Acrylic Tank Housekeeping

[kylev]

What do you guys use to clean the inside of your acrylic tank? I have a few things I've tried or left alone cause they either seem too risky or seem to be leaving very minor and hard to see scratches. I don't mind spending extra time cleaning if it means the comfort of knowing I wont scratch my tank. Any pointers???
 
Thanks

 

[meowzer]

I use a mag float made for an acrylic tank
 
they also have the kent scrapers that re made for acrylic too......Just make sure you get the acrylic ones

 

[kylev]

Thanks meowzer, I have a kent one that I'm using, Just not sure if the few little scratches I'm seeing are from it or not. I've just noticed every little scratch I have the past night because I started to sand and sand some more with an acrylic removal kit to remove the scratches that came from shipping so I've noticed every scratch on all sides. I was dumb enough to let tenecor get away with some scratches just because I was happy to have the tank, now that I'm 4 hours into it with another ~12 to go on the 6'x2' side I'm not sure it was worth it, but o well it will be nice when its done.

 

[gemmy]

Just make sure there is no sand not even one grain on the scraper, scrubbie, mag float or any tool when cleaning the tank. That can leave scratches in your tank.

 

[egill]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Gemmy http:///forum/thread/380684/acrylic-tank-housekeeping#post_3314378
Just make sure there is no sand not even one grain on the scraper, scrubbie, mag float or any tool when cleaning the tank. That can leave scratches in your tank.
yep, I learned that the hard way...sucks.

 

[sparty059]

So here's the question of the day! What do I do when I have scratches inside the tank... when it's FULL? Any options? Or would I have to empty it out to remove the scratches?

 

[2quills]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparty059 http:///forum/thread/380684/acrylic-tank-housekeeping#post_3314468
So here's the question of the day! What do I do when I have scratches inside the tank... when it's FULL? Any options? Or would I have to empty it out to remove the scratches?
Empty it...shoulda buffed it out before you set it up. Is your tank acrylic or glass?

 

[sparty059]

Acrylic. I don't care much about the scratches. I'm going to be emptying it out in a year or so because I'm getting a new house... so I suppose I can buff everything out then.

 

[kylev]

Thanks for the replies.

 

[saxman]

If you get a bad scratch, you can use "micro mesh" (AKA "crystal bond") to buff them out when the tank is full. We had an issue where a "glass" pad was accidentally used on an acrylic tank for a swipe. Not the easiest thing to do. Rather than finishing with slurry such as Novus (great stuf BTW), I finished with 12,000 grit micro mesh (not a typo...12,000 grit). You can't even tell the tank was scratched.
Rather than trying to figure out what you need to buy separately, you can pick up one of those scratch removal kits, which has several progressively finer grits. Hint: make sure you always polish in one direction, then polish 90* to the previous grit. That way, you'll always be able to tell when all of the previous scratches are out.
BTW, we just use those white "made for acrylic" scrubber pads and those little red plastic scrapers (they cost about 89 cents at the LFS). For larger tough areas, I use a piece of 1/8" acrylic sheet (if I have some laying around).

 

[kylev]

Thanks for the advice Saxman, I'm currently in the process of using a Novus kit which has become quite a bit of work but its going well. I'm going to look into the white pads your talking about and just try to see if they'd work for me if I use them frequently enough