Going Acrylic (Used) Questions

FLESHY said:

Not sure if this should be here - so mods feel free to move as you see fit.

I am picking up a large acrylic aquarium in the near future.

It is a great price -and I am getting it from someone who I trust completely.

That being said - there are several issues:

1. He says its "scratched up". Not sure how bad it is, Ill fill it to make sure first.
2. There is a crack in the top bracing. He says its been there since he got it and its a non issue - but should be an easy repair. Again, I dont know anything about this.
3. I think the previous owner may have sealed the overflow. I definitely want an overflow...how hard would it be to redrill it?
4. The back of the tank is blue, and the bottom is clear - is there anything I can do to change this to black? I need paint that will be acrylic/fish safe for the interior, as I think the back is molded blue.
5. It doesnt come with a stand - and I have built stands before, but I think that there are special requirements for acrylic stands?

If anyone could help me on any or all of these concerns that would be great.

Thanks

Click to expand...

1) I expect some modest scratching and hazing in a used acrylic tank, those can be buffed out fairly easily. Any scratch you can catch your fingernail on will be much more difficult to buff out. Watch out for crazing, which looks a bit like spiderwebs and will not buff out. A small amount of it is acceptable to me depending on price, a large amount could signal structural trouble. Check the seams carefully.

2) Really depends on the crack. On big tanks, sometimes people sit on top of them when setting up and they crack a bit. Or it could be a big structural issue.

3) Depends on how they sealed it... You may not even want the overflow where it was previously placed... The best overflow designs really have multiple holes drilled anyway, like bean animal and the herbie.

4) Is does depend if it's just painted blue or an actual panel of all blue acrylic... Honestly in this case I've found thin 3D backgrounds to be very easy fixes that look great.

5) You want to make sure the entire top of the stand has a flat sheet of plywood, as opposed to just the edges like a glass tank. Some people put foam under the tank on top of that, personally after talking to a very good local tank builder, I do not do this. But I'm sure there's debate on that and you should make your own educated decision. Part of it is me hating how a sheet of foam looks under my tank.



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Foam helps evenly distribute the weight. ANd helps make it "more" level.
For $75 I wouldnt pass that up either.
And w/ that footprint you cant put too many monsters in it.
ANd if the flow is too high it will probably just whirl pool...maybe.
For the price I would make it a project and try and get that overflow box working.
Novus polish will buff out scratches quite well. get the novus 1,2 and 3 kit.

Out of order but YES to the full wood bottom. A small pressure point under one can do a lot of damage. I usually use foam under glass of this size, but acrylic will be fine with wood instead.

As for the cracked brace - it is an easy fix, and def something to fix. The best way is to bond a flat section of new acrylic over the top of it.

If the background is painted blue, sand paper to remove it, rubbing compound to smooth the sand paper marks, then polish it shiney....then repaint it black. If it's blue tinted acrylic, then you'll need to make something to cover it from the inside. Another option is a thin sheet of black acrylic fixed into place from inside the tank.

To remove the over flow box, you'll have to cut it out, and buff down the edges. It's a big pain to do. What is the reason for moving it? Are you just wanting it in a different location?

For $75 just buy it!


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