A few months ago I finally tackled something I had been wanting to do for a while: Get some bark & foam textured backgrounds for my tank [which is aprox 18x18x36]. Using zoo med cork bark tile on the two sides, and exo terra's foam "rock" background for the back. Installation was pretty simple: you cut everything to size and then find a way to fix it all to the tank. I ended up using aquarium silicone to bond it all to the glass, and to seal around the edges so nothing could get behind it. They say that this stuff cures in 24 hours but it was a week before the tank stopped smelling like silicone so I had to use a spare enclosure while the tank sat outside airing out.
Anyhow, I was left with several strips of cork bark that I had cut off to make the tiles fit my tank. I figured it would make for a better hide than the cardboard I fold up & throw on the cold-side of the tank.
So I used my TL-29 to score the strips so that I could snap them into smaller lengths and then used hot glue to assemble the pieces. I wanted to use nails but feared creating sharp edges in the tank that she could cut herself on.
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Unfortunately I did not have quite as many strips left as I needed to finish the "top" to the assembly, so I staggered the top strips slightly to try to get more coverage out of them. The gaps would allow light to get through, and probably make for an insufficient hide on the hot side but this is going on the cold side which has no direct light source [heat lamp is over the hot end and the top of the tank has already gotten the tinfoil treatment so the cold side is nice and dark]. There was still a few inches of no-roof towards the back of the hide but that actually matches the cardboard hide this is replacing. I left the last strip compiling the "top" long intentionally so it can serve as a handle to help lift the hide out for cleaning purposes.
I have been impressed with the bark tiles on the sides of the tank, as they seem to make life easier in controlling the temps & humidity of the tank considering its just a glass box that sits in a corner against two exterior walls. Altogether 5 of the 6 sides of this enclosure are insulated in some manner, leaving only the glass front alone to make for easy viewing. :gj: