polishing tank

bandcamp

bandcamp

Member
how long should it take to polish a 460 gallon acryllic tank, and would that get rid of all or most of the scratches (we have a few, both inside & outside)?
this tank is viewable from 3 sides
thank you
 
azeritis

azeritis

Member
I was about to post a similar question. Is there something i can use to get rid of these annoying scatches?
I was all over the place today looking for something but did not get any answers. I f you know, please identify the substance, not the brand cause I live in Greece, and the specific brand may not exist. Thanks.
 
R

randy 12

Guest
Do you have scratches on the inside or outside? Tenecor sells a scratch remover that I think you can use inside the tank with water and inhabitants in there. If you have scratches on the outside, use Maguires Mirror Glaze Fine Cut Cleaner and use an electric polisher/sander - not an orbital buffer (it doesn't have high enough rotation speed). If you have deep scratches, you need to sand with an electric sander with your sand paper getting finer and finer and eventually about 600 (wet). Then use the Mirror Glaze and electric polisher. The Novus 2 and 3 doesn't do the job - especially by hand. It leaves too much haze. Do the way I said and it will come out looking very nice. We did it on the inside and outside of a used acrylic that sat in my brother's garage and which he used to throw all sorts of rock and junk into. Looks like new now! You might see some very, very fine swirls but with water in the aquarium, it disappears.
 
foxthorn

foxthorn

Member
Man, with all this talk about trying to remove scratches... I'm thinking I should go with glass. I had a acrylic tank all picked out and quoted.... now you guys got me second guessing my decision! :eek:
 
R

randy 12

Guest
Acrylic tanks are really nice looking but they scratch easily...a piece of rock falls, sand or gravel get caught in your scrubber...
but scratches are less noticeable with a tank filled with water than without, except when you get algae in the scratch, which is then hard to get out. If our tanks weren't free, I would have gone with glass, unless it is a large tank.
 
foxthorn

foxthorn

Member
Well, I just got done reading a ton of old posts .... I'm convinced. My new tank is going to be an Oceanic - glass! :D
 
R

randy 12

Guest
Let me know how it goes. It takes a lot of time and patience.
 
tangtang

tangtang

Member
Hi all!
I have an acrylic FO w/scratches and 3 glass reef tanks w/out. One of the biggest reasons I don't change over the FO to FOWLR is the acrylic. I can't imagine scraping coraline off the acrylic!
Linda
 
R

randy 12

Guest
Kent Marine's plastic scraper works really well for that. I don't have a problem with coraline in the acrylic. HOwever, green algae in the scratches on the acrylic, now that's another matter.
 
rockface

rockface

Member
I recently purchased a new acrylic tank, and would just about give it away at this point. Never again will I purchase an acrylic tank. It's a very high quality one, and it still scratches very easliy.
I guess within 3 yrs I'll be tearing down my 300, and replacing with a glass 300.
 
foxthorn

foxthorn

Member
Hey Rockface... Sorry to hear about the troubles with your new tank. I noticed an older post saying you were selling your 92 gallon AGA. The thread didn't indicate that you actually got rid of it. Do you still have it / if so, are you still looking to sell it??
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top