Local 150 acrylic tank & stand & all accessories $100

When you're cleaning it up, it's very important to use only acrylic safe pads. I'm sure you know that but it is worth saying anyway. I actually really like to use Dobie pads which you can find in most grocery stores to clean acrylic tanks. I find they work better than most of the acrylic safe pads and they will not scratch the tank.
Congrats on the great find,
Mark
 
Ditka, thanks so much your advice and link really had me looking for those things after filling the tank and although there were no such wet seams there is a small corner bottom chip where a little piece of the plastic corner tip broke off, no leaking and no wet seam. Ant recommendations on how to strengthen that corner inside or outside would be appreciated as this is my first ever acrylic tank.

archer772. No bubbles just some haziness when empty and a few scratches Im sure. What I'm a little concerned sbout is the thickness of the acrylic or the lack thereof only 1/4" thick, hope its normal.

chefjamesscott, Actually Im glade I had a chance to see how awful acrylic looks at my LFS when they had all the SW tanks drained for cleaning. I coulent believe how bad and hazy they looked empty when full they looked clearer then green glass. I never would have bought this tank if I had not seen empty used acrylic tanks before. This one looked every bit as hazy empty and full It was hard to tell since the mud was still inside from no privious cleaning. will see, it doesn't leak and for $70 how bad can I get my feeling hurt for a few scratches and all this equip, two Emperors HOB's I think, its all in the shed pics tomorrow.

chefjamesscott, Thanks I gave my mom the good news but she thinks the 80 tall tank with the 38" base would fit better in her small apartment. Good also becasue I have a matching cab and canopy for it so it will look more classy, the 150 will replace my 80, hopefully the wife wont notice the difference LOL.

Navyscuba, Thanks shipmate wish I was local to get your colorful cichlid expertise, mine are plain-Jane compared to yours.

Anubias Design, No I don't know a thing about acrylic other then that the sun can damage it on surveillance camera housing lenses beyound repair and that it can get micro cracks over time, think I saw a couple teenie-tiny here and there in the bends. So pleas if you have a link to what this cleaner and cleaning pads look like I will research a affordable source and supply. Thanks!
 
Gunner want a cheap trick to polish that out.....

Crest toothpaste and a soft lint free rag worked wonder on minor scratches on a 75 and a 55 I had which is what usually causes the hazy look....;)
 
Sounguru said:
Gunner want a cheap trick to polish that out.....

Crest toothpaste and a soft lint free rag worked wonder on minor scratches on a 75 and a 55 I had which is what usually causes the hazy look....;)
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You know Im not so sure about that, I tried using tooth paste to clean my cultured marble sink instead of buying the special cleaner your supposed to use and it killed the marble like shine and now I have a dull marble sink that never shines. Although there is not telling if the previous owner didn't use home made sauce to clean it before me.

What I will do is give your idea a try on the bottom where I cant hurt anything, and if it works Ill use it.;)
 
CWO4GUNNER said:
You know Im not so sure about that, I tried using tooth paste to clean my cultured marble sink instead of buying the special cleaner your supposed to use and it killed the marble like shine and now I have a dull marble sink that never shines. Although there is not telling if the previous owner didn't use home made sauce to clean it before me.

What I will do is give your idea a try on the bottom where I cant hurt anything, and if it works Ill use it.;)
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Well give it a shot it worked for me and no more haze. I would never recommend crest on marble either.:lol2:
 
Hay what about this 3 step abrasive liquid polish for plastics. Says it will even remove deep scratches to a new luster.
http://www.modernplastics.com/novus....html?osCsid=00d1801d34367fdf36e6641ab250f82d
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Is there any kind of inside seam sealer like silicone is used inside glass aquariums as insurance. I suppose I could make my own 45 degree acrylic braces for the outside or maybe if PVC angle iron is computable with acrylic I could add some angle seams on the outside as insurance.You know just to sleep well. Although the seller said it was set up for years before it was broken down.

Oh that wont work cause acrylic has to be flush on the bottom no high points on the perimeter like a glass tank only flush for acrylic. Maybe some silicone made for acrylic, I think I have seen it, could do inside corner beads.
 
For the best information you should really become a member of the reef central forum and post your questions here.
The user on that board named Acrylics, has decades(?) of years working with acrylic and has probably forgotten more about acrylic than what everyone on this forum knows. He will be able to give you exact instructions as for what to do and he will guide you through any repairs. I would wait to use that polish stuff until you ask this guy.
Post all your further questions about acrylic to him. He will help, and i doubt he will give you anything but the best advice.

Good luck! That tank sounds like a diamond in the rough!
 
CWO4GUNNER said:
Is there any kind of inside seam sealer like silicone is used inside glass aquariums as insurance. I suppose I could make my own 45 degree acrylic braces for the outside or maybe if PVC angle iron is computable with acrylic I could add some angle seams on the outside as insurance.You know just to sleep well. Although the seller said it was set up for years before it was broken down.

Oh that wont work cause acrylic has to be flush on the bottom no high points on the perimeter like a glass tank only flush for acrylic. Maybe some silicone made for acrylic, I think I have seen it, could do inside corner beads.
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Don't worry yourself too much about this tank. The tank holds water so there should be no reason to do anything like this. The bonding agents used to 'weld' the pieces of acrylic together are actually so strong that the seams are stronger than the acrylic itself. Acrylic tanks in my experience are much more durable than glass. A properly cared for acrylic tank will hold up much better than glass over the long haul. Scratches can be buffed out unlike glass where once it's scratched, the scratch is pretty much there forever. A well made acrylic tank manufactured with American cell cast acrylic actually doesn't scratch that easily, either, contrary to popular belief.

Now, a couple of other things. Crazing and scratches are not the same! Scratches are just what they sound like, scratches in the acrylic. These can be fixed in a number of ways. The Novus products work well (and their polish is excellent). Lifegard makes a scratch removal kit that consists of a series of fine grade sandpapers and a block to use with them. This is also excellent and will work better on deeper scratches. A big advantage to this product is that it can be used under water so you can buff out an interior scratch without breaking the tank down or removing the fish. Toothpaste can be used successfully and it's the way we did it back in the 70s and early 80s (yes, I too have decades of experience with acrylic tanks and have literally built hundreds of them but only for my own use). The problem today is finding a plain white toothpaste to use as you don't want to use a colored toothpaste or one that has sparkles or other stuff added to it. You will need to use toothpaste on a dry tank. A little water to rinse it and clean the excess is all the liquid required so the tank must be drained to use this on the inside.

Crazing is tiny cracks inside the acrylic. These cannot be buffed out. They can be caused by a number of factors, including the use of glass cleaners on the acrylic. Always use acrylic cleaners such as Novus to clean/polish the exterior. Other factors can be using an acrylic that is too thin, especially for deeper tanks or using poor quality acrylic.

The Dobie pads that I mentioned in a previous post work great for cleaning algae, hard water deposits, etc. off the acrylic. These can be found in many grocery stores as they are sold for use cleaning teflon pans and the like.

One of the biggest risks for scratching acrylic and glass tanks is getting pieces of gravel stuck in your cleaning pads so be very careful of that.
Mark
 
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