Question about Acrylic Aquarium scratch / crazing

[Jellygeee]

Hi there,

I joined Reef2Reef late last year. I would like some advice about acrylic aquarium.

I bought this used acrylic tank (previous owner bought it new and only used it for about 6 months). It's a custom tank, made to imitate IMSR80 AIO.
I didn't realize it until after I clean the tank that one of the chambers in the back has some scratches. If I have to guess, I think it's cause by the heather.
The acrylic itself is about 0.5 inches thick. When I try to look from the middle of the acrylic, the scratches are mostly inside the tank. Picture is listed below.

Following are the questions that I had:
- is this considered a crazing?
- should I be concerned about this scratch/crazing before I set up the tank? The tank is planned to be set up as a freshwater plant tank

I did a simple buff many years ago using those Novus kit and did a bad job.

Thank you for your help and advice in advance.
Rudy

 

[smitten with ocean life]

@Troylee is the man to help you!

 

[Troylee]

Yes that’s crazing.. because it’s in a rear chamber with minimal pressure you should be fine.. it’s unsightly but not repairable.. I mean you could glue a patch over it if you wanted but more crazing from the solvents used would probably make it worse.. just run it! You’ll be fine..

 

[Jellygeee]

Thank you @Troylee and @smitten with ocean life

 

[Jellygeee]

Yes that’s crazing.. because it’s in a rear chamber with minimal pressure you should be fine.. it’s unsightly but not repairable.. I mean you could glue a patch over it if you wanted but more crazing from the solvents used would probably make it worse.. just run it! You’ll be fine..

@Troylee : When you said not repairable, wouldn't buffing and sanding helps remove the crazing?
I agree with the unsightly, but since it's the rear it will be not visible from the front.

Thank you

 

[Troylee]

@Troylee : When you said not repairable, wouldn't buffing and sanding helps remove the crazing?
I agree with the unsightly, but since it's the rear it will be not visible from the front.

Thank you

It would really distort the acrylic and look worse, like looking into a fun house mirror by the time you got it out lol.. just leave it be, it won’t hurt anything. It’s baffled all the way around it so it’s not really a large pressure vessel in a sense.. very minimal pressure it shouldn’t get worse unless you wipe it with a solvent or heat etc.

 

[Jellygeee]

It would really distort the acrylic and look worse, like looking into a fun house mirror by the time you got it out lol.. just leave it be, it won’t hurt anything. It’s baffled all the way around it so it’s not really a large pressure vessel in a sense.. very minimal pressure it shouldn’t get worse unless you wipe it with a solvent or heat etc.

Thank you for the detailed explanation.