January 15, 2013
The old clips from days past have been replaced with a more rugged material and design!
These clips may not work with all tanks and backgrounds.
We no longer offer free clips with the backgrounds but they can be purchased from our website! https://www.universalrocks.com/fish/backgrounds/crevice-style/back-ground-clips
What are clips?
They are designed to slide over the top of your tank and help hold the top of the background in place against the back glass, along with the gravel on the bottom to hold the base of the background in place. This is more important on our foam backgrounds, as the foam tries to float.
Why clips?
Why not magnets or something similar? For about a year Universal Rocks, supplied magnets with every background and that worked pretty well. Why did we stop I hear you ask? It’s all about the Benjamin’s baby… they became very expensive very quickly. As of the end of 2010 they were putting the cost of some products up as much as $40 each. In an effort to conserve costs we switched to “clips” and as a result can pass the savings onto you. There was a whole bunch of other issues like how to seal them completely so they don’t rust and such as well.
There is an exception to the rule and that is our Exo-terra backgrounds and Zoo-med backgrounds that ship with Velcro. The Velcro works fantastically, the only down side is it can’t be submerged because the glue will dissolve and separate from the glass or the background. Because these tanks stay dry for the most part we are able to use Velcro in place of clips.
Does the background you’re interested in come with clips? - No
We no longer offer free clips with the backgrounds but they can be purchased from our website! https://www.universalrocks.com/fish/backgrounds/crevice-style/back-ground-clips
Clips are not suitable for every background we make, as they can’t stretch out indefinitely, some backgrounds are too thick and others are simply too large and heavy the clips wouldn’t hold it up.
If the clips do not work with the background you want, you can use silicone to hold it in place. Make sure you use aquarium safe silicon and to always read the directions on the back. I’ll get into the nitty-gritty at a later date but for now let’s stay focused.
How do you use Clips?
As I mentioned above, once you get your hands on them it should click. Grip the clip on either side of the slit. Now pull it away from itself. Take the now opened clip and place it open side down over the top of the tank and background and release. It should now be holding one side of the background in place. Do this until the background is secure or you have used up all of your clips.
I hope this has quenched your thirst for knowledge on this particular subject. However should you still be thirsty and have any questions/comments/ideas feel free to leave them in the comment section below or you can always email me at info@universalrocks.com and I’ll be happy to answer anything you like.