HOW TO REMOVE SCRATCH ON GLASS TANK

[Reefpins10]

I scratched the inside of my starfire glass when I was doing a huge clean up today. Does someone know what kind of stuff I can use to remove those scratches inside without emptying the tank ?

[The Grizz]

Nothing to do but replace the glass

[Reefpins10]

OH NO ... !!! What a bad day for me :sad:

[The Grizz]

My 8'er is scratched all to hell so I asked Concept Aquariums about polishing it out and it is cheaper to replace. There are only a few places with the equipment to do it so it cost a small fortune and your first born. :surprise:

[turkleton]

what about on acrylic? is there any way to do it without draining the tank?

[Reefpins10]

I will just wait until my frags are getting a little bit bigger in a year or so, then I will get a bigger tank at that time. It really sucks, I wanted to keep this tank for another 10 years, but now I have to plan to get another tank soon. I can't believe is harder to remove a scratch from the glass tank than the plexi glass tank. I also didn't know it would cost so much money to have someone to polish the glass.

[The Grizz]

I didn't think so either, was totally shocked. It has to be done with a special machine in order to keep it perfectly even especially with starphire.

[Reefpins10]

This hobby is supposed to make you feel happy and relaxed, but for me is opposite way sometimes. After the algae problem not even solved yet, now I have a scratched tank :twised::twised::twised:

[The Grizz]

what about on acrylic? is there any way to do it without draining the tank?

Acrylic is IMPOSIBLE to remove scratches from, it is way to soft.

[The Grizz]

Even if there was a way to remove scratches from glass/acrylic it would have to be done on an empty tank because it would definitely involve some kind of chemicals.

[shrimpchips]

Acrylic is IMPOSIBLE to remove scratches from, it is way to soft.

No it's not - it's actually much easier than to buff out scratches in glass.

[sphelps]

No it's not - it's actually much easier than to buff out scratches in glass.

Agreed, very easy indeed and you can even repair scratches on the inside with the tank full. You can buy a kit from J&L, I've used this one before and it works well, you just can't use the final polish on the inside with the tank full but you usually don't need to.
http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/product-info.php?product_ID=cl-asrk

For glass you can get a polishing compound but it will only work on very mild scratches, basically if you can barely see it and you can't feel it with your fingernail you might be able to buff it out but the compounds will likely not be safe to use on the inside of a full tank. If you can feel the scratch there's not much you can do.

[ultreef]

Agreed, very easy indeed and you can even repair scratches on the inside with the tank full. You can buy a kit from J&L, I've used this one before and it works well, you just can't use the final polish on the inside with the tank full but you usually don't need to.
http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/product-info.php?product_ID=cl-asrk

For glass you can get a polishing compound but it will only work on very mild scratches, basically if you can barely see it and you can't feel it with your fingernail you might be able to buff it out but the compounds will likely not be safe to use on the inside of a full tank. If you can feel the scratch there's not much you can do.

Cerium oxide is the compound used to polish glass. Plus a rotary buff with wool pad. And a lot of elbow grease. Compound is not reef safe!!!

If you can feel the scratch with your nails, then it's gonna be there forever.

[globaldesigns]

Yup, nothing you can do

You can drain it, and have someone use a tool to polish, but then you will probably see it still and this can create a weak point.

Scratches are a fact of life when cleaning, just take your time and go slow, making sure you don't catch anything in the cleaning magnet that can cause damage.

Starfire is easier to scratch than normal glass, another reason I myself don't use acrylic or starfire. I would probably commit suicide with the scratches I have seen on these 2 types.

I hope the scratch isn't too big!

[The Grizz]

Agreed, very easy indeed and you can even repair scratches on the inside with the tank full. You can buy a kit from J&L, I've used this one before and it works well, you just can't use the final polish on the inside with the tank full but you usually don't need to.
http://www.jlaquatics.com/phpstore/store_pages/product-info.php?product_ID=cl-asrk

For glass you can get a polishing compound but it will only work on very mild scratches, basically if you can barely see it and you can't feel it with your fingernail you might be able to buff it out but the compounds will likely not be safe to use on the inside of a full tank. If you can feel the scratch there's not much you can do.

Well I'm glad someone could give more details here. I asked some time ago about this and was told it could not be done

[Doug]

I scratched the inside of my starfire glass when I was doing a huge clean up today. Does someone know what kind of stuff I can use to remove those scratches inside without emptying the tank ?


I asked on several boards and nothing that would work well came from it. I scratched the viewing side on my 1 day old 180 starfire cube. Pretty well wrecked the tank. The only reasonable solution was to replace the starfire front glass.

I just kept my stuff in it for awhile and left it with the house when I sold it. They use it for a winter home for their pond fish. :lol:

[untamed]

Acrylic is IMPOSIBLE to remove scratches from, it is way to soft.

What? That isn't accurate. I routinely remove scratches from my acrylic all the time. Every couple of years I polish entire panels.

[The Grizz]

What? That isn't accurate. I routinely remove scratches from my acrylic all the time. Every couple of years I polish entire panels.

Ok already, so I have been misinformed by several people and a couple glass shops. I stand corrected AGAIN.

[globaldesigns]

Ok already, so I have been misinformed by several people and a couple glass shops. I stand corrected AGAIN.

I do think anything can be polished, but do we want to drain a tank for this. I for one do not.... Also polishing does remove material, in time maybe creating a weak point.

I was told for glass they use something called a Rose Wheel... I may be incorrect, but this is what I recall.

[The Grizz]

I do think anything can be polished, but do we want to drain a tank for this. I for one do not.... Also polishing does remove material, in time maybe creating a weak point.

I was told for glass they use something called a Rose Wheel... I may be incorrect, but this is what I recall.

You are correct Rick, it is called a rose wheel, I asked about it at Concepts. I do know that glass can be polished and it can be very expensive. I was refering to the part about polishing acrylic was told it could not be done but I stand corrected TWICE :biggrin:

[daniella3d]

+1 on that. Cerium oxide can only remove very small scratches and if you manage to remove the deeper one you're going to create a magnifying glass effect, very ugly.

It does take a lot of time and effort to remove even just a small scratch. I simply gave up the idea after a while. Most small scratches don't really show when the tank is full of water.

Cerium oxide is the compound used to polish glass. Plus a rotary buff with wool pad. And a lot of elbow grease. Compound is not reef safe!!!

If you can feel the scratch with your nails, then it's gonna be there forever.

[Reefpins10]

Yup, nothing you can do

You can drain it, and have someone use a tool to polish, but then you will probably see it still and this can create a weak point.

Scratches are a fact of life when cleaning, just take your time and go slow, making sure you don't catch anything in the cleaning magnet that can cause damage.

Starfire is easier to scratch than normal glass, another reason I myself don't use acrylic or starfire. I would probably commit suicide with the scratches I have seen on these 2 types.

I hope the scratch isn't too big!


I did want to commit suicide when I see how bad it was. I was using the magnetic float to clean the glass, and that stupid thing caught a small piece of coraline algae from the tank. I didn't know that, I kept cleaning up and down on the same area for a few seconds then realized I was made a huge blurry look. It was right in the top right corner of my tank, the scratches are about 2 inches wide and 7 inches long. I can see clearly, but I don't feel the scratches when I touch it. I was thinking if I can empty 1/3 of the tank and use something to fix it, instead of removing the whole thing inside.
Thanks Sphelps, I will call J&L about this product. And thanks everybody for your quick responses. It really touched me when I know whenever I need help, there is always somebody here to help me. Thanks a lot you guys.