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Removing Scratches From Aquarium Glass.

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jgray152

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I found this site after doing some search for buffing compound for glass since my used 180 I got looks like the original owner used steal wool or a wire brush to clean the inside of the glass...

<a href="http://www.fitchfamily.com/glass.html" target="_blank">http://www.fitchfamily.com/glass.html</a>

The same info at this site
[URL="http://www.bostonaquariumsociety.org/html/faqs/scratches.htm"]http://www.bostonaquariumsociety.org/html/faqs/scratches.htm[/URL]

Some more info.
http://www.facetingmachines.com/polishing_glass.shtml


Im going to try this on my tank to see how well it works...... uggg..... wish me luck..... :(
 
you know what? cheap tooth paste will do the same trick and is somewhat less costly.
 
I hear that too but that may be for REALLLY light scratches. The scratches I have are a little to deep for that. Some are to deep to buff out also.
 
jgray152 said:
I hear that too but that may be for REALLLY light scratches. The scratches I have are a little to deep for that. Some are to deep to buff out also.
Click to expand...

nop given the effort it will deal with everything. deep scratches are a real problem, if they are too deep, polishing them out will cause major weakness in the glass.
 
nop given the effort it will deal with everything. deep scratches are a real problem, if they are too deep, polishing them out will cause major weakness in the glass.
Click to expand...

That is if they are VERY deep. The Glass on my tank is 1/2" thick and the deepest scratch might only be a 64th of an inch deep which I may have to grind out with sand paper.
 
jgray152 said:
nop given the effort it will deal with everything. deep scratches are a real problem, if they are too deep, polishing them out will cause major weakness in the glass.
Click to expand...

That is if they are VERY deep. The Glass on my tank is 1/2" thick and the deepest scratch might only be a 64th of an inch deep which I may have to grind out with sand paper.
Click to expand...
be very careful there is a lot of pressure in a tank that size. the size of the scratch will not effect how well the toothpaste works. it will make your tank weaker, how much so is open to argument. 40 gallons of water and a pile of dead fish really stink in a short time, if you don't hear it go. that said i cant see any issues here. lol lots of hard work though.
 
You can use 3/8" glass for a 180 gallon tank so my glass is a 1/8 thicker so I have a lil room for error
 
boboboy said:
be very careful there is a lot of pressure in a tank that size. the size of the scratch will not effect how well the toothpaste works. it will make your tank weaker, how much so is open to argument. 40 gallons of water and a pile of dead fish really stink in a short time, if you don't hear it go. that said i cant see any issues here. lol lots of hard work though.
Click to expand...

That line of text is what gives me nightmares.

My worst nightmare is 55 gls of water all over my living room floor, it'd run into the hall, kitchen, ruin my TV, couch.......

I'm off to cry.....
 
Tacklebury said:
boboboy said:
be very careful there is a lot of pressure in a tank that size. the size of the scratch will not effect how well the toothpaste works. it will make your tank weaker, how much so is open to argument. 40 gallons of water and a pile of dead fish really stink in a short time, if you don't hear it go. that said i cant see any issues here. lol lots of hard work though.
Click to expand...

That line of text is what gives me nightmares.

My worst nightmare is 55 gls of water all over my living room floor, it'd run into the hall, kitchen, ruin my TV, couch.......

I'm off to cry.....
Click to expand...

How about 180 Gallons of water :crazy:

I can only imagin the damage..... :angry:
 
I have not tried the toothpaste technique but have used cerium oxide and a buffing pad to remove light scratches.

Seems to work fine on anything you can't feel with you nail (though it is hard work) and takes several attempts.

I have also found that by using reflectors on my lighting and adjusting so no light is shining directly ont the glass that scratches become invisdible. This works incredibly well. even with VERY deep scratches and requires absolutely no physical effort unlike the above method.

Hop this info is useful to somebody out there.

Cheers, M

Picture of my scrathed tank with reflectors fitted and angled;
 

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jgray152 said:
I found this site after doing some search for buffing compound for glass since my used 180 I got looks like the original owner used steal wool or a wire brush to clean the inside of the glass...

<a href="http://www.fitchfamily.com/glass.html" target="_blank">http://www.fitchfamily.com/glass.html</a>

The same info at this site
<a href="http://www.bostonaquariumsociety.org/html/faqs/scratches.htm" target="_blank">http://www.bostonaquariumsociety.org/html/faqs/scratches.htm</a>

Some more info.
[URL="http://www.facetingmachines.com/polishing_glass.shtml"]http://www.facetingmachines.com/polishing_glass.shtml[/URL]


Im going to try this on my tank to see how well it works...... uggg..... wish me luck..... :(
Click to expand...

Did you sort your scratches out? I want to get rid of some on my vision 180 but am a little tentative right now as to the best way to approach a bow front so looking for ideas :)
 
Sorry to bring this post back up? But I recently got a Rio 125 and it is fairly scratched, is it just the case of wiping toothpaste into the scratch then wiping it around the scratch? Or do you wipe the whole lot?

Thanks,

Tim
 
So I've spent about 3 hours searching and searching the net for answers to this problem... and found this:

http://www.rocksandgems.info/faceting_how_...ing_glass.shtml

I purchased this for 20 dollars... it's a buffing pad that attaches to your drill, and some of that cerium oxide powder mentioned in the OP's post up top:

http://www.caswellplating.com/buffs/glass.htm

From what the first link says, you can use fine-grit sandpaper to get the deeper scratches out, then buff with this cerium oxide.

Going to try this as soon as I get the product in the mail, and will update and let you all know how it works. Seems there are endless questions about glass scratch repair, and next to no substantial solutions.

Wish me luck!
 
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