# My experience with cork tile as background



## ObiQuiet (Oct 9, 2009)

I recently removed cork tile from a tank in which I had decided to try it as a "neutral" background inside a tank (covering a mirror back). In case anyone is interested, here's my experience....

I didn't expect it to last forever, and in fact it lasted longer than I thought it would.

This is the 12 x 12" flat thin bulletin board cork you can get at the office supply store. It's floppy, but not rolled. This is not the textured or unprocessed cork bark tile.

Longevity: Fine for two years. At about 2-2.5 years it started to deteriorate. The cork dust looked a lot like mulm, and it took me a little while to figure out that it was really the spongy cork. 

Not being ready to take the tank down, I added a canister filter. That kept things clean for another year.

After that, the deterioration accelerated to where the filter couldn't keep up and finally there were blank patches where it had completely worn away. Time to yank it out!

Algae magnet? Not so much. 
Shrimp: The RCS really liked crawling all over it.
Fish: No ill effects I could tell
Look: Unobtrusive, not artificial-looking, but certainly not realistic.
Use it again? Sure, but only if the same need for a cheap, 2-year max, inside-the-tank background comes up.


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## blue thumb (Mar 30, 2010)

This is my current 120g with natural cork bark tile the kind sold by Zoo Med.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

This and the moss wall thread are helpful to me because I have been thinking about doing a planted in-tank background as one sees in Dutch aquaria. This allows you to grow all sorts of epiphytes on the background.

Some people describe using black rigid insulation foam for this purpose. Do either of you have an experience with that material?


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