Acrylic...scratches...not cool

schubert

schubert

Member
Just so that I won't have my hopes up...there is no way to remove my many scratches while the water is in the tank right?...great...and there is no practical way to empty the tank without spending more money on temporary QT tank that is bigger than my two gallon, more water, more salt, etc. right? great...
 
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tizzo

Guest
This was originally posted by "msd2" on another thread over in the fish forum, but I copied it instead of posting the link cause the thread is long...
There are kits u can get that are wet/dry sandpaper of varying grits. I simply wrapped it around my magnetic cleaner and can go across the acrlyic anywhere in the tank w/it full of water. Totally safe since your removing very little matieral and acrylic is safe.
 
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tizzo

Guest
Those hobbiests catalogs that come to your house monthly, they have scratch removal kits. Just about any on line marine hobby supply supply store will have them.
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Hey, look at it this way. Both acrylic and glass scratch...but you can only get the scratches out of acrylic. :yes: So I'm out of luck. The above described method probably does work. I would do more research, yes, but that is basically what is done in public aquaria.
 
robchuck

robchuck

Active Member
Rainbow Lifeguard sells an acrylic scratch removal kit with a series of fine grit sandpapers. I used it to take a few scratches out of my acrylic tank after my aquascaping efforts caused a few scratches. The sanding was all done underwater and none of the livestock has shown any bad effects.
 
schubert

schubert

Member
Wow..I had no idea about that. So just wrap the sandpaper (any particular kind?) around a magfloat and scrub really hard everywhere? Sounds easy enough...
 
schubert

schubert

Member
So...I found this sandpaper sponge (if you can imagine that) in my house. I tried it on a spot where there was a scratch and it seemed to transform it from a long scratch to a whole bunch of smaller scratches? HELP???
 
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tizzo

Guest
That sounds like a drywall sander!! Way to course for acrylic. Do a search on "acrylic scratch removal kit" and you should find something like this...
 
schubert

schubert

Member
I have seen those kits, but I need something that will undoubtedly work underwater. Will these? Or do I need to buy a certain grade of sandpaper, if so what kind? Thanks.
 
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tizzo

Guest
I went back to the pic and actually read the description next to it, so I cut and copied it for ya... Note 3, 4, and 6!!
1. Removes scratches from acrylic Aquariums.
2. Crystal pad, the sanding material in this kit, has been used to polish plastic surfaces for over 20 years in the aircraft industry. The abrasive crystals are cushioned within a thin soft resilient material. This cushion allows the large abrasive crystals to recede into the soft material creating an even cutting plane.
3. Can be used wet or dry.
4. Removes scratches even under water!
5. Includes 8 different progressive grades of crystal pads, sanding block, 3/4 oz. bottle of final polish liquid abrasive with anti-static agent, flannel cloth and molded plastic case.
6. Economical to use. Outlasts common abrasives up to 7 times in dry applications, and up to 15 times with wet applications.
7. Restores your acrylic aquarium to its original new luster!
 
schubert

schubert

Member
I have many scratches, so it'll fix pretty much anything that you put the pad over, right? It's not like I have to do a certain process for each individual mark?
 
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tizzo

Guest
I would rely on the instructions that come with the kit. Buffing out a scratch can potentially take a series of different grades of sandpaper until you reach the highest grade to "polish" the remains. If it is a deep gouge you would start with a courser sandpaper then progress to a slightly less course one and so on until you get to the finest grade. You couldn't start off with the finest grade because you'd be there all day, but you hafta end with it to buff out the smallest scratches left by the sandpaper before it. Zis make sense??
 
schubert

schubert

Member
My scratches are not too deep. They seem to be mostly from moving live rock, sand getting stuck under the mag float, etc. Is there some sort of measurement of sandpaper so I can know what to buy at home depot if I were to get some there?
 
ophiura

ophiura

Active Member
Its JMO, but I defintiely would not just go to home depot and buy fine grade sandpaper for this use. If you do, I would seriously talk to a professional or you'll do more harm than good. This is a specialized thing.
 
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fishlovr

Guest
My daughter bought a 135 gallon acrylic tank with light scratches all over the front viewing panel. They had been put there from the previous owners puffers beak. We bought the Rainbow kit and used it as directed and it made the scratches disappear but in their place was a terrible haze! I would not recommend this kit to anyone. We bought a bottle of Novus 2, drained the tank and polished the inside with the Novus.......took a lot of elbow grease for such a big tank but the result was wonderful! No more scratches, no more haze......nothing but clear viewing:) I just posted a question about returning the corals to the tank.......was told that the product won't hurt fish but could kill corals if not completely removed. Waiting for someone else to respond who has used Novus successfully with their corals........HTH
fishlovr
 
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