does anyone have an acrylic tank?

[LeslieS]

Do you have an acrylic tank?

What do you use to scrape the coralline off the "glass"?

How do you remove scratches from the outside? Inside?

What kind of sand do you have?

Thanks,
Leslie

 

[NYreefNoob]

acrylic

you can go buy wet sanding paper at you local auto parts store, get 1000 grit for heavier scratch's and also get 1500 and 2000 grit these are for light one's get a little soapy water and put dip sand paper in it. and sand away. then use like 3m polishing compound. if you was closer i have all of the above here, benefit of working in a bodyshop

 

[CaptainAndy]

Try www.mightymagnets.com
Expensive but really does the job with acrylic tanks. Got the lead from RC last year.

 

[FREEZE]

they make blades specifically for acrylic to scrape the coralline off.

 

[multivit]

Leslie,

I have my acrylic tank since day 1 into reefing, and I use this kit to remove scratches. It takes time but does the job.

scratch removal kit

As to coralline, I use a credit card to scrape them off the "glass".

 

[masterswimmer]

Leslie,

I have my acrylic tank since day 1 into reefing, and I use this kit to remove scratches. It takes time but does the job.

scratch removal kit

As to coralline, I use a credit card to scrape them off the "glass".

Ditto to all the above.

BTW, I would never, ever, ever, ever buy an acrylic tank again. By the way, did I say NEVER EVER? :banghead:

swimmer

 

[multivit]

LOL Russ, do you have any experience to share other than the following truth?

"Acrylic is less than half the weight of comparably sized glass tanks and its exceptional clarity allows unobstructed views of the underwater world you create.
"Acrylic is said to be 17 times stronger than glass and other commonly used aquarium materials.
"Acrylic is seamless, not joined with glue or sealers. This means it will be virtually leak and breakproof."

 

[masterswimmer]

LOL Russ, do you have any experience to share other than the following truth?

"Acrylic is less than half the weight of comparably sized glass tanks and its exceptional clarity allows unobstructed views of the underwater world you create.
"Acrylic is said to be 17 times stronger than glass and other commonly used aquarium materials.
"Acrylic is seamless, not joined with glue or sealers. This means it will be virtually leak and breakproof."

LOL, I agree with all the statements above. As a matter of fact, every one of those arguments are the reasons I went with acrylic in the first place. The one most compelling argument was the fact that I'm one meticulous SOB.

That being said, the one solitary, lonely grain of sand that made its way onto my magfloat, destroyed what was a beautiful, lightweight, 17 times stronger, seamless, not joined with glue or sealers tank.

Let me be very clear about this, I DON'T CARE HOW CAREFUL YOU SAY YOU ARE OR WILL BE, YOU WILL EVENTUALLY SCRATCH YOUR TANK, NOT ONCE, NOT TWICE, BUT MANY TIMES. Save your money on acrylic repair kits. The amount of elbow grease and intensive labor to remove a small scratch pales in comparison to the amount of work it's going to take to remove all the scratches you WILL get in your beautiful acrylic, lightweight, 17 times stronger, yada yada yada tank........

My soapbox just collapsed under the weight of the bulging vein in my forehead. :banghead:

Respectfully,
Russ
Have a wonderful day!

 

[marrone]

Don't forget you can also scratch glass and unlike acrylic the scratches wouldn't come out. And yes acrylic is easier to scratch than glass so you just need to be more careful when cleaning it. Also Starfire or low iron glass is just as easy to scratch as acrylic.

Also with acrylic you can remove the scratches fairly easy and have a brand new tank, something you can't do with glass.

 

[multivit]

LOL, I agree with all the statements above. As a matter of fact, every one of those arguments are the reasons I went with acrylic in the first place. The one most compelling argument was the fact that I'm one meticulous SOB.

That being said, the one solitary, lonely grain of sand that made its way onto my magfloat, destroyed what was a beautiful, lightweight, 17 times stronger, seamless, not joined with glue or sealers tank.

Let me be very clear about this, I DON'T CARE HOW CAREFUL YOU SAY YOU ARE OR WILL BE, YOU WILL EVENTUALLY SCRATCH YOUR TANK, NOT ONCE, NOT TWICE, BUT MANY TIMES. Save your money on acrylic repair kits. The amount of elbow grease and intensive labor to remove a small scratch pales in comparison to the amount of work it's going to take to remove all the scratches you WILL get in your beautiful acrylic, lightweight, 17 times stronger, yada yada yada tank........

