how to buff acrilic tank?
- Thread starter misterjose23
- Start date
and where can i get that? sorry i have my first acrilic tank. and it has a couple of scratches. not so bad but for the price i got it for im not complaining.
http://www.novuspolish.com/ im not sure which stores would sell it...maybe a hope depot or orchard supply
The best place to get it is at a tanning bed supply place (don't laugh). I paid less for a giant bottle of each level of it than the cheapest price I saw online for the small bottles.
Then I picked up a $20 orbital buffer at Home Depot and went to work.
If the scratches are super deep you can use super fine grit sand paper first and wet sand it by hand - do that in alternating perpendicular motions (ie all horizontal with 1200 grit, all vertical with 2000, etc etc). They sell kits of super fine polishing pads too up to like 30000 grit. Supposedly these alone can buff a tank, but I think that's BS. It's cloudy. I did an entire tank with those, which took forever, then finished it off with Novus 3 and 2 with the orbital buffer. I wish I had used 1 because there's still a foggy reflection in certain lighting conditions. But once the tank lights are on it's like there's nothing between me and the fish.
Assuming there are no super deep scratches, you can just get the polish and the buffer and get it done. Then wipe the remaining mess off with a clean 100% cotton towel and you'll be all set.
Then I picked up a $20 orbital buffer at Home Depot and went to work.
If the scratches are super deep you can use super fine grit sand paper first and wet sand it by hand - do that in alternating perpendicular motions (ie all horizontal with 1200 grit, all vertical with 2000, etc etc). They sell kits of super fine polishing pads too up to like 30000 grit. Supposedly these alone can buff a tank, but I think that's BS. It's cloudy. I did an entire tank with those, which took forever, then finished it off with Novus 3 and 2 with the orbital buffer. I wish I had used 1 because there's still a foggy reflection in certain lighting conditions. But once the tank lights are on it's like there's nothing between me and the fish.
Assuming there are no super deep scratches, you can just get the polish and the buffer and get it done. Then wipe the remaining mess off with a clean 100% cotton towel and you'll be all set.
thanks ill go out right now n get the stuff. yes. i already have an orbit buffer that i use for my car will that work?
car buffers work... however you have to know what you are doing.. acrylic "burns" just as easy as paint does.. use the lowest setting and keep moving so you dont overheat the acrylic..
novus is great stuff.. im pretty sure it was originaly marketed for polishing tanning beds which are acrylic.. so fishtanks were the natural next step.. there are directions on the bottles...
when i did/do my tanks i do step 3 once.. step 2 twice.. then step 3 again.. then step 2 once then step 1 as many times as it takes..
auto part stores sell headlight polishing kits that have 1500+ (wet) sand paper.. they also have their own acrylic polish but theres about a million so chances are no two people have ever used the same brand twice..
novus is great stuff.. im pretty sure it was originaly marketed for polishing tanning beds which are acrylic.. so fishtanks were the natural next step.. there are directions on the bottles...
when i did/do my tanks i do step 3 once.. step 2 twice.. then step 3 again.. then step 2 once then step 1 as many times as it takes..
auto part stores sell headlight polishing kits that have 1500+ (wet) sand paper.. they also have their own acrylic polish but theres about a million so chances are no two people have ever used the same brand twice..