Acrylic aquarium buffing questions.

[teds]

After a number of months of use, my aquarium now has number of scratches. Needless to say, I’ve learned some lessons in terms of how careful a person needs be in cleaning acrylic . So I'm planning on taking advantage of moving to a new house to buff out my acrylic aquarium. The dimensions of the aquarium are 48x24x30. I have a couple of questions I hope someone can please help me with:

1) I’m thinking of buying some Novus polish (#1,#2 & #3) to do the buffing. I’m wondering how much I would need to buff out the front and sides of the aquarium?? They have the 64oz containers which seem like lot of product; maybe a couple of 8oz kits are enough?​

2) I’m also planning on buying a electric buffer/polisher, maybe one of the smaller versions available at Home Depot, Sears, etc… (e.g. http://www.blackanddecker.com/ProductGuide/Product-Details.aspx?ProductID=5469) Anyone have good luck with these? I’ve noticed that buffers available come in a variety of speeds, is there a proper speed for polishing acrylic?​

3) Last question, I have an orbital sander that a you can buy a hook an loop polishing pad for, should I even think about just using that? The sander speed is variable from 7000-12000.​

Any help would be great, thanks in advance,

Ted

 

[sandswhitson]

I will be tagging along with this as I have an acrylic tank that also needs buffed.

 

[saltwaterfishes]

I buffed out a 45g about 6 months ago, all by hand. It wasn't as bad as I thought it going to be. I used sand papers from taps plastics and pad from scratch removal kit, and crystal clear polisher for final buff. I had to start over twice 'cause I was not happy with the end result. I had some deep scratches so I started with 400 grid....then 800, 2000, 4000, 8000, 12000, and final buff.
Luck good!! A lot of elbow grease, but not too bad once you started.

 

[gothunder3022]

I've only done this once...so take it with a grain of salt. Hopefully some of the acrylic experts will chime in.

I had really good luck buffing out a tank this summer with the same equipment I used to buff out a new paint job on my truck. When you paint as badly as I do...buffing is essential.

I used a Vaper polisher/Sander that I bought at Wesco Autobody and the Meguiar's Solo system cutting and polishing pads (http://www.meguiars.com/solo/products.cfm). The Vaper has a max speed of 3000 RPM. The tank I was working on only had a few bad scratches, but the worst part was the lower 1/3 of the sides (inside) where coralline algae had been left unchecked. I worked on it with vinegar and water several times before I realized the actual surface of the acrylic was damaged. After some experimentation I ended up using Novus 3 (the heavy scratch remover) with the Meguiar wool heavy cut pad (the red one). I ran the buffer at 1800-2000 rpm, worked slowly, but didn't linger in any one spot too long. I'd heard several warnings about heating up the acrylic. I worked my way up to the wool light cutting pad (the yellow one). Then shifted to Novus 2 with the foam polish and finishing pads (and lowered the speed to 1400-1600 rpm). It was a bit tedious because I kept cleaning up to check my progress...but no elbow grease was harmed in the process.

I used almost the entire 8oz bottle (each) of the Novus 2 & 3...I buffed both sides and the front (inside and out), to give you an idea of material usage.

Oh, and I guess I should mention...the tank looks awesome!

 

[saltwaterfishes]

Definately a sander would be easier, I was nervous of heating up the acrylic and end up with uneven surface.

 

[Workaholic]

When I did it in the past what I did was take out any excess material that was needed with 1500grit wetsand paper by hand to a point where I could no longer feel the scratch with my finger. After that I then went through the 3 steps of novus with a random orbital buffer using a different pad for each step. You dont need to apply any pressure on the buffer I found it worked best when it was just guided to the area that needed worked and just "floated" on the acrylic. worked great for me and took scratches out with little time invested.

Tom

 

[125g]

novus worked great for me as well

 

[teds]

Thank you for all of the responses, great information!! It will be great to have a scratch free tank again. I'll give it a go in the next couple of months.

take care,
Ted

 

[CRASHFIREJOE]

I just buffed out a 100 gal tank last week that was toasted with deep scratches that easily caught you nail inside and outside of the tank. Here is how I did it took a little work but it is good as new now. I first used 400 wet sand paper going in one direction opposite of the direction of the scratch, then 800, 1000, and 1500 all going in opposite directions with each grit change I used a sanding block to hold the paper always keeping it wet and rinsed. I then used heavy rubbing compound then light using a centrifugal buffer on a med speed with a microfiber pad, this took out all of the sandpaper scratches. I finished with three different steps of McGuire’s wax by hand. It was some work but it brought a tank that was only good for a sump back to a display quality. I will be setting it up as a frag tank this month. Hope this helps you.

 

[harrscars]

Doing the tank is alot like buffing a car. When I bought my 300 it looked like they used a Wagner somewhere in the space where the tank was kept. There were little paint speckles everywhere. I used my air orbital sander with a inner 1/2 foam pad and a wet sanding disc kit from Wesco paints. I used 1500 and then went to 3000. I took a spray container like windex is in and put a little soap in it to keep the surface wet and went to town. If it takes you 1/2 with the 1500 it will double with the 3000. You can get sheets up to 6000 and it will take less buffing. You can buy you a variable speed buffer from harbor freight for about 50-60 bucks and then use that for your Novus. CAUTION. Do not heat up the acrylic as you will hurt the upper layer and make your job much harder as you will have to buff out your mistakes. All together it took me about 25-30 hours for inside and outside on a 7x3x2 tank and it looked great when I was done.

Patience-patience-patience

Good Luck
Mike

 

[teds]

Crashfirejoe & harrscars, I appreciate the information, excellent stuff to know when I get started.

thanks much,
Ted

 

[caseynewton]

I just buffed out a 100 gal tank last week that was toasted with deep scratches that easily caught you nail inside and outside of the tank. Here is how I did it took a little work but it is good as new now. I first used 400 wet sand paper going in one direction opposite of the direction of the scratch, then 800, 1000, and 1500 all going in opposite directions with each grit change I used a sanding block to hold the paper always keeping it wet and rinsed. I then used heavy rubbing compound then light using a centrifugal buffer on a med speed with a microfiber pad, this took out all of the sandpaper scratches. I finished with three different steps of McGuire’s wax by hand. It was some work but it brought a tank that was only good for a sump back to a display quality. I will be setting it up as a frag tank this month. Hope this helps you.

Was thinking about waxing my aquarium too. You mentioned you did this. I was wondering after you waxed it, how did you rinse it? I was afraid to, because I thought Meguiar's Wax would harm any fish or anything in the tank afterwards.

Do you wax then wipe up and call it a day and fill the tank?
Do you use soap and water?
Do you do a gentle rinse and wipe down?


Thanks for this newbie question when it comes to removing and buffing an acrylic aquarium.