Got Scratches in your Acrylic?? This IS how you remove them while your tank is full.

It is actually possible to remove scratches from glass, but as far as I know it cannot be done on a full tank. Because glass is so much harder than acrylic, you need power tools and diamond grit. But on a high-end tank, it'd probably be worth it.

You might want to mention to other folks reading the thread that it is critically important to do this procedure on a wide area, if not the whole tank pane. Performing the procedure on just a small area can remove enough plastic that it leaves behind a visible distortion.
 
Thanks for posting this. It's one thing to read directions, but it's so very helpful to actually see the work being done and the progress through the different grits.
 
dkeller_nc said:
It is actually possible to remove scratches from glass, but as far as I know it cannot be done on a full tank. Because glass is so much harder than acrylic, you need power tools and diamond grit. But on a high-end tank, it'd probably be worth it.

You might want to mention to other folks reading the thread that it is critically important to do this procedure on a wide area, if not the whole tank pane. Performing the procedure on just a small area can remove enough plastic that it leaves behind a visible distortion.
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That is a very good point. It is mentioned in the videos that you start with the roughest grit working a small area where the scratch or scratches are located and with each finer grit, you work a slighly larger area as you need to fan out and blend the sanding outward so you don't create a low spot or a difference in opacity. It's not particularly important to do the entire panel because once you get to the higher grits, especially the 12000 grit, that is actually polising the surface. I did smaller test areas in my tank first and you couldn't tell once I was through as the area blended perfectly with the untouched sections of the panel Hopefully people who plan on taking on this endeavor will take the time to watch the videos as they have some fairly important info in them.

zachfishman said:
Thanks for posting this. It's one thing to read directions, but it's so very helpful to actually see the work being done and the progress through the different grits.
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Very glad to help and share the info. This has been a topic that has come up a number of times here and there has never been any useful documented info that I've seen relevant to the entire process. Especially one with images and a true step by step process. As such, I felt it was important to document the entire process but with photos and videos so that others could benefit from it and not panic when they see the hazing or not make stupid mistakes. The reality is that there is a right way and a wrong way to do this. Little details like not sanding in circles and sanding in an opposing direction with each graduating step or as mentioned above, increasing the sanding area with each graduating step are the kinds of details that are critical to achieving the best results with the least amount of effort. With the proper tools and some patience and guidence like this, the results can be truly stunning.
 
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I have one question. My apologies if it's already been asked. Would you go with glass if you could do it all over again?
 
I've got glass. It's full of scratches. If I were to do it again I'm definitely going acrylic especially after this thread showing it can be done with out draining the tank.

Thanks a ton Slief for sharing this.
 
RobTheReefer said:
I have one question. My apologies if it's already been asked. Would you go with glass if you could do it all over again?
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Nope. No way would I go glass. Especially on a tank my size. I had my tank made over 20 years ago and still looks almost new. A little bit of elbow grease can restore the tank to like new condition which is something you can't do with glass. I've owned glass tanks before and they do get scratches, at which point you are pretty much stuck with them. Also, given that I live in earthquake country (So. Cal), acrylic is a safer option for me regardless. Then there is the weight factor. A display my size is heavy enough being acrylic. I couldn't fathom having to deal with a glass tank that size. Regardless, I much prefer acrylic if for no other reason than the fact that scratches are easily removed and a well built tank made from quality acrylic will last indefinitely without the concerns over silicone seams failing or needing to be redone.
 
Thank you for this thread, I recently was given a Tencor Bullet tank for free and am needing to clean it up as I think there are more areas scratched then not. But aside from this, this also makes me much more confident in using acrylic for the window in my 13 ft build... I have a low iron tank and just seeing how easily it scratches I was terrified of using acrylic, but with the fact that I can buff out the scratches without draining the tank I feel much more confident now
 
If you have a large number of deep scratches covering the entire front panel of an acrylic aquarium (40" x 48" x 1" panel), would you do the entire panel in one go, staring from the 400 grit?
 
slief said:
You buy, I'll fly! :tumbsup:


To bad you are on the west coast I would totally pay for you to do this :lolspin:

With that being said...any east coast guys wanna buff my tank out. I have everything but time right now and I really want to get it set up!
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sounds like you might be able to develop a side business here scott!!!! I need to do it on my 8ft tank but too chicken and really don't have the time to devote to do it right. I think I would need to send the wife and kids away for a few days so I could just concentrate on doing it and nothing else.
 
happyclam said:
If you have a large number of deep scratches covering the entire front panel of an acrylic aquarium (40" x 48" x 1" panel), would you do the entire panel in one go, staring from the 400 grit?
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That just depends on how deep the scratches are. The 400 makes for more work if you are doing an entire panel. I would likely focus the 400 grit on the deeper scratches. And then work my way out from there with the lighter grits but again, it just depends on how deep the scratches are and how much of the panel the deep scratches cover.
SPotter said:
sounds like you might be able to develop a side business here scott!!!! I need to do it on my 8ft tank but too chicken and really don't have the time to devote to do it right. I think I would need to send the wife and kids away for a few days so I could just concentrate on doing it and nothing else.
Click to expand...

Yea, I think I prefer my desk job but American currency is green so I guess if opportunity knocked close enough to home, I'd probably give it some consideration. On the other hand, it certainly wouldn't be a source of income I would go out of my way looking for.
 
Yea I have 8 bottles of meguiars plastx, 3 6" mothers buffing balls, 10 sheets of 1200 grit and 10 sheets of 2000grit a palm sander and a bag of 36ct micro fiber cloths. I also have a few bottles of Novus 1 and 2. Now if I could only find a week of free time to buff, plumb, and set this thing up I'd be golden.
 
Scott, how deep is "deep" like can feel with a finger nail deep? I finally got my mighty magnet and will order the scratch removal kit this week. I don't think their kit comes with anything below 1000 grit?
 
Dmorty217 said:
Scott, how deep is "deep" like can feel with a finger nail deep? I finally got my mighty magnet and will order the scratch removal kit this week. I don't think their kit comes with anything below 1000 grit?
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The kit does not include anything below 1000 grit. For that, I used store bought wet sand paper. Hopefully you ordered extra algae pads so you have something to glue the sand paper to.

That said, it's tough to say how deep. If you can feel it with your nail, that is fairly deep. Best advice is to do a test spot using a finer grade and see how it removes the scratch. It took me a bit of testing to realise I could make quicker work of what I perceived as a deeper scratch using the heavier grit. The heavier grit will make quicker work of the deep scratches but it's more work overall if you use the heavy grit as your starter for lighter scratches since you have to go through additional sanding stages. This is why I would suggest doing a test area first.

And remember, never work in a circular motion. Work one step vertical and the next horizontal. Or work vertically for several passes and then horizontally for several passes before moving on to the next finer grit.
 
slief said:
And remember, never work in a circular motion.
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Slightly off topic, but does this mean if you're working on a dry tank you'll never get it clear with a random orbital sander? I realize there's the "random" in the name, but it is overall a circular motion. I've heard it said before to not use a circular motion but for some reason I've never heard it explained why. And if it's in the video just tell me to stop being dumb and watch the video...

Also, let's say you've got a curved section of acrylic you'd like to clear up. Any suggestions?
 
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