bringman Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 So I was up in Atlanta this weekend and found this on the side of the road. Had to repack the car to get it to fit but I made it happen. Two hours later and lots of vinegar this is what it looks like. Lots of scratches, but it was free. There was a crappy sump as well. What type of overflow is this? It is an upside J with a mesh guard over the intake in. Any thoughts? How do you decide how much flow you need on the return? Haven't ever run a sump. I have always done AIO. Thanks for looking and for any help. Link to comment
uaiu Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Nice find! if you could get all the scratches out it'd be fantastic! Link to comment
bringman Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 Does anyone have experience using the scratch remover for acrylic. Was thinking I would just do a FOWLR due to the scratches. Link to comment
bringman Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 Anybody out there with some advice?? Link to comment
patback Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Idk about the inside, but there is a wide array of scratch removers for the outside. Just do a google search, or hardware store is bound to have atleast one of the types. Link to comment
bringman Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 Any sump knowledge would be greatly appreciated. Need help figuring out what size pump I would need. Link to comment
hooligan_78 Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Any sump knowledge would be greatly appreciated. Need help figuring out what size pump I would need. As big as you can. Always. Whatever will fit in your stand. Link to comment
bringman Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 So big sump. How big does the pump need to be. Link to comment
patback Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 So big sump. How big does the pump need to be. Depends in what your overflow allows and the amount of flow you want through your sump. Take in account headloss of the water being pumped straight up. Link to comment
Xanthi Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Thats a Ton of scratches...Are they worse? on the inside or outside? How deep are they? Link to comment
patback Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Thats a Ton of scratches...Are they worse? on the inside or outside? How deep are they? Acrylic usually looks 10x worse dry than wet. Once filled up this would make a decent fowlr I think. Link to comment
bringman Posted August 7, 2012 Author Share Posted August 7, 2012 Very fine scratches. Cant catch them with a finger nail. I am going to sand with 1000 grit and then 2000 grit and then hit it with Plastx and see if I cant make this tank shine again. Something to keep me busy. Half the fun with tanks it getting them setup and all the DIY stuff. Link to comment
jon253 Posted August 7, 2012 Share Posted August 7, 2012 Fill it with water i bet most if not all the scratches dissapere Link to comment
Xanthi Posted August 8, 2012 Share Posted August 8, 2012 Very fine scratches. Cant catch them with a finger nail. I am going to sand with 1000 grit and then 2000 grit and then hit it with Plastx and see if I cant make this tank shine again.Something to keep me busy. Half the fun with tanks it getting them setup and all the DIY stuff. I mean are they deep*!! lol Oh yeah. Diy is fun as f****. I do hate acrylic and will never step up an acrylic tank again. But I am definitely excited to see how this goes. Take LOTS of pics. Planning on using an electric sander and a blue dome polishing wheel? Or all by hand? Link to comment
bringman Posted August 8, 2012 Author Share Posted August 8, 2012 electric sander and Mothers Blue Ball for the plastx. Hope to start one night this week or over the weekend. Lots of rain and heat down here in Savannah. Dont want to do it in the house and make a huge mess. Still have to talk the wife into letting it be set up in the house. She did tell me to put it in the car so thats a start. Link to comment
bringman Posted August 9, 2012 Author Share Posted August 9, 2012 Finding it was nice. But now I have another tank and really want to set it up quick but I am going to have to take my time. I will try to keep up with pics and slowly set this tank up. Link to comment
bringman Posted August 18, 2012 Author Share Posted August 18, 2012 So many hours of sweat equity have been put into removing most of the scratches a few remain but are only visible if you know where to look. I think this will have to become my next tank as I have found about 90lbs of rock for less than a dollar a pound. So here are some post pics without water and with water. Bad lighting for both. Decent reflection Full of water Still debating building a stand or refinishing one from the LFS. Thanks for any comments David Link to comment
slickwill613 Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 What a huge difference! Great work. Why can't i find cool stuff? Guess I'll just have to keep stealing it. Link to comment
bringman Posted August 18, 2012 Author Share Posted August 18, 2012 Thanks, Crazy to think you can talk a sander and buffer to a tank and it will end up looking better. My neighbors thought I was crazy. Link to comment
RayWhisperer Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Looks good. Is it really good though? If so, post exactly what you used. The reason I asked is I have a 135 corner tank in need of polishing. Mostly very fine scratches from a colony of pleco's I had in it years ago. Link to comment
bringman Posted August 18, 2012 Author Share Posted August 18, 2012 There were some large scratches on the outside that I used 350 then 600 then 1000 and then 2000 all wet/dry automotive sandpaper by 3M. Inside it used 600,1000,2000. By the time you do this the tank looks very hazed over and worse. I then used a Mothers Blue Ball from automotive place with Megairs Plastx and buffed the tank a couple of times. Too sand I used a hand (palm) sander. Let the sander do the work you dont need to push much at all. Keep spraying water on the surface to keep in wet and wash away the acrylic that has been sanded off. One good rinse between each grit of paper. The Blue Ball fits on a drill so not much work there either. Just time and lots of rinsing. Some said to sand in only one direction per grit size but I found it worked better to go both directions with each. If your scratches are fine you could probably skip to 1000 and 2000 grit. You just keep sanding tell you dont see the scratch anymore. I still have a few in the tank but didnt want to keep taking layers of acrylic off. Hope this helps. Feel free to ask any questions. Link to comment
RayWhisperer Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 So this palm sander.... Was it vibrating, random orbital, or just a block you attach the paper to? These are the tools I have at my disposal http://www.mytoolstore.com/dewalt/dew06-01.html http://www.mytoolstore.com/dewalt/dew06-08.html#d26441 Top one in both links. http://www.backuppads.com/shop/3-x-5-palm-sander-2135/ Not exactly what I have but close enough. The reason I'm being so anal about it is I don't want any distortion. The tank isn't just a common corner tank. It has 7 viewing angles. http://www.fishtanksdirect.com/browseprodu...m-48x48x24.HTML Link to comment
Spirofucci Posted August 18, 2012 Share Posted August 18, 2012 Wow! What a score! Nice job on removing the scratches! Start a build thread in the members section! Link to comment
bringman Posted August 18, 2012 Author Share Posted August 18, 2012 Raywhisperer, I used something like your palm sander, but mine was cheap and from harbor freight. I cant notice any distortion and have placed things inside the tank to see if there was any distortion. Lots of sanding and I changed paper often just to be sure I was getting the same quality. You can buy a piece of acrylic sheet and scratch it and practice. I had some laying around so I did it just to make myself believe that it would work. Link to comment
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