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Scratched acrylic!!!

Cephdoc

Vampyroteuthis
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Nov 19, 2010
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260
The tank im currently setting up has some scratches in in that id like to get out. Is the scratch remover that can be used with water in the tank Cephalopod safe?? Ive been told they are safe for corals and fish.. i wouldnt see why not?
 
Well things that dont kill most fish can kill octopuses like copper... most fish can tolerate some while octos cant at all. I dont really have an answer one way or another but you might try to find someone who buffs out acrylic and ask them.. its a long shot but they might know. Also Capt should be along soon... He will most likely have an answer for you.
 
Plan on several days not hours to properly remove acrylic scratches (the tank will look worse than it does now when you start but ultimately you can get it smooth). The procedure, as Thales mentions, is to use the coursest grade that will remove the deepest scratch (which will scratch the whole area where you work and make it opaque) and then keep changing to a finer grade, sanding all the scratches you added (which will grow as you work). Each new grade is sanded in the opposite direction as the last and you must get all the prior marks out before continuing to the next grade. Ultimately (and many muscles later) it will be clear and scratch free. Depending upon how deep the original scratches are, you may or may not have an obvious optical magnification but the tank will look like new to the normal eye (cameras often pick up the thinning though). The final step is to use the liquid polish and I would dispense with that as it does not make a detectable difference. You cannot remove scratches with just the polish.

It works for acrylic (with a lot of work and time) but we have an older tank that may be lexan and were never successful removing the scratches. The huge gouge in my tall tank with the hood (when I almost brought it over on top of my self when my stool flipped and I was armpit deep in the tank), however, is completely undetectable.
 

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