Anyone tried this craigslist guy doing acrylic tank restore?

[DerekC]

Anyone tried this craigslist guy doing acrylic tank restore?

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/for/d/acrylic-aquarium-fish-tank-restore/6788412839.html

I am in San Francisco Bay Area. It doesn't look like I have any other choices.
I tried and failed to polish the scratches. For the time needed, maybe better to let someone else do it.
It is a 300G TruVu peninsula.

 

[dantimdad]

I think $600 to polish your tank is outrageous.

But, then again, I am not a fan of acrylic to begin with.

Sorry your tank is messed up.

 

[Jacked Reefer]

How are you polishing it? I got a mm deep scratch in my 180 and I managed to get that out. It cost me 16 bucks and about 3 hours to do a 12 square foot panel full of scratches so 600 bucks is mega steep.

 

[DerekC]

My 300G is not too bad. Close up I can see some typical scratches.
I practiced polishing on a piece of acrylic. I scratched some light marks using a dental pick. I could get them sanded off but I could never polish it back to clear and shinny I like. Close up, I can see some micro scratches. That was on a 2" x 2". Imagine doing it on a 300G.
If I have to spend 3-4 days doing it, maybe $600 is well worth it.

 

[DerekC]

Ha, he wants $750 for my 300G peninsula. Not much cheaper than a new tank if I was to sell this.

 

[Heart of Dixie]

You can buy a cheap orbital sander from Harbor Freight for less than $20. Then buy wet/dry sandpaper 1000, 1200,1500 & 2000 grit. Spray and sand the tank going up in grit. Rinse all, then polish Novus 3, and lastly 2. Polish the outside with 1. A simple inexpensive polisher will do the job. The Novus web site has guidelines for polisher speed etc. It took me about 15 to 18 hours (guesstimate) to do a 180 like yours.
The sander helps provide even pressure where by hand it is hard to control. I tried an area by hand and was not satisfied with the results.

 

[DerekC]

I will a DA polisher and a palm sander. For $750, I will try again.
If I can get it done perfectly and quickly on my test acrylic, then I know how hard / easy.
Cross contamination is very important? Don't use a micro-fiber cloth that was used with novus 3 for novus 2?
Would novus expire? Rubbing it too hard would actually micro-scratch the surface?
For some reason, I can't get the final finish I want.

 

[This guy is Extra Salty]

I’ll have to look into this
(I work at an acrylic company)

You can buff and polish the crap out of it but I wouldn’t use an orbital sander (I’m going to ask best tool to use) for my own future knowledge..but yes 750 is extremely steep for something that will take a couple hours depending on how much “damage” is going to be repaired.

 

[rossco]

I just used the buffing sponges with my Cordless drill and Novus 2 and 3 on my frag tank and it turned out great.

Before closeup and a halfway done shot. It was both etched and scratched.

 

[Heart of Dixie]

When you finish wet sanding with 2000 grit there will be fine visable scratches. Novus 3 will remove that, then Novus 2 will will really clear everything up. Novus sells paper based polishing pads. I clean the outside of the tank with them. I also have a piece of cotton flannel that does a good job. For the inside I clean with an original Magic Eraser cut into thin pieces between the two parts of a magnetic algae remover.

 

[Erica-Renee]

How are you polishing it? I got a mm deep scratch in my 180 and I managed to get that out. It cost me 16 bucks and about 3 hours to do a 12 square foot panel full of scratches so 600 bucks is mega steep.

so you spent 3 hours to polish one panel of the tank .
If this person is doing it for a living he is liability risk
so say charges 60.00 a hour which is cheap
3x hours per panel plus materials
3 hours back pannel
3 hours front panel
1.5 hours per each end panel.
9 hours total x a cheap price of 60.00 a hour . 540.00 total labor plus materials.. By your standards 600.00 is a Fair price for the Service.

 

[Jacked Reefer]

so you spent 3 hours to polish one panel of the tank .
If this person is doing it for a living he is liability risk
so say charges 60.00 a hour which is cheap
3x hours per panel plus materials
3 hours back pannel
3 hours front panel
1.5 hours per each end panel.
9 hours total x a cheap price of 60.00 a hour . 540.00 total labor plus materials.. By your standards 600.00 is a Fair price for the Service.

It took three hours because the panel had been gouged the previous owner also removed the background by sanding with very low grit sandpaper I had to polish the entire thing as if I was treating deep scratches. I also did not have an electric sander or polisher (which I HOPE he has since he’s doing it professionally) so that would cut down time dramatically.

 

[Erica-Renee]

It took three hours because the panel had been gouged the previous owner also removed the background by sanding with very low grit sandpaper I had to polish the entire thing as if I was treating deep scratches. I also did not have an electric sander or polisher (which I HOPE he has since he’s doing it professionally) so that would cut down time dramatically.

I know when i do concrete counter tops (which is not as dense or hard as glass and requires less of a absolute . It takes a average of 30 hours . which pushing the price above the cost of other Hard and natural surfaces . My point was just being that Labor is not as cheap. I compete with what some call Chuck in a truck. No license, no insurance no over head.. Sometimes when i bid jobs they ask why i base my rate at 95.00 a hour and how to i get people to pay it. As a customer even me when i have to pay for AUTO Repair. We do not think about all the little expenses .

Being i am not a Acrylic expert you could be Correct in it taking less time , But i feel its the other way around...

Interesting debate either way.

 

[Jr'sReef]

Any small micro scratches on the finished end will show when you fill with water and start getting algae on the acrylic. The algae will fill the scratches and that’s when your imperfections really show.

 

[Millennium reefer]

Anyone tried this craigslist guy doing acrylic tank restore?

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/for/d/acrylic-aquarium-fish-tank-restore/6788412839.html

I am in San Francisco Bay Area. It doesn't look like I have any other choices.
I tried and failed to polish the scratches. For the time needed, maybe better to let someone else do it.
It is a 300G TruVu peninsula.

I

 

[Millennium reefer]

The craiglist guy in los angeles wanted 850. For my 360 gallon. I got him down to 550, then asked how long it would take. He said four hours. So now he's a $110 dollar an hour! So I bought 1000, 1500, 2000, grit wet dry sand paper at the auto part store and jitterbug sanded the tank, misting the paper as I went thru the grits, then the novus #2 and finally the novus #1 with my car wax buffer. Easy, under 4 hours less than $60.00 .for supplies. There is a lot of you tube videos on this! You can do it!

 

[DerekC]

It seems like every step of wetsanding, I have to make sure I do it gradually. 2000 grit might not clear the 1000 grit marks and you will see the fine marks ONLY after the polishing. OR I have cross-contaminated the sandpapers or the micro-fiber clothes, thus putting fine marks on without noticing.
I will give it one last try on my benchtest.

Is there just ONE guy in the SF Bay Area who does acrylic tank restore professionally?
Maybe if I can introduce competition, price will go down. I think $450 is a go.