A few questions....

TetraBotia, you just told me I don't know jack about maintaining an acrylic tank. I'm going to have to drag out the research animal in me and find out all about repairing scratches, maintaining it so micro scratches don't cloud acrylic up, and a whole slew of other issues. I had one once, and failed miserably in keeping it in good repair. I've seen and heard nightmare stories about others with similar problems. I've never heard of Meguiars plastic repair, but I'm gonna find some! Thank you for the eye opener! When I upgrade to a 280, you just widely expanded my horizons...

As for a pleco wearing though the tank... Yeah.. I saw it once in a fish store of all places.

Wackydan.. Yes I suck up a little sand when I vaccume. Replacing it is as easy as going to your clean sand container, and pouring in another cup. I replace about one cup of sand a month.

By bulkhead.. let me describe it. Hole drilled in bottom of tank, in a corner. Two long glass plates (or could be acrylic :) ) create a box with the back wall, and the side wall, around the hole. The plates run up the height of the tank,and stop about an inch below the top of the tank. Or less than half an inch from what you want your water level to be. This way, if for any reason your pump stops returning water, your whole tank can't drain into your sump. It can't get past the bulkhead.
Hard to explain.. wish I had a picture of watauga's set up
 
Halo said:
TetraBotia, you just told me I don't know jack about maintaining an acrylic tank. I'm going to have to drag out the research animal in me and find out all about repairing scratches, maintaining it so micro scratches don't cloud acrylic up, and a whole slew of other issues. I had one once, and failed miserably in keeping it in good repair. I've seen and heard nightmare stories about others with similar problems. I've never heard of Meguiars plastic repair, but I'm gonna find some! Thank you for the eye opener! When I upgrade to a 280, you just widely expanded my horizons...
Click to expand...

How I learned all of this was through the school of hard knocks. I bought a tank from a person on eBay... when I got to where it was to pick it up, I found it to be scratched pretty badly. So rather than lose the "good deal", I got on the phone (before I left her house) and researched a little about acrylic repair with someone I trusted a ton at a fish store.

Long and short of it was, nearly all small and even most moderate scratches can be eliminated... takes some time, but it works. DEEP scratches are another story. While they can be eliminated, doing so may cause a depression, which will result in a little distortion. The deeper, the worse the distortion.

To put some numbers on it though- my tank is 1/2" acrylic. Some of the worst scratches were what I would consider pretty deep... maybe .5mm-1mm??? I know that does not sound like much, but that is pretty deep- the kind of scratch that when you run your fingernail over it, you can hear it really well. This tank was full of scratches like that and shallower, and with the exception of one (which is below the gravel line) they all came out.

Now - it was hard work.. so I don't want to mislead ya. And I DID use a small electric auto polisher.

As to the polishes you can use in the water, I don't know much about them- never done that- have not needed to.

Also- your experience with Acrylic may be old enough that some of what you remember might have been true. I do know that they have been touting that acrylic has come a long way (durability) in the last 8-10 years or so.

Lastly- I would not recommend sand or crushed coral (a reason many in the marine world shy away from acrylic) as small abrasive particles can get in your arylic scrubber, you won't even know it, and then you scrub away and ooooooops!

Be VERY careful scrubbing the gravel line, and keep the scrubber clean.
 
Halo said:
Wackydan.. Yes I suck up a little sand when I vaccume. Replacing it is as easy as going to your clean sand container, and pouring in another cup. I replace about one cup of sand a month.

By bulkhead.. let me describe it. Hole drilled in bottom of tank, in a corner. Two long glass plates (or could be acrylic :) ) create a box with the back wall, and the side wall, around the hole. The plates run up the height of the tank,and stop about an inch below the top of the tank. Or less than half an inch from what you want your water level to be. This way, if for any reason your pump stops returning water, your whole tank can't drain into your sump. It can't get past the bulkhead.
Hard to explain.. wish I had a picture of watauga's set up
Click to expand...

AHhh... Ok- I know what a bulkhead is now.....Seen them and understand the principle of not overflowing your sump if power is lost or pump breaks down.... From what I understand, it can be a rough science balancing the size of the sump with the capacity of the pump??? - in relation to the amount of overflow/capacity you have over the top of the bulkhead?
 
Tetra: Yeah, it's been 15 years since I messed with an acrylic tank. Let's hear it for progress!

Wackydan: I never really thought about sump size vs pump size. I should think larger sumps would be better, as it adds to your overal water volume and helps keep the tank stable. Bigger is more stable in freshwater after all. But as for calculating sump size/pump size as a science... No idea..
 
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