Missgrumpygills
New Member
I found these tiny cracks/ scratches on the front of my tank. They don't bother me, but they would probably bother me if I came home to a 40 gallon mess. What are they and do I need to worry about them?
Tiny cracks on acrylic?
- Thread starter Missgrumpygills
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Anonymous
Guest
Well, they are either scratches or what's called crazing. If it was cracks they would be deep and visually noticeable going mostly all the way through the acrylic. Crazing is a type of stress fracture that's ONLY on the surface of the acrylic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazing
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crazing
Missgrumpygills
New Member
They look to be only on the surface, is crazing something to worry about?
Missgrumpygills
New Member
The scratch in that link looks more like a scratch, these are more symmetrical or straight :scratch:
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Anonymous
Guest
I dont think so Missgrumpygills. I believe crazing is just aesthetic and doesn't get any deeper than the surface of the acrylic. I remember other forum members discussing it but for the life of me cannot find the thread using the search menu.Missgrumpygills said:
Missgrumpygills
New Member
If this is true then i'm relieved, its only in one area and I don't really notice it while i'm watching my fish.fishNAbowl said:
cichlid-gal
New Member
Missgrumpygills....hard to tell what you have going on there without seeing it in person. We had two acrylic tanks previously and had some crazing on them. Crazing is usually more concentrated and has a bit of stretched look to it.
Acrylic scratches very easily. If its a scratch you will only feel it on one side of the tank (usually the inside of the tank). One of our tanks had scratches all over it as my husband picked up a piece of shell in the magfloat and played tic-tac-toe on the front of the tank during a cleaning session. Scratches will look like this (not our old tank but shows what scratches look like)
Can you feel the marks on both sides of the aquarium...inside and out? If you can then it is a "crack" as a crack will go "through" the acrylic. Here's what a crack usually looks like or the line will also have a "star" effect where you have the deeper cut and some lines radiating out from it
Scratches are not things to worry about. Cracks are and crazing you just need to keep an eye on it as it means there is a weakness in that area of the tank. If it grows you would possibly want to replace the tank.
Acrylic scratches very easily. If its a scratch you will only feel it on one side of the tank (usually the inside of the tank). One of our tanks had scratches all over it as my husband picked up a piece of shell in the magfloat and played tic-tac-toe on the front of the tank during a cleaning session. Scratches will look like this (not our old tank but shows what scratches look like)
Can you feel the marks on both sides of the aquarium...inside and out? If you can then it is a "crack" as a crack will go "through" the acrylic. Here's what a crack usually looks like or the line will also have a "star" effect where you have the deeper cut and some lines radiating out from it
Scratches are not things to worry about. Cracks are and crazing you just need to keep an eye on it as it means there is a weakness in that area of the tank. If it grows you would possibly want to replace the tank.
Missgrumpygills
New Member
I cannot feel them on the front of the tank, I will have to check if I can feel it on the inside. There are some that have small symmetrical lines radiating from them
My 125 has crazing all over the front...... It's visually not very pleasant but hasn't ( knock in wood) affected the structure of the tank in the year+ I own it.
I've heard you can get rid of them by using the same process that people use to fix their head lights, though I have never tried
I've heard you can get rid of them by using the same process that people use to fix their head lights, though I have never tried
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Anonymous
Guest
Can glass tanks get that too? Or its just scratches?
cichlid-gal
New Member
Glass scratches but never as easily as acrylic. And glass, when it's cracked will "star" just like you see on your windshield when a rock hits it and it cracks or break clean through. Glass scratches are much harder to remove than acrylic