A wise man **JUST** told me. Lol. **ACRYLIC HELP NEEDED** read the whole post**

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that_fish_Guy

that_fish_Guy

Peacock Bass
MFK Member
Jul 29, 2013
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Well, I had been getting ready to set up my 450 gallon for this past week. I thought I was fine. Thought I had it covered, and thought I had this tank in the bag! However after speaking to a fellow MFKER over the phone,
"the wise man lol" . I realised I am deffinately rushing this whole thing...
The tank is big... really big. And for me this is a huge undertaking. I sanded and buffed the tank but it didn't come out well at all, still a bit hazy... I must have done it wrong.... or too FAST maybe? I've seen tanks in way way worse conditions then mine come out nice and clear.... mine hasent... YET. So there are a few things I need some help with and who else would be betyer to turn to then trusty MFKERs ? So things I need help/advices with are as follows.

1) I need help knowing the exact products and methods I need to use to re-sand and polish this tank. At first I started with 800 grit sand paper then 1000, then 1500. Of course wet dry sand paper with lots of water. But I did it wrong or too fast most likely too fast. I used a palm sander. So I need some advice on this topic. How to do it what to use and how to get the acrylic the clearist!
What chemicals, buffing methods, ways to get it CLEAR! :)

2) getting flow right! This is going to be my largest tank with a large sump
(180 gallons) . I have no idea how to ensure flow etc is correct. I am a non experienced plumber so PVC plumbing for a sump etc is foreign to me.i have two overflows 1.5inches. The return is also 1.5 inches.

3) what to use as lids. The top openings are huge. Really huge. The tank is 7ft long and 4 ft wide to put into perspective.
****if anyone is in my area and would be nice enough to set aside some time to come and help a sump and acrylic polishing newbie out, I'd greatly appreciate it! I have no fish keeping friends near by so this has been a hard thing to find, someone who can lend a helping hand.

Shout out to Robert for making me realize the obvious. I would have set it up then been mad with the whole tank if I'd just rushed to get it done this weekend.

I want this done right. I don't want to set it up then be mad at it every day.

If I missed anything else I'll add it here! :D
Thanks guys in advance
 
Something when I learn when setting up new tank is take your time and don't rush through it, you rather get it don't once and look goods so later on you don't have to come back and fix it up. As polishing acrylic I never did it before but people said they use the chemicals that they sell at auto zone for headlights refurbish. It look like it works but I don't know if its safe for fish. On the overflow are you drilling the tank or diy like Joey's video on youtube?
 
arowjdm0103 said:
Something when I learn when setting up new tank is take your time and don't rush through it, you rather get it don't once and look goods so later on you don't have to come back and fix it up. As polishing acrylic I never did it before but people said they use the chemicals that they sell at auto zone for headlights refurbish. It look like it works but I don't know if its safe for fish. On the overflow are you drilling the tank or diy like Joey's video on youtube?
Click to expand...

Overflows are already made when I got the tank. I tried the headlight polish stuff. I'm thinking I need some specialty cutting compound and polish. Just don't know what! Or what grit to star with what increment in grit sizes to go in and what to make this tank clear as air. And also I already painted the back and side black so that's taken care of. Here is how my overflows are set up. As you can see there are black stand pipes inside that overflow into the long white pipe. The return is in the center

uploadfromtaptalk1422596924076.jpg

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View attachment 1056393
uploadfromtaptalk1422597109684.jpg
Not 100% show quality YET. But can't complain for what I got it for. And I'm sure with the right sanding and buffing it can come out even better!

*already water tested.. it holds water

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Congrats on the big tank,

Polishing, I would recommend the Novus polishing product line if I was you, use all of them in the correct steps,

Plumbing- Always a multi stage process, Measure twice, make sure to clean all cuts pvc pipe, Make sure to use primer and general cement for all fittings, primmer is good stuff and should always be used, also threaded pieces I prefer the paste vs thread tape these days, make sure to follow directions, I put it on both the male and female parts and load it up well.

With the returns my advice would be to have them go up the overflow or how ever it goes and then have it go to a Tee at the top, Then from the Tee you can have the return split, I use locline to have adjustable flow to where I want, makes it very nice.

For lids you can do allot of different things, you will just have to decide what you want to do. The roofing for sun rooms or green house clear board is the best stuff I have found so far.
 
Ok I'll look into the novus stuff.

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Have you checked into how much it would cost to have it polished out by an experienced business/service?
 
xraycer said:
Have you checked into how much it would cost to have it polished out by an experienced business/service?
Click to expand...

$75 an Hr. Minimum payment of like $150 or something. **imo not worth it
They'd take like 6 hrs or more on purpose lol. So I'll just try myself. I've heard good and bad things about novus. So I'm unsure. I know wet sanding is the primary way people do it and then they buff it out. But just don't know specific details as to what polishing and cutting compound I need to use and what size grit to start with and what increment in grit sizes to go to. There are a few deep scratches but nothing that can't be sanded and buffed I don't think.

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Any more suggestions on making this acrylic clear?

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When stepping up to a finer grit paper (higher number) did you make sure that you removed ALL of the scratches from the previous (lower number) grit paper?

I don't remember but did you say you used a palm sander or a random orbital sander?

Also what did you buff the tank with? What compound and what buffing pad?

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