Glass scratch repair

[zachxlutz]

I'm getting close to bringing my 120 gallon tank inside... You can see my build thread here, http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=106109">Zach's 120 Gallon Reef Resurgence</a>... I've put so much work into it so far and I just don't know if I'm going to be able to live with the scratched glass. It looks like the previous owner of the tank used some abrasive material to remove calcium deposits from the glass. It's hard to see in pics but very apparent when the tank is dry. It's not TOO bad when the tank is full of water but I'm really getting cold feet about final set up.

Point being: Has anyone successfully polished glass using cerium oxide or another similar product? What about glass repair services? I've contacted Encore Glass Repair for a quote and to chat with them about it.

Thoughts?

 

[Adam]

It can be done but cerium oxide will not do it. That is what you use last after going through a few other coarser grits 1st.
There's a repair kit you can get on Amazon but to do it right it would be best to disassemble the tank to have full access to the glass. It's a pita! Sounds like you've got a good sump though.

 

[zachxlutz]

anit77;1094725 wrote: It can be done but cerium oxide will not do it. That is what you use last after going through a few other coarser grits 1st.
There's a repair kit you can get on Amazon but to do it right it would be best to disassemble the tank to have full access to the glass. It's a pita! Sounds like you've got a good sump though.

Yeah, the tank isn't full or stocked yet so i have full access to all the scratched panels.

I'm hoping I hear back from the glass repair guy to see if he thinks he can repair it for me at a reasonable price. If not, i'm going to bite the bullet and buy a new tank and redrill the holes.

Ugh. Really stressed about this right now.

 

[Adam]

Here's some info for you.

 

[jennm]

I've never seen anybody successfully repair scratched glass.

Jenn

 

[myvwrock]

I wonder, if there is a crack in your windshield,you can get epoxy and more or less fill it in clear.... I wonder if the same principle could be used on a tank? It's epoxy after all, I believe

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[dball711]

Time to buy the new tank...

 

[axio]

It is doable... We used to have a guy on our crew that was pretty good at buffing glass. But he doesn't work for us anymore and we don't offer it anymore because it isn't an easy skill to acquire.

Buffing glass is a lot less for giving then acrylic and it takes a LOT of man hours. I would guess to get one pane of a 120 done you are looking at 8-12 hours of elbow work if you haven't done anything like this before.

In my opinion glass is better left to professional glass repair companies if they will even agree to work on an aquarium. But typically with those costs it better to just a get new tank unfortunately.