is this free tank safe?

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djsaltynuts

djsaltynuts

Piranha
MFK Member
Sep 11, 2020
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i got a 36 gal drilled acrylic aquarium off this lady who had it in on the deck waiting for me to pick it up and the plastic decorations that were left in the tank melted and left somewhat of a sticky residue on the side of the tank what can i do to make the tank safe? is the tank rendered useless? i wanted to start a flowerhorn in that tank soon..
 
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The Wolfman is correct. The Novus Set of 3 polishes is the acrylic tank owners best friend. On a budget? Use the kits that are made for making yellow headlights clear. The one by Mother's comes with a pad which goes in a drill that really speeds up the process. That must have been some heat to melt plastic, can't say I've seen that before, lol!!!!.
NCH
 
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It sounds like a chemical may have been used ... possibly to sterilize the plastic plants/tank at some time. There's no telling. They could have used something like acetone. -But it is almost certainly safe to use. Chemicals like these evaporate.
 
TheWolfman said:
You should be fine. To remove the residu you can use novus and possibly need to wet sand the area.
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if the residue is melted plastics from a fishtank decoration likely toxic to fish? besides wanting to remove the appearance of the residue is it essential to remove the substance?
 
tarheel96 said:
It sounds like a chemical may have been used ... possibly to sterilize the plastic plants/tank at some time. There's no telling. They could have used something like acetone. -But it is almost certainly safe to use. Chemicals like these evaporate.
Click to expand...
the people i got the tank from simply drained and stored the tank and the sun must've melted a fake plant. i would like to use a chemical like acetone however the tank is acrylic.
NCHornet said:
The Wolfman is correct. The Novus Set of 3 polishes is the acrylic tank owners best friend. On a budget? Use the kits that are made for making yellow headlights clear. The one by Mother's comes with a pad which goes in a drill that really speeds up the process. That must have been some heat to melt plastic, can't say I've seen that before, lol!!!!.
NCH
Click to expand...
yes you never know what youll get with a free craigslist tank. do you mean mothers the smoothie cafe? and the chemicals in these kits are safe for fishtanks? or is it really just about removing the visible gunk?
 
If it's just gunk you can probably get away with just the novus. A polishing wheel is preferred, a drill can be used but they will take longer. If the plastic plant fused itself to the acrylic your probably going to need to wet sand the area first in stages. 1000 grit to start depending on how deep you need to go you might need to go lower to 500. Next the 2000, and lastly 3000 grit. From there the novus1 will buff out sandpaper. Novus2 next and Novus3 last. The acrylic should look brand new after.
 
No, lol!!! Mother's Auto Polishes. I like smoothies but I keep them out of my tanks. The Novus is the best to restore a tank. You can get a cheap angle grinder that accepts polishing pads that makes the process much faster.
 
could i just buy one of those algae scrubber things the residue is fairly soft?
 
Find the nearest Dollar Store and then adventure down the automotive aisle. They sell razor blade scrapers in a multi pack for a $1
 
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