Anyone know a safe way to clean acrylic? | by tim martin
tim martin

Anyone know a safe way to clean acrylic?

Have had this tank for years, been moved from garage to shed, etc.. it's been banged around. Just filled it with water and no leaks.... Has fine scratches and algae growth... Is there a better way than soap/sponge to clean this tank? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

5

6 votesposted in Tanks
14 comments
<font color="#FF0000">B</font>yron <font color="#FF0000">G</font>
brillo pads work ok...you still have to scrub kinda hard for a lil while but it works better than a sponge
Tang O'
or tim, you can ship it to me as a christmas present ;)
tim martin
Byron...wouldn't the brillo pads scratch it? Have you ever painted an acrylic background and if so how does it look. (want to paint it black)
tim martin
Tang O'....how about a picture when it's done....LOL It's gonna have the old ladies weird looking goldfish in it....
<font color="#FF0000">B</font>yron <font color="#FF0000">G</font>
lol Tang O, tim...i used brillo pads on one of mine and i dont think it scratched...i never painted a background on a tank befor., but,you can just use some kind of black fabric...thats what i used on my 75 gallon
tim martin
Thank you for the help Byron....
Roger Hopper
Byron, you cannot use brillo on Acrylic, it WILL scratch it. To safely clean acrylic, use 50/50 vinegar and warm water and a cotton cloth, nothing sharp as it will scratch the poly also, no soaps or cleaning agents, as this is a contaminant to your fish., take it slow and rub gently with warm water and vinegar and it will come clean. You may consider a non-toxic plastic buffin agent to polish it back up to "like new" again.
as far as painting, tape off what you don't want paint on, then get a laquer based sprayt paint, Walmart, $1.13 a can, use 1200 grit sandpaper to very lightly score the surface you wish to paint, and I mean lightly, and wipe down to remove dust and plastic particles, then spray it. Do this in 3 coats to be sure you don't miss anything.
tim martin
Thank you Cichlid Storm.....i just used a sponge and elbow grease.....came clean.... Decided not to paint it.... Thank you for the help.
***kylie ***
never had acrilyic i bet it is tricky to clean ..
yes and no kylie, but you sure don't wanna use anything coarse on it, scratches it like you can only imagine.
WD 40 works great on everything xspeicaly showers!
bip_ 4u
I have never had a problem cleaning my acrylic tank (when it was set up that is). Similar to cleaning a glass tank, just have to be a little more gentle with it. If you have a sand substrate, have to make sure no sand is trapped between soft sponge and the surface you are wiping..acts like sandpaper. Sorry Byron, when you said brillo, red flags went waving wildly, lol. Like CS said, NEVER use something so course on acrylic. Tina, how does the WD 40 work on cleaning the tanks? Doesn't it leave such an oily residue or chems behind that shouldn't be left? Does it remove hard water stains?
mood