Fixing scratches on acrylic tanks - help!

mg1197

mg1197

Member
Has anyone ever used the Novus products to try and remove scratches from acrylic fishtanks? Do these products work? I am setting up a new /used tank and it has no water in it yet - If I use Novus on the ******** will it taint the tank forever? Also, does the stuff affect clarity at all - will it leave a general haze or blurry area where the scratch was ?
 
rsd

rsd

Member
picked up a 25 gal hex at a garage sale for $5 (with stand). The previous owner tried to remove algea with a steel wool pad :( !!!
I bought the novus stuff and scrubbed for 2 hours. I can still see 2 scratches, but the damn thing is crystal clear now where b4 you couldn't see through it. Fish (FW) don't seem to mind. Just use a soft cloth and start working your fore arms now... and get a good masseus... 'cause your arms gonna be burnin'.
The stuff works better than I thought.
 
wxv102

wxv102

New Member
mg1197,
I am a plastics engineer. There are a few things to think about acrylic scratches. One is how were they formed? If the scratches were formed by a rock scratch or scrubbing pad, you are in luck (sort of). If they were caused by chemical attack like using a ammonia bassed cleaner, they scratches are really "crazing" and may be difficult/impossible to remove. Most of the kits will work well to remove mild scratches. If you only have one, I would leave it alone if you can. You may end up modifying the optics or thinning the acrylic to much causing unfixable stress cracking to occure. Smaller tankes typically do not have to worry about the stress cracking because it will not have water pressure.
Good luck.
Bill
 
sal t. nutz

sal t. nutz

Member
I have a 300 Gallon that was scratched horribly. It looked like someone had dragged it across a gravel lot. I bought the 3M Acrylic widows repair kit. It works with an Orbital sander. It was hard work (just because the tank is so big) but when finished, there is not a single scratch. No haze like you are worried about either, just clear, scratch free acrylic.
 
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