Ever since I began saving for my aquarium a few years ago, I've had my heart set on having a mirror in the back of my tank. When I set it up a couple of months ago, the owner of the local pet shop recommended the mirrored mylar background, but he didn't have it in the size I needed (I have a 75 gallon). After waiting a while to see if he would get it in the store, I finally gave up and mail ordered it. My background arrived today and I placed it on my tank. I am sooo disappointed. I could have gotten the same effect with a roll of aluminum foil!

Does anyone know of a good way to mount an actual mirror on the back of my tank?

I've looked all over and I can't find a mirror the proper size. And even if I DO find it, I don't know how I would mount it. It would definitely have to be a low weight mirror, but even then, I expect finding a way to mount it directly to the back of the tank would be difficult. Mounting it on the wall isn't an option, and likely wouldn't give the desired effect, anyway.

Does anyone sell mirrors that are specifically designed to be mounted on aquariums or is this an unrealistic search?

I know you can make silvering materials yourself, but they are not easy to do and extraordinarily expensive (Nitrate of Silver being the toughie!).

What about smaller mirror tiles you can get at a local hardware store? These are easy to cut - with a glass cutter or tile saw. You can set them together in a pattern. I have seen them in 12 inch squares - a nice pattern could work well.

Hardware stores will often cut you a mirror to size and specifications. Some mirror stores will do the same. The mirror stores tend to be a bit pricey, but I have found some that manufacture mirrors that will do it for very little money. I made a mirror for one of my daughters - I wanted a mirror in the shape of a rose - that I etched with the lines of the petals for her. THey cut the rose for me - it was about 20 inches in diameter - for about $25. And that was fancy cutting - not just a rectangle.

Even if you end up with a slightly heavier mirror, you can find a way to support it..... somehow. I will have to think on that.

My idea has been crushed...

When I first thought of the mirror, I mentioned it to a co-worker who keeps fish. He assured me that because of the affect of the water, the mirror would not reflect what was in the room, only what was in the tank. Never questioning that information, I expected the mirror to give the impression that the tank was actually much larger, and stretched back into the wall.

This evening, I realized that I had never actually tested the idea to see how the mirror would look. So before pursuing the idea any further, I stood a tall, narrow wall mirror behind the tank. Even though it wasn't nearly long enough to cover the entire tank, it told me what I needed to know... My co-worker was incorrrect. The mirror reflected everything in the room behind me and actually looked even worse than the foil!

I'm quite disappointed, but glad I figured it out before investing any more effort into the idea. I'll just have to select a standard aquarium background. But thanks for taking the time to help me think on it!

i saw an aquarium background at wally world and it was mirrored on one side and blue on the other side so you could choose which one you wanted i was thinking about that too.

Sorry to hear about your disappointment. I was thinking about the same thing myself, the mere thought of it seemed really great.

Maybe you can hang a painting of a forest / underwater garden opposite of your aquarium!

I liked Daryl's idea about the mosaic pattern you could make. That's certainly an option for you. Maybe you could find something really reflective to put into the gravel, your tank would be SO sparkley!

Save your money on that Wally World blue/mirrored background unless you are buying it for the blue side. That's the same background I tried first. It looked like I had put aluminum foil in the back of the tank. It really gave the impression of a stainless steel back. I suppose you might like it, but I didn't.

At this point, I'd prefer to just stay away from the reflective backgrounds all together. I have no desire to look at myself in the tank!!! I saw a photo someone posted here of a tank with a black background. It made the rest of the tank look so bright in contrast. I'm going to give that a try.

I plan on spraypainting one of my tanks with a black background. I know its what I want, so its ok, but if you dont know if that is what you want you can always get a background in black. A background for me would be eight bucks, and a can of paint, about 99 cents. lol. So Im gonna do that.

I bought the black background. Don't want to paint as I may want to change in the future. But right now I'm quite pleased with the black. The only draw back is, ANY debris at all that is floating in the tank is highly visible. But that might not be so bad either. It'll help me to keep up with my tank cleanings.

Bums. That seemed like such a great idea too! I got quite excited for a moment there by the idea of a mirror background.

I know this is kind of an old post - but I just bought one of these backgrounds and I am VERY pleased. It has an adhesive that sticks the background to the tank back - no tape, no water, no glue, etc. It has no air bubbles and the background is bright and clear. I got the deep blue one for one of my tanks. I was ready to paint, but thought I would try this instead. I think it beats paint, hands down.

They have a bright mirror - and I think that I would be inclined to think that it really looks like a mirror. The background I got was GREAT!

http://www.aquaricare.org/item.jhtml?UCIDs...4801&PRID=95477

http://www.aquaricare.org/category.html?UCIDs=414801

So what hue exactly did you purchase? I am thinking about getting some for my two tanks...

I got the 19 inch deep ocean blue - it looks very good with my red and black fish.

http://www.aquaricare.org/item.jhtml?UCIDs...4801&PRID=95474

Heh. I use black trash bags for my Goldfish tank. Very impressive and paid for at Wal*Mart. I'm very happy with the results.