Refurbished frag tank

[imustbenuts]

So I have a new tank and wanted to quarantine any new live stock. I set up a quarantine tank for the fish but wanted to quarantine the coral as well. I found a frag tank for sale in our local equipment for sale forum. I am a little disappointed with the seller though. When looking at the tank I asked if it leaked and he said no and then said there were no scratches.

As you can see, it was highly unlikely there were no scratches. I've been in this hobby since 2004. I would like to think we are a small community of hobbyist that wouldn't take advantage of each other. I guess reality is buyer beware. I have some acrylic experience and decided to take on the project. There were no external leaks. However, the internal baffles were not water tight.

Here are the results of my repairs.

I am pleased with the results and look forward to putting this tank in service.

 

[FLAdaboy]

Wow, you really turned that around. It was used so you really can't expect no scratches. Looks very promising now.

 

[litenyaup]

Looks great!

 

[mtraylor]

Good Job. Looks brand New now!

 

[Keepswiming]

Looks very clean now!

What do you use to buff the acrylic? I'm upgrading my 50g acrylic cube and want to clean it up as a frag tank. Thanks!

 

[Honeycombz]

Wow!

You did an amazing job on that refurb. I'm trying to clean out an eshopps refugium sump with a long brush today, definitely a challenge

 

[Newtron]

Looks very clean now!

What do you use to buff the acrylic? I'm upgrading my 50g acrylic cube and want to clean it up as a frag tank. Thanks!

I can't speak for the OP but I use a two step rubbing compound. The OP did a fantastic job. You can also flame/heat clean up acrylic. Make sure you don't have a sooty flame. A really clean burning butane or acetylene torch works great. Just make sure not to get the heat too close to the acrylic or it will catch fire and burn.

I prefer elbow grease and rubbing compound.

 

[imustbenuts]

Looks very clean now!

What do you use to buff the acrylic? I'm upgrading my 50g acrylic cube and want to clean it up as a frag tank. Thanks!

I use Novus 123 plastic polish and sand paper. I hit the deep scratches with 400 then 1000 and 2000 grit. Then I use Novus #3. All this is by hand. I use a buffing pad on my drill to buff out Novus #2. Then finish with Novus#1.

 

[Jose Berry]

I use Novus 123 plastic polish and sand paper. I hit the deep scratches with 400 then 1000 and 2000 grit. Then I use Novus #3. All this is by hand. I use a buffing pad on my drill to buff out Novus #2. Then finish with Novus#1.

I know old thread but how long do you think doing your novus product it would take to do a 225g aquarium?

 

[Jose Berry]

Also....would you suggest if you plan on doing the entire aquarium any way sand deep scratches first but hit the entire tank with like 2000 or even finer grit sanding paper? Also would you use wet or dry sanding paper?

 

[imustbenuts]

Also....would you suggest if you plan on doing the entire aquarium any way sand deep scratches first but hit the entire tank with like 2000 or even finer grit sanding paper? Also would you use wet or dry sanding paper?

A 225 is much bigger than this frag tank for sure. Plan on spending lots of time depending how bad it is. You will wet sand the scratches. I personally would start with 600 on deep scratches. I used 400 on mine because that is what I had. Bring the deep scratches up to 2000 and then I would hit all the minor stuff with novus #3. Do not use circles only back and forth sanding motion. I would only hit the scratches not the entire panel. When I switch to the puffing pad on my drill and novus #2 I would buff the entire panel inside and out. If there is still a haze I would hit it with drill and #2 again. It’s a big project but a good learning experience if you keep acrylic tanks.

 

[Jose Berry]

Thank you very much, this was very insightful