acrylic scratches

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scooty,

can either of these be used in the water, or does the tank have to be drained??
 
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I have used the Lifegard Scratch Removal Kit: http://www.marinedepot.com/Rainbow_...riums-Lifegard_Aquatics-RB1551-FIMTCK-vi.html

It can be used inside the tank without having to drain the water with no ill effects to your livestock. It works great as long as you apply a LOT of elbow grease! Because of the amount of elbow grease you need to use, you may want to drain a little water from the tank so it doesn't slosh out the top. The amount of elbow grease required depends on the depth of your scratches & which grade/grit sandpaper you start with.

For the above answer I will ask you a question also. Did you get the scratches from using a magnetic algae cleaner? I'm betting you did...at least that's how I got mine.

I no longer use any kind of magnetic cleaner for this reason. Only the acryllic safe scrub pads. Those require elbow grease to clean too, but much less then the amount needed to remove the scratches.

PS: I have also vowed to only buy glass tanks from now on.

Good luck!

Rob
 
I dont know where the scratches came from honestly. I was thinking that it was from my magnetic cleaner also but i followed the trail back and it doesnt seem to be the case...However good advice on the scrubber pad! I will have to look into that! Thanks for the info as well!

Matt
 
This is great news. I was just about to start a project of draining the tank this weekend to remove some scratches. This just may have saved me a huge headache! Thank you guys!
 
Dry Tank

This thread focuses on removing scratches from a wet tank, I just aquired a 125 Gallon complete setup and the tank is older and acrylic and has many scratches in the front. I would like to buff the entire front inside to a scratch free polished finish. Is there a process on how to do this, fine grit papers on a variable speed drills buffing pad with some sort of creme or liquid? I will be removing scratches from a 2x6 foot surface, so hand sanding is not really an option.

Does CFI do this type of work? whats it cost (ballpark) to have them buff out a tank?

THanks
Ichthys
 
Jason at CFI does it, I asked him if he'd remove some of the scratches a Clayton service guy made and he spent a couple hours polishing the tank when he was first looking over the system and is going to do some finishing touches in the next few weeks. We had to empty the tank though, not sure if that is a problem. Jason does great work though, lots of experience!
 
its hard to remove the scratches, it takes for ever if you do it by hand. best thing would be to do a bit each day. i tried it, spent 8hrs on an empty tank, when i was done i wasnt happy. i used this little pack of different grit sand paper. its not fun at all. good luck though take your time and be patient.
 
Thanks! I know it will be a pain but I just didn't want to put anything into my tank that would contaminate it.
 
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