anti-scratch coating for acrylic

[mfreader]

Has anyone used acrylic with an anti-scratch coating in a tank build? I came across this product which looked like it might offer a way of preventing scratches--don't know what a 4 x 8 sheet would cost though.

http://www.tspinc.com/acrylic-sheeting/

http://www.tspinc.com/pdf/OpticalGradeCastAcry.pdf

 

[mfreader]

After a short email conversation with a fabricator that works with acrylic, apparently the acrylic bonding agent does not fuse with the anti-abrasion coatings. This may be why no one has used the coated material so far in a tank.

It seems to me that you could work around this by taking a thin layer off of the surface where joints occur to allow the bonding agent direct contact with the acrylic. Definitely more work when building, but it would be really interesting to see how this material stands up in a tank.

Maybe get a small sample of the coated stuff and leave it in a tank for awhile to accumulate things on the surface then try out various cleaning/scraping options to see what works the best.