too the side of the  tank. Determine what side of the tank your going to start on, you will want to start with a piece that does not have a lip on it at this point. 

3) you will want to empty 4-5 inches of water to have some room to work with. Move  enough or your substrate away from the back glass to accomadate your first background piece.
 

4) insert your first background piece into the water and match up the bottom of background to the bottom of the back glass then slowly push the top of the background in to place around the top of back glass. The background should fit perfectly under the lip of the tank and be situated completely against the back glass. Secure the bottom of the background by moving your substrate back in front of it and or a rock or two. The background pieces are very buoyant but thats what keeps them firmly attached at the top.

There is actually 2 pieces already in the tank in this picture   

 

Over the next several days we will be adding several precut  designs  for some 10 to 40 gallon tanks.  Anyone that ever wanted to add that realistic biotope  natural feel to there aquarium and wanted to utilize a smaller tank or just try it out on a smaller tank and not break the bank for what ever the reason you choose, heres your chance. You can see them all here .

 These can all be installed directly to the back glass in just a few simple steps….Check out the Tutorials, Tips and Tricks Section

Apply a generous amount of aquarium safe silicone (preferably black) to the back of the background.Press the background into place and and use clamps or a brace to apply pressure to keep the background tight to the glass for 24hrs. If you want to you can continue on to  the next step without waiting for the back to cure, its just that the clamps or braces will usually be in the way.

Now just the finishing touches.  Apply a bead of silicone in the gap on both sides and along the bottom (if you can reach it, not important if installing to the glass) where the bottom of the background meets the glass.

Immediately after while the silicone is still tacky , sprinkle sand on the seams until the silicone is completely covered with sand and will blend naturally into the background. The sand will darken a little once it gets wet.

Give all the silicone time to cure and dry. Give your tank a good rinse a couple times to get rid of any dust or dirt. Fill and ENJOY!!

To lead the way is a very nice clean layout by Joe Coulson who definitely has an eye for aquascaping and as you can see below his photo skills aren’t too shabby either     Joe was also kind enough to send a video link to his tank here

65 Gallon tall (36″ x 18″ x 24″)
Custom stand (I work in a cabinet shop)
Glass top with Coralife double T5 light (10k x 2)
Fluval 204
Ebo Jager heater
Koralife Nano for circulation
Flourite mix (regular and black about 60lbs)
Background Congo by Designs by Nature
River rocks from Helen, GA
Driftwood made by me (cured a long time ago and screwed into slate)

Fish:
Midas named “Pick” (my daughter, 4, named all the fish)
Sailfin Pleco (about 8″) named “swimmy”

Here are a few others and still lots more in the galleries section

Selvas

BJ051A