# "Seaview" background adhesive, anyone know anything?



## swylie (May 10, 2007)

I picked this up at PetCo the other day 'cause I'm getting a 10g ready to go live. It's a liquid that's supposed to reduce reflection between the back glass and the background. I've tried it, and yes, it works. To quote _Spinal Tap_, "It's like, how much more black could this be? and the answer is none. None more black." Maybe that's an exaggeration, but I couldn't turn down the opportunity to quote.

Anyway, I have mixed opinions of this stuff. It's messy if you're not careful, and most importantly, I don't know what it's made from. It's supposedly nontoxic. The company's web site (www.seaviewinfo.com) doesn't have any useful information. Doesn't seem like it's water-based. Maybe it's an immersion oil? Same refractive index as glass? That might be giving them too much credit.


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## spypet (Sep 15, 2006)

you seem to already know everything about it :hihi: 
you have it, you used it, it works, so why ask?


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## tazcrash69 (Sep 27, 2005)

I used to use a small amount of veggie oil to do the same thing. Makes tapping more difficult though


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## swylie (May 10, 2007)

spypet said:


> you seem to already know everything about it :hihi:
> you have it, you used it, it works, so why ask?


Yes, but I don't know _why_ it works. :icon_wink I'm the kind of person who breaks things taking them apart to see how they work and trying to improve them.

Also, if it's just mineral oil, it would be a shame to pay good money for it.


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## tazcrash69 (Sep 27, 2005)

By removing all air, the backgrounds just look cleaner beause as the product says no reflection between the 2. 
That's the reason why painting, and "oceanvisions" look so good. 

Do you have some mineral oil around? time for a comparison?
How much was it? 

BTW laughed when I read "none more black".


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## willbldrco (Mar 24, 2007)

*Love it! Wouldn't go back to simply taping*

I use the same stuff and it works like a charm. In my case the background is deep blue and the effect is exactly the same as tanks with painted backgrounds. It works for the same reason a glass vessel nearly disappears under water once the air it contains is released: The refraction index values for water and glass are much closer to each other than the index of air. Once you seal that tiny gap between the tank glass and the background image (thus eliminating the air), you have a straight shot to the image and a much more vivid effect. Same effect with painting the background: No air.

I would never go back to just taping a background on a tank - looks cheap-o!

Hint: It doesn't take alot of the solution to get the effect (will cut down on the mess if you use less). Also, expect to spend several frustrating minutes trying to get any small bubbles out. I used a credit card to scrape them to the edge, but beware of scraping too hard: It will effectively squish out all the liquid and create a bigger bubble!

Once set, the effect lasts for years. I did my 55g about 6 years ago and it still looks as good as the day I put on the background!

Will


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