Joined
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93 Posts
Argh.
Well I guess I should have known better. I picked up a used 150gal tall about a month ago from a local guy. When I got there the tank was still full of old water, gravel, rocks and the glass was covered with old algae. It looked nasty. The guy demonstrated how easily the algae came off with his bare hand and I was reassured.
The guy drained the tank and cleaned out the gravel while I waited. After hauling the monster home with a friend, I cleaned off the algae with hot water and a towel. Looked pretty good in my storage area under dim light.
I had noticed the presence of a white film on the glass after cleaning that I knew would be troublesome to get off, but I figuered either vinegar or a clean razor blade would take care of it.
Well to make a sad story shorter... I picked up lights for the tank from another local hobbyist and put them on the tank in the storage room for fun.
To my horror, it appears as if the entire tanks has been abused by a rusty knife. There are scratches on the interior glass literally everywhere. Like an acrylic tank's bad dream. Only this is 1/2 inch glass. I double checked to make sure that the scratches were actually in the glass and not just lines in the white residue on the glass. Although I cannot actually feel the scratchs, they are shallow, I fear they are actually in the glass.
Like a good hobbyist I have combed the web looking for a possible solution. I read about vinegar, razor blades, silicone sealant and buffing with cerium oxide. No one seems to have had much success and everyone seems to end up buying a new tank.
So what do you guys think? Am I screwed? Is there anything to try?
I guess I should have cleaned the tank under high lights and found this out a month ago.
-Karlos
Well I guess I should have known better. I picked up a used 150gal tall about a month ago from a local guy. When I got there the tank was still full of old water, gravel, rocks and the glass was covered with old algae. It looked nasty. The guy demonstrated how easily the algae came off with his bare hand and I was reassured.
The guy drained the tank and cleaned out the gravel while I waited. After hauling the monster home with a friend, I cleaned off the algae with hot water and a towel. Looked pretty good in my storage area under dim light.
I had noticed the presence of a white film on the glass after cleaning that I knew would be troublesome to get off, but I figuered either vinegar or a clean razor blade would take care of it.
Well to make a sad story shorter... I picked up lights for the tank from another local hobbyist and put them on the tank in the storage room for fun.
To my horror, it appears as if the entire tanks has been abused by a rusty knife. There are scratches on the interior glass literally everywhere. Like an acrylic tank's bad dream. Only this is 1/2 inch glass. I double checked to make sure that the scratches were actually in the glass and not just lines in the white residue on the glass. Although I cannot actually feel the scratchs, they are shallow, I fear they are actually in the glass.
Like a good hobbyist I have combed the web looking for a possible solution. I read about vinegar, razor blades, silicone sealant and buffing with cerium oxide. No one seems to have had much success and everyone seems to end up buying a new tank.
So what do you guys think? Am I screwed? Is there anything to try?
I guess I should have cleaned the tank under high lights and found this out a month ago.
-Karlos