My soapbox just collapsed under the weight of the bulging vein in my forehead. :banghead:

Respectfully,
Russ
Have a wonderful day!

LOL. Now you tell me what I dare not to say about acrylic.:banghead:
Thanks.

 

[masterswimmer]

Also with acrylic you can remove the scratches fairly easy and have a brand new tank, something you can't do with glass.

I'd like you to do a demonstration proving just how easy it is to remove a nice 12" long scratch (which invariably will be the length of the scratch before you notice it's there and stop moving the magnet).

There are eight grades of very fine to unbelievably fine 'sandpaper' to use to properly remove the scratches. When your tank is filled with water, and the scratch is located towards the bottom (surprisingly, where the sand is :idea: ) and you must systematically progress through each grade of 'sandpaper' till it 'looks as good as new', you can tell me how 'fairly easy' it is to remove the scratch/scratches.

I agree, it's quite easy on a dry piece of acrylic sitting flat on your desk. That's not the case in reef keeping.

Damn this soapbox......it keeps regenerating. :division:

swimmer

 

[cali_reef]

"Acrylic is less than half the weight of comparably sized glass tanks and its exceptional clarity allows unobstructed views of the underwater world you create.

How often you move your tank once it is set up? what does weight have to do with anything? You think the 100 pound lighter weight make a difference on a typical 90 gallon tank?

"Acrylic is said to be 17 times stronger than glass and other commonly used aquarium materials.

Does the extra strength matter when you are comparing it to a properly constructed glass tank? All the off the shelf acrylic tanks I have seen\owned bowed in the front pane, not one of 30 or so glass tanks I owned over the years from different manufacturers does that at all.

"Acrylic is seamless, not joined with glue or sealers. This means it will be virtually leak and breakproof."

I like to see a "seam-less" acrylic tank. All acrylic tanks have at least 4 seams, one on the bottom piece to the side walls, two on the rear walls, and one on the top brace. Most have two more in the front panel.

I can bet money a acrylic tank of the same age as a glass tank will have A LOT more scratches, even with the owner being meticulous in his maintenance practice.

You can polish out small scratches in glass, using the same procedure as acrylic. I did that a few times in my old job at the airport. FYI, buffed\polished glass and acrylic will have a slight visual distortion, concave optics.

Back to LeslieS' original questions:

1. Yes i do ( they are used as sumps or test tanks)
2. I don't. (FYI, coralline algae is pretty much like sand grains when dislodged from the glass, it will scratch acrylic if lodged in a typical magnet cleaner.)
3. I don't any more. The procedure others posted is the only way, lots of elbow grease!!
4. All kinds, they all work very well for scratching an acrylic tank :lol2:.

 

[Aqua Pro Builder]

Do you have an acrylic tank? YES, I have couple

What do you use to scrape the coralline off the "glass"? The same magnet I regulary use for cleaning, just more swiping

How do you remove scratches from the outside? Inside? Wet sand paper

What kind of sand do you have? ESV (in my clients' tanks, I found that they do sometimes get trapped in the magnets but they never scratch the inside of the tanks. Instead, most of the time, clients scratch the outside of the tank because the "felt pad are too thin. I also found that when a large rock felt, it will scratch the acrylics but I guess the same happen to glass, may be the tank will break too if the rock get the glass at the wrong angle. If one is clumsy one is clumpsy nothing can save him)

Thanks,
Leslie

FYI, I hate green looking glass tanks. Even as thin as 1mm glass, I felt the green tint irritation.

 

[kimoyo]

Do you have an acrylic tank?

What do you use to scrape the coralline off the "glass"?

How do you remove scratches from the outside? Inside?

What kind of sand do you have?

Thanks,
Leslie

Yes.

Kent pro scraper for thick coralline, great white magnet (1" thick tank) for daily stuff. Don't leave the magnet in the tank! Coralline and other stuff will grow on it and help put scratches on.

Outside, novus or sandpaper or buffer. Inside only sandpaper. Its harder to remove on the inside but sometimes if there is a scratch on the inside I can't see it with the thicker acrylic.

No sand. I've seen people with acrylic keep sand. They stick to specific procedures when cleaning such as putting an acrylic plate over the sand in the area they are cleaning. Me, I don't keep sand and it makes it much easier. Once your rock is set, your main enemy for scratches on the inside will be sand. Without the sand, I just make sure my magnet is clean and its not so much of a worry with the inside of the tank.

