My 140 build thread

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oolongmonk

Member
So I was able to pick up a nice tank from Craigslist. It's an acrylic 140 gallon with stand, canopy, pumps filtration, and skimmer. The only thing that sucks is that it has it's shared of scratches on the front glass.

I had a few questions regarding the setup. First of all everything is caked in salt and sand residue. Does anyone have any tips as to how to clean the salt/sand from the glass, pipes, pumps, etc? It's safe to assume that I shouldn't use household chemicals, right?

Anyways, here she is without the canopy. Let me know what you all think. I'm very much looking forward to your responses.

Thanks! View attachment 10709
 
Smitty

Smitty

Premium member
Looks like it could be a nice setup...you can either use a 50/50 solution of vinegar or bleach(not both). Welcome to the site. :)
 
Joe Lydon

Joe Lydon

New member
That's a really nice tank! If it were me, I would use a scrubber pad to move through the clean up quickly. At that point, I would wetsand the surfaces with 1000 grit sand paper and procede to buff back to a shine with a highspeed buffer and woolpad, then finish glaze, wash all surfaces and rinse adequately. I have taken acrylic you can't even see through and made it look new.

Here is a 240 acrylic I picked up cheap and was in HORRIBLE shape.. I got inside it and buffed the front panel out. Any and all scratches can be removed from acrylic.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kz7Afnj040Q&feature=youtube_gdata_player
 
ColaAddict

ColaAddict

New member
Soak and clean with vinegar/water mix first and see if it needs buffing. Let the vinegar melt all dry stuff off. Dont scrub too much or itll scratch some more. Make sure u get acrylic safe scrubber from fish store
 
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oolongmonk

Member
Thank you for the advice. The scratches came out no problem. There still are some very slightly cloudy areas on the glass but I decided not to fuss with them. Someone told me once I fill it with water they will go away. Is this true?

I was a bit concerned about how I should rinse it out. The tank is full of polish, I assume this is really toxic to reef inhabitants. I've been wiping it down with water but Im a bit concerned that the residue of the polish might compromise the tank. Should I be concerned?
 
Tangency

Tangency

New member
First, congrats on the new tank.

I don't have any experience with polish/compounds and their effect on the reef aquarium. Try pulling up an MSDS sheet to see if it has any known toxins. I would assume if you moved the tank outside and rinsed it repeatedly with tap water you could accomplish two things. First it would dilute/remove most of the buffing compound and second it would leak test the tank. After that, I might also run GAC to remove any left over toxins. I believe mlreef buffed out his aquarium I might try sending a message and find out what steps he took to remove the acrylic polish.

Good luck.
 
maidia

maidia

Team CR
Picture of the fishes only tank, so carefully (may be or may be not) copper in the tank. If it is then need clean up a lot otherwise it's not good for corals and inverts. My 2 cents.
 
Joe Lydon

Joe Lydon

New member
oolongmonk said:
Thank you for the advice. The scratches came out no problem. There still are some very slightly cloudy areas on the glass but I decided not to fuss with them. Someone told me once I fill it with water they will go away. Is this true?

I was a bit concerned about how I should rinse it out. The tank is full of polish, I assume this is really toxic to reef inhabitants. I've been wiping it down with water but Im a bit concerned that the residue of the polish might compromise the tank. Should I be concerned?
Click to expand...
I'm sorry, I need to figure out how to subscribe to threads I've posted in. The majority of buffing compounds are water soluable, so they should rinse out without a problem. I always used body shop safe materials, so I knew they didn't contain silicone. Regardless, you could use mild dish soap to remove compound residue and rinse adequately, dry the tank and check for more residue, rinse/dry one or more times for good measure. I have saved lots of tanks this way.

Ideally, you could rinse it outside. Since it's cold out, stand that bad boy up in your shower and go to town. Light scratches will nearly disappear when filled.
 
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