Refinishing Acrylic Tank

Feet4Fish · Dec 15, 2017

I am starting the process of refinishing my 650 gallon acrylic tank. My plan is to wet sand with 500, 1000, 2000 the follow with Novus 3,2,1. All with help of power tools. My question is this...I just called and asked BRS what the approximate square footage you could get from an 8 oz bottle of Novus 2/3. I needed to figure out how much to buy. I was told an 8 oz bottle is good only for 4-5 scratches. That can't be right can it? I completely understand that there can be great variability, but what is your experience out there. Can an 8 oz bottle do more than 4- scratches?

Feet4Fish · Dec 16, 2017

Anyone out there have experience with the Novus products? Or would anyone recommend a different method?

bobble28 · Jan 14, 2018

I've used novus and it's a great product! A little goes a long way. An 8oz bottle will get you way more than 4 or 5 scratches I did this whole tank inside and out and still have probably 3/4 of the bottles or more left out of the 8oz bottles.

Matthew Frost · Jan 14, 2018

I just completely redid a clear for life 90. I bought the three step package from Novus. The tank is 48x18x24 and I did the inside and the outside and I have about 1/3 of the bottles left.

A couple tips: unless you have significant heavy scratching there is no need to use 500 grit paper. If you are going to use 1000 grit paper on a random orbit sander make sure the tank is clean and free of ANY DEBRIS. It will get caught in the paper and just annihilate the acrylic and you will have to really start over. Just for reference, fine aquarium sand is approximately 80 grit sand paper sand. You don't want to drag that around on the acrylic. Use only wet sand paper and it should be wet enough that the sanding debris doesn't form a paste. Clean the tank thoroughly when you step up to 2000 grit then the same thing, keep it wet enough it doesn't form a paste. I just had a squirter bottle and I would periodically spray the area I was sanding. I wouldn't try to do more than 2'x2' at a time.

When your done sanding the tang should be uniformly foggy. Get a good corded variable speed drill, put the polish on the pad not on the tank and start a slower speed so you aren't blasting the polish all over the place. Keep the whole thing moving, don't let it get too hot. When you've done the whole tank with the #3 polish was the tank thoroughly to get all of the polish off. Same process with the #2. Buy yourself a box of good microfiber towels and change them out often.

If your patient this stuff is nothing short of magic. Take your time, don't get to aggressive. Show us some pics along the way. It's totally worth it in the end.

Scotty Buttons · Jan 14, 2018

I refinished a 55 gallon acrylic tank that I owned years ago, I only used wet sand paper between 400 to 4000 grit and did it all by hand, no power tools. Took me days on end, but turned out really clear. Looked like a brand new tank. Good luck!

Feet4Fish · Jan 14, 2018

Thanks for the input everyone. Starting this project this week. Will keep you updated with pics!

mehaffydr · Jan 15, 2018

I just refinished my tank 60” x 36” x 24”
Sanded with wet dry 400,600,1000,1500 and finally 2000. Then novus 3,2,1 it turned out great. I purchased 8 oz bottle of each and used about 1/2 of each bottle.

mehaffydr · Jan 15, 2018

Here are some pictures. This took about 3 days working 4-6 hours a day.

Mojo11 · Mar 24, 2024

mehaffydr said:
Here are some pictures. This took about 3 days working 4-6 hours a day.

Sorry to reopen an old thread.

Did you sand the inside of the tank as well? With the top being fixed on my tank it seems itll be hard todo an even sand job on the inside.

mehaffydr · Mar 25, 2024

I did sand inside and polish the inside. Lucky my tank was just large enough that I was able to fit inside.

kcarver · Oct 7, 2024

Wow! I just sanded mine starting with 1500 finished with 2000 and my tank looks like frosted glass! I was minutes away from taking an axe to the tank until I read your post! I will get the novis 321. Thankyou for the pictures!

mehaffydr · Oct 7, 2024

Novus will do the trick just go slow and make sure you use each bottle in the right order and your tank will look like new.

kcarver · Oct 8, 2024

mehaffydr said:
Novus will do the trick just go slow and make sure you use each bottle in the right order and your tank will look like new.

I got novus 1 and 2. It's really starting to look better! Before putting my fish back in, I'm certain I'll need to wash the tank out. I know they say NO SOAP,but I've always used soap and never had a problem. My question is, will the soap disrupt the finish?