Best way to clean acrylic tank?

[KrisReef]

Vinegar is just 5% acetic acid in water.

Oops, I meant citric acid, or Muriatic acid for impeller cleaning, my apologies.

Acetic acid (vinegar) is the one to avoid.

 

[victorcan]

Looking back at the pictures, he used mothers as well lol. But thanks for the vote of confidence in rinsing going to do the clean out this week and a test run. Fill up on the stand, pending all goes well. I will be doing the swap this coming weekend. Picked up an extra 150 pounds of live rock this last week to add in.

My acrylics guy just polished mine with Meguiar’s compound to remove swirl marks — he’s done hundreds of tanks and said it’s perfectly reef safe. Just rinse it out.

Can't wait to see what your tank looks like at the end!

 

[Troylee]

Rinse well with a hose and fill your tank! I’ve done this a thousand times with every acrylic tank I’ve ever built and never had a issue lol..

 

[jpshoemaker46]

Looking back at the pictures, he used mothers as well lol. But thanks for the vote of confidence in rinsing going to do the clean out this week and a test run. Fill up on the stand, pending all goes well. I will be doing the swap this coming weekend. Picked up an extra 150 pounds of live rock this last week to add in.

That's going to look so nice!! Can't wait to see it get wet and add some stock into there! Look forward to it!

 

[Babyback]

Speaking of cleaning: what’s a good magnetic algae scrubber - Mag-float? My wall thickness is 3/4”.

I have 240g with 3/4 inch panels, I use the Algae Free Tiger Shark Float Plus magnetic cleaner, it works great! It comes with a metal scraper for GLASS ONLY and a plastic scraper for acrylic. I use the scraper very carefully and slowly, only at the bottom, near the sand line. You do need to be extra cautious with acrylic, no doubt.

 

[victorcan]

OK so I did rinse it all out with water got rid of all the film and any chunks that were remaining in the tank did it for like an hour out and 55° weather which my toes are killing me hypothermia or slight frostbite lol but it’s done.

I can’t wait to get my stock in there now that the tank is cleaned out. I’m gonna do a wet run and fill it up tomorrow to test the strength of the stand and the integrity of the tank.

Slight new problem nothing major, but I now know why the guy sold the tank. The bulkhead rubber seals literally turned to a hard plastic, and became brittle half of the rubber, or what was once rubber was still stuck to the bottom of the opening. It looks like he tried to silicone, the bulkhead back in the place and obviously couldn’t stop the leaking? So instead of taking it apart and repairing it, he just went ahead and bought a new tank.? My dilemma is that on one of the three-quarter inch holes there is still silicone and due to the size of the hole I can’t get my fingers all the way through it. I got rid of most of the silicone, but there is still clearly material left on, the bottom because the tank is 36 inches tall I can’t reach down from the top to scrape it and because the hole in the bottom is about the size of my two fingers. It makes it almost impossible to get a clean finish? Any thoughts on this one? My thought was to get some industrial rubber glass gloves and try to just grind it with my finger in the hole lol. Any suggestions again are more than welcome. I’m gonna soak my feet in hot water and wait for the next text of inspiration

Rinse well with a hose and fill your tank! I’ve done this a thousand times with every acrylic tank I’ve ever built and never had a issue lol..

That's going to look so nice!! Can't wait to see it get wet and add some stock into there! Look forward to it!

 

[Fred A.]

Glad to hear! What algae magnet do you use/recommend? At 500g, I assume your wall thickness is likely at least 1” or wider? I’m looking for a good & reliable magnet for my 3/4” acrylic tank.

I use two. A Tiger Shark Float and the heavier MagFloat 510A that is rated for 3/4" to 1 1/4" The MagFloat may be too strong for you, it takes a lot of strength to pull it across! Whatever you get just make sure you use the pads for acrylic NOT GLASS.

 

[victorcan]

Anyone have any thought on getting that silicone outta the overflowbox bottom? its 36" down and I cant reach, its only on the 1" whole which makes it near impossible to reach the glue?\thought about getting a sanding disk on a 42" drill bit and trying to sand it off but that would really ruff the acrylic and then its not a good seem, best thought was to drill a 2nd 2" hole which i could then use as a herbie orbean animal system then just ad another 1" hole for the return line? just nervous about drilling the acrylic lol even though i worked in and drilled thousands of glass holes?

 

[victorcan]

Well for those of you waiting to see tank is set up and running. I can’t believe how much quieter the Herbie overflow is comparably to the Durso. Here’s a couple pics. Thanks for all your help.

 

[jpshoemaker46]

Well for those of you waiting to see tank is set up and running. I can’t believe how much quieter the Herbie overflow is comparably to the Durso. Here’s a couple pics. Thanks for all your help.

Yo that looks phenomenal! How long has it been running?

 

[Troylee]

Well for those of you waiting to see tank is set up and running. I can’t believe how much quieter the Herbie overflow is comparably to the Durso. Here’s a couple pics. Thanks for all your help.

Sorry I missed your questions but it looks like you got the silicone cleaned off and up and going! Good job!

 

[victorcan]

Sorry I missed your questions but it looks like you got the silicone cleaned off and up and going! Good job!

Believe it or not I ordered a new tank, I didn’t feel like messing with it. Spent lotta time and money but I got the nod from the wife to just go new and I’m glad I did, but thank you

Yo that looks phenomenal! How long has it been running?

Just got it finished Sunday. Flew to Tsunami down in Clearwater Florida ( phenomenal group of people I may say) they built the tank for me in under 2 weeks after telling them my plight, rented a truck and drove it home Friday night. 2 days for the full swap from my 220 to the new system. Scratched it on the first cleaning but now need to wet sand it out eventually. But it is just Gorgeous IMO

 

[jpshoemaker46]

Believe it or not I ordered a new tank, I didn’t feel like messing with it. Spent lotta time and money but I got the nod from the wife to just go new and I’m glad I did, but thank you

Just got it finished Sunday. Flew to Tsunami down in Clearwater Florida ( phenomenal group of people I may say) they built the tank for me in under 2 weeks after telling them my plight, rented a truck and drove it home Friday night. 2 days for the full swap from my 220 to the new system. Scratched it on the first cleaning but now need to wet sand it out eventually. But it is just Gorgeous IMO

Wow!! You are all in huh?? Im right behind ya I have a 40g in the making!