i have a 50 gallon acrylic that im starting. tank is new and ive been trying to be careful. through the process of adding rock, i got about 6 scratched down low right around the sand line. i was almost shocked to see them as i coulda swore i was extra careful. im being a little obsessive as you cant see the scratches unless your on your hands and knees no more then a foot or two away. nevertheless, with the tank still only about a month old, its rather disappointing. is there anyway to get make these scratches better, with water in the tank?
Scratches in Acrylic
- Thread starter Rv5
- Start date
Maybe you want to come over to the DIY forum and see how we tackle this scratched acrylic problem?
How visible is the scratch when the tank is filled with water depends on how deep it is. If you can feel it with your finger nail, it will show up pretty well. Do a search on the DIY forum, and you can find info as to how to get it out with sanding/buffing.
Best is to wet the area and see if the scratch still show up...
How visible is the scratch when the tank is filled with water depends on how deep it is. If you can feel it with your finger nail, it will show up pretty well. Do a search on the DIY forum, and you can find info as to how to get it out with sanding/buffing.
Best is to wet the area and see if the scratch still show up...
the tank is totally full with water. thats my problem. im in the startup phase still, so no fish, but have live rock and sand in and the water level is all the way up. the few scratches are down at the bottom. I cant feel them with my finger, so they must not be very deep, and i cant see them unless looking directly at them from close up, but it bugs me like crazy right now to know they are there. maybe ill get over it. i assume with cycling water i really cant do anything can i?
Don't loose sleep over it, since if you going to be in this hobby for at least a year with an altitude like that, you will feel worse when a critter move a critical rock in the tank and cause a big piece of rock to scratch the tank right in the middle of your view. This is one reason some will only get glass tank, but for me, I have all acrylic tanks.
If it bother you so much that you *must* do something about it, you may want to polish the scratch out by removing all the stuff in there out. However, be forewarn that you *might* make another scratch on the process when you move rocks in and out.... Some do the polishing without moving all the stuffs out, since fine acrylic powder is pretty much inert, if you use the right kind of sand paper (maybe micromesh is fine for this purpose, since you can use it wet? please verify...)
Do it now while no livestock is in there, or forget about it until you get another inavoidable scratch...
If it bother you so much that you *must* do something about it, you may want to polish the scratch out by removing all the stuff in there out. However, be forewarn that you *might* make another scratch on the process when you move rocks in and out.... Some do the polishing without moving all the stuffs out, since fine acrylic powder is pretty much inert, if you use the right kind of sand paper (maybe micromesh is fine for this purpose, since you can use it wet? please verify...)
Do it now while no livestock is in there, or forget about it until you get another inavoidable scratch...
You can use Micro-Mesh in full tanks as it is an abrasive cloth which works better when wet. Rainbow's "Scratch Removal Kit" is a scaled down version of it and works okay. I like the real set better because you get the full series. Take a look at www.micro-surface.com/ to get a better look at it. BTW, don't worry about a little acrylic dust from sanding getting into your tank, it won't hurt a thing.Rv5":3mvz82ni said:
I can see the scratch issue, but the cost usually evens out around 180gal tanks and acrylic starts to become cheaper in most cases after that. Plus once you get too tall, the use glass becomes a real safety factor as well, silicone holds well but not under that much pressure - 30" in height is about the limit for glass tanks for the most part. Then there are things that are just not feasible to do with glass but acrylic lends itself well to custom forming etc.
James
Personally, I'd recommend the NC-78-1 ACRYLIC RESTORAL KIT on https://www.micro-surface.com/default.cfm?page_id=175, if you have the extra $$ then the MA-1 kit has larger sheets. The NC-78-1 at $32.50 is a heck of a deal though IMO considering what you can do with it. Look in the "Top Kit Picks" section for more info on it.Rv5":2j9ttoci said:
You want to start with 400 or 600 grit wet/dry paper to get the original scratches out, then 1000 grit wet/dry then go through the Micro-Mesh series (1500-12000) to polish up. When finished it will leave a very slight dimple which can be seen at an angle if the tank is dry but mostly invisible when wet unless you're *really* looking for it. Can be tedious but works very well, and has the bonus of not having to drain the tank
I've been working with this company for tha last 15yrs or so and have always been happy with their products if that counts for anything.
HTH,
James
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