...unless you have tons of scratches and want your tank to look new again!
I finally did it, well started on it. I've had the acrylic sandpaper kit for about a year or more now and just could not bring myself to start rubbing that harsh abrasive on my tank. The main reason was concern for the tank's inhabitants and the other, well ...what the results would be on the acrylic.
My 180 acrylic will be 10 years old in September of this year
. Over the course of time the acrylic has become unsightly and disappointing for me to clean the tank and do a water change, only to later see tons of small scratches covering crystal clear water and lots of great fish and coral colors
. Most of my pics never showed all the small scratches luckily, but in person it's very noticeable. I've even considered replacing my 180 (in wall) with a new 180, but was concerned with messing with the well established DSB.
Anyway, back to the sanding... Just before performing my weekly water change I gave in last night and started sanding a 2' x 2' section on the right back-side, which was the worst area with scratches. Nope, I didn't try it first in a small inconspicuous place. I did the whole right back-side.
. I think I was just so fed up with it that I figured it couldn't get any worse. The inhabitants include many different types of fish, LPS, SPS, sponges and invertebrates. The kit includes 8 small squares of sandpaper, each having a different grit rating. It starts with 1500 and polishes out with 12000 grit.
I started with 1500 and sanded only in a straight horizontal direction covering the entire 2' x 2' section. As I did this, the acrylic gave off a slight whitish "smoke" into the water. I stopped partial through and checked on the fish, etc. Everything looked normal. When I was done, the section was completely "hazed" with tons of horizontal scratches. My wife had no idea what I was doing so I called her over to show her my "master piece". She was shocked and started asking question after question trying to figure out why the hell I would do something like that to the tank.
I assured her it would come out nice once I was done. (gulp)
Using the next grit size, going in order to the next larger number, I sanded in straight lines, but doing so vertically this time. Each switch-off to the next sandpaper grit size I alternated between horizontal and vertical sanding directions. As I got to the 3rd from the last grit size, I stepped back and noticed that this section was now much MUCH nicer looking than the rest of the tank.
I finished out with the remaining grit sizes in the kit and when I was done I was amazed at how clear the section was. It was like new again!!!
Just to note, the whitish "smoke" that gave off into the water column and slightly clouded the tank was about 90% clear by the time I was done and appeared to have completely cleared out before I performed the water change about 15 mins later.
I checked on all the livestock this morning and again this evening and everything looks normal as it was before and all fish accounted for and eating like pigs! No LPS showing bad signs and SPS look great ... well through the 2'x2' section that is! LOL
I plan to do another section on the back-side later on. I'll be adding a new tang to the tank and want to let him settle in nicely before starting again. My biggest concern is how I am going to reach the front panel in order to sand it. I only have access from the back of the tank and it's not easy reaching to the front.
I've also noticed one scratch the remained in the newly sanded section, this was due to how deep the scratch was to begin with. I now feel very comfortable going back and sanding again to work this out. One thing that was cautioned in the instructions was to work in slightly large areas, meaning do not concentrate on sanding a very small scratch by sanding only the scratch itself or that area will become distorted.
It only takes one thing.......Elbow Grease.
