I am gutted, brand new reefer G2 525 tank covered in small scratches from flipper. Looking for some advice on how to remove the scratches

[nelliereef]

Hi, so I just noticed our new tank (~3 months old Red Sea Reefer G2 525) suddenly has all these scratches on the inside of the front glass. The strange thing is, I always clean the sides & front at the same time, only the front is scratched and I always avoid the sand. Looking back on photos, it would seem the scratches suddenly appears 3 days ago. We use a Flipper edge with metal blades, always on the metal side. I don't know how this has suddenly happened, but looking closely at the scratches, they seem to be very light and I can't feel them. Maybe Red Sea use a cheap glass for the front that is easily scratched?!

I plan on getting some plastic holding tanks and moving the livestock/rock into them with heaters so we can spend the whole day polishing the glass with Cerium Oxide and a orbital sander.

Anyone here had the same thing happen to them, and can offer some advice or ideas?

The Flipper is in the bin and we will be using a Tunze plastic scraper going forward. I feel like a moron that I'm having to learn this the hard way.

Trying to upload a video. Thanks.

 

[BamaCoastPyrat]

I am not sure what happened, but I am sorry. That sucks.

 

[Mellotang]

You can do it

cerium Needs to be wet

watch the heat on the glass

I paid a glass polishing contractor to sand and polish a large glass tank

he got out the heavy scratches but also left some other swirl marks from
Sanding
They are not as visible as the heavy ones I had but it’s an uphill battle trying to sand and polish glass

luckily yours are light
Cerium might be all you need

 

[anthonygf]

Are you sure the scratches are on the inside? I use a metal blade scraper on my cheap tank glass and no scratches, but similar looking scratches on the outside that was actually hard dirt deposits that I had to scrub off with a little glass cleaner on a paper towel and scrub. I do not spray glass cleaner on the glass, spray it on the paper towel away from the tank.

 

[brandon429]

In reefs myriad small calcareous depositors form on the glass and flippers can rub them in, even if un apparent to the eye at the time

if that was my tank, a razor blade wedged and taped to the end of a dowel rod would be the only method used internally. No more flippers

 

[anthonygf]

In reefs myriad small calcareous depositors form on the glass and flippers can rub them in, even if un apparent to the eye at the time

if that was my tank, a razor blade wedged and taped to the end of a dowel rod would be the only method used internally. No more flippers

I have a stainless steel rod with several attachments, the razor blade and a brush. This tool is very handy. You can get it on Amazon.

 

[JCATL]

I picked up a used Reefer XL425 for practically nothing because it had some scratches in the front glass. Some were pretty big, but I figured they could be polished out. I was wrong. Not that it couldn't be done, but as someone in this thread said, you're trading big for small. Ultimately I just left it as is and the more the tank gets grown in, the less you notice them. Sucks, but the glass Red Sea uses seems to scratch easily. I've added a few myself by getting a grain of sand stuck in my magfloat without realizing it.

 

[brandon429]

agreed

simply add no more scratches here itll be ok

 

[LadyMac]

I’ve some rather large ones on my Waterbox from a friends kid enthusiastically grabbing my magnet cleaner and going to town. Starphire glass seems to scratch easily.

 

[Jonreefer]

if you do go the route to drain and try and polish out make sure you get the correct glass polishing pads

Lake Country Glass Polishing Disc, 5"

Effectively levels and removes light scratches and water spots when partnered with your favorite glass polish.

www.autoality.com

 

[brandon429]

Hidden trick: some razors aren't perfectly level you can push an occasional one with a tip that can scratch

I very lightly bend up the cutting corners of any scraping razor blade not so much you could see it, but barely.

Razors cut under the adherents vs drag them. Spirorbid worms are the same thing as a sand grain

 

[brandon429]

.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I just installed a 400g tank and it was scratch free. I use my mighty magnet which is too strong so switched to my Flipper max and have a 4" light scratch. Ive used this flipper on previous tank which was bare bottom and never got a scratch from same flipper so have concluded I picked up sand which the 400g has.
I just looked at the magnet and low and behold there is a few sand particles on the felt side of magnet.
It tells me to rinse and clean off sand after EVERY cleaning to avoid this in the future.

 

[piranhaman00]

I would not bother with removing scratches from glass,

 

[nelliereef]

You can do it

cerium Needs to be wet

watch the heat on the glass

I paid a glass polishing contractor to sand and polish a large glass tank

he got out the heavy scratches but also left some other swirl marks from
Sanding
They are not as visible as the heavy ones I had but it’s an uphill battle trying to sand and polish glass

luckily yours are light
Cerium might be all you need

Thanks, I need the positivity right now. I will do a test on another piece of glass (if I can replicate the scratches) before emptying the tank.

Are you sure the scratches are on the inside? I use a metal blade scraper on my cheap tank glass and no scratches, but similar looking scratches on the outside that was actually hard dirt deposits that I had to scrub off with a little glass cleaner on a paper towel and scrub. I do not spray glass cleaner on the glass, spray it on the paper towel away from the tank.

I'm 100% sure they're on the inside. When I move my head I can see the separation between the scratches and a smudge on the outside.

agreed

simply add no more scratches here itll be ok

Unfortunately the scratches are already all over the glass so couldn't really be any worse . Me and my wife are already discussing replacing the tank if we can't polish them out. The photo/video doesn't really demonstrate just how bad they are lol

Added some more pics. They cover the entire glass but you can only see them below the light. They move as you move across the tank and obscure the view into the tank from pretty much all angles. The scratches are wide and soft, not like a single piece of sand was caught in the blade, but rather a whole dusting of fine sand going across the blade.

Anywho, I think we will attempt to polish it. If it doesn't work, we will replace the tank. Maybe I can convince my wife to agree to a bigger one.

I will update this thread with the results.

 

[jmatt]

Got a Tunze Long two days ago and somehow managed to scratch the outside of the Starfire glass. I think the magnet scraper experiment just ended.

I am cautious about everything... I have no idea how this happened but why scrape something along the outside as well as the inside? I am somewhat despondent about this.

 

[Dburr1014]

Low iron glass is easily scratched as apposed to normal glass.
Nature of the Beast.

 

[workhz]

I was going to suggest a tunze care as I just got that one and the design seems less prone to catching sand but then the person above managed to scratch the front.

my tanks from years ago had tons of scratches. I’m trying to be more careful this time around.

 

[klc]

So sorry to hear about the scratches in your tank, it's gut wrenching to think about it. I just bought a Hygger magnet cleaner for my new 100g and the first thing I did was to remove the scraper portion of it. In years past I've used strong magnet cleaners pretty much willy nilly even below the sand line without any scratching but I've probably just been lucky lol.

Removing scratches from glass can be done but it is very time consuming and one creates a situation where a single scratch can be turned into an area several square inches in diameter from the abrasive polishing. You're technically not removing the scratch but rather removing all of the surrounding glass down to the level of the bottom of the scratch and tapering it outwards. The resulting swirl marks can be challenging to remove 100%.

Ultimately I'd not attempt it myself. If you absolutely cannot live with the scratches, I'm sure your tank could be sold to someone who wouldn't mind them as much, or would use the tank for other purposes.

Something else to ponder...it is possible to replace the front pane of glass. Could be cheaper than another tank.

 

[bluerider098]

Been using the Tunze long for 2 years. Not a single scratch. If you look the inside portion rides on the blades so the actual magnet doesn't even touch the glass.

The outside rides on the plastic retainers and a felt pad. If kept clean it will not scratch your glass.