Reviving an acrylic aquarium

[xxkenny90xx]

So I just picked up a used 60x18x24" reef ready tank and am looking to restore it (it does hold water). I am replacing the bulkheads. It is covered in mostly light scratches so I'll be polishing it and possibly sanding it if that doesn't work out. Is there anything else I can do to make it as good as new? I was thinking about maybe adding silicone to the bottom perimeter and around the overflow boxes for some added leak protection. What do you guys think?

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Also, please no "silicone doesn't bond to acrylic" debates, there are certain silicones which work better than others for this purpose and it is just a thought for more peace of mind

 

[mcgyvr]

Are the joints questionable?
Crazing?

If you are really concerned about joint failure then cutting some strips and solvent welding them in place at the seams is a far better solution than silicone..
Even running a bead of a thickened solvent like Weld on (Scigrip) 16 would be better IMO than using silicone..

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Thanks, I'll check out the weld on stuff. The joints look fine and probably are. I'm just looking to do anything I can to make the tank good as new before I move my current reef into it

 

[lingwendil]

Silicone will be a waste of time. As said, run some Weld-on or similar around the perimeter if there is visible crazing or micro-fissures around the edge, worse case you could add a triangular gusset but I wouldn't unless you had a compelling reason to.

 

[EnderG60]

Having done the same a long time ago with a 58g tank, youre best option is to throw the tank away and find a better one. But if youre not going to do that.....

You can reinforce the edges by gluing(with weldon not silicon) small strips to form a new seal. But it will look like crap, and the crazing will probably still spread once water is added back to the tank.

You can also polish out all the scratches, BUT if any are deep enough to feel with your finger nail dont bother. You will end up with a wavy uneven surface when its polished which will create a magnifying glass effect.

 

[laverda]

Having done the same a long time ago with a 58g tank, youre best option is to throw the tank away and find a better one. But if youre not going to do that.....

You can reinforce the edges by gluing(with weldon not silicon) small strips to form a new seal. But it will look like crap, and the crazing will probably still spread once water is added back to the tank.

You can also polish out all the scratches, BUT if any are deep enough to feel with your finger nail dont bother. You will end up with a wavy uneven surface when its polished which will create a magnifying glass effect.

I totally did agree with uour comments about throwing aeay the tank and polishing it. I picked up a used 300 and sanded and polished it without any of the affects you mentioned.

 

[xxkenny90xx]

Thanks for the advice guys. Just an update, I spent about 3hrs with another person using the Novak 3 step polish and some buffing pads on a couple of drills. It still isn't perfect, but wow what an improvement. I won't be needing to sand now. I'm gonna skip the weld on since all the edges look good. Now it just doing some plumbing!