I only had my tank up for a year but I liked it and would do it again. As long as the seams are done well and the correct thickness is used an acrylic tank can be very strong and long lasting. Staying on top of daily/weekly cleanings is important so things won't get too packed on the wall. And leaving enough space with your rock work to get the magnet by will go a long way. If your not going to clean a specific wall realize that in the beginning and it will help.

Then again, its different when you make a tank as opposed to buying one. If I really got sick of my tank I would just make another one. So I tell everyone this same thing, if your really really worried about scratches in the beginning, go with glass. Because every little scratch is going to seem monumental since your already focused on it.

 

[tosiek]

FYI, I hate green looking glass tanks. Even as thin as 1mm glass, I felt the green tint irritation.

Thats why you go starfire wingo =0) You can put a piece of acrylic next to starfire and you will barely notice the difference. Its there but not worth the extra work your giving yourself ontop of maintaining the reef along with beeing super careful to not scratch the thing.

As far as people mention about starfire scratching just as easy thats not true. Come and put some sand in my magnet and try. :smile: yeah it scratches quicker than normal glass but thats only because people tend to put the metal side on the inside of the tank and not the outside. You lose the green tint b/c they overcook the glass and let the metals rise to the top layer and remove alot of the extra when making starfire for those that didn;t know.

I was always a fan of glass tanks. You can go thinner with the walls, less worries when handling, and are in my opinion alot stronger than acrylic tanks of the same thickness. You just have to get one made well.

 

[LeslieS]

Thanks Everyone,

Russ, I hope your forehead has gone back to normal :smile:

As far as people mention about starfire scratching just as easy thats not true. Come and put some sand in my magnet and try. :smile: yeah it scratches quicker than normal glass

This is interesting as my "normal" glass tank is already scratched up. It's irritating, but on the curves (where it's scratched) there is so much distortion that it is less obvious.

Going without sand is not an option as I actually want to add more sand to the new tank for my convict blennies. They like to DIG!

Paul, thanks for the tips on how to care for acrylic. I think some of those could apply to both. Also, thanks for your honesty!!!

 

[marrone]

I'd like you to do a demonstration proving just how easy it is to remove a nice 12" long scratch (which invariably will be the length of the scratch before you notice it's there and stop moving the magnet).

There is no reason to make a 12" long scratch, you should be watching what you're doing. You should notice it scratching as soon as it starts, or within an inch or so. As for removing it, if it's not deep you probably wouldn't even notice it so you wouldn't even bother removing it. With other scratches you can use the kits they sale. If it's really bad you can actually have a professional come over and take it out and in the end have a brand new tank.

Now lets see you remove the scratch in a glass tank, which you will get cleaning the front of the glass and picking up that same piece of sand.

There are eight grades of very fine to unbelievably fine 'sandpaper' to use to properly remove the scratches. When your tank is filled with water, and the scratch is located towards the bottom (surprisingly, where the sand is :idea: ) and you must systematically progress through each grade of 'sandpaper' till it 'looks as good as new', you can tell me how 'fairly easy' it is to remove the scratch/scratches.

You just said it right there, "til it 'looks as good as new", which it will. The tank will look like new, unlike glass which will always have the scratch. You don't need to use eight grades of very fine sandpaper to remove scratches.

I agree, it's quite easy on a dry piece of acrylic sitting flat on your desk. That's not the case in reef keeping.
Damn this soapbox......it keeps regenerating. :division:

swimmer

There are plenty of people with Acrylic tanks that are either scratch free or have very minor scratches that you can't see. There are plenty of glass tanks that have scratches and unlike acrylic tanks they can't be removed.

 

[Wes]

i have scratches in my glass. I'll probably try acryllic next because at least the scratches can be repaired.

 

[Will]

I've had a few small acrylic tanks but they are hard to keep clean.
Anyone use a razor blade for cleaning coraline off the glass.I always get worried I will scratch the glass with a razor blade..

 

[russianmd]

I have a glass tank (thank god). I saw masterswimmer's acryllic tank - and I am very happy with glass. Masterswimmer is one super-meticulous guy (obsessive/compulsive to be less kind :biggrin. I KNOW he has tried everything in the world to get the scratches out of his tank.

The end result is no visible scratches, per se, but rather a dull-looking tank that takes away 0.0001% of awesomeness that is his aquarium (that I covet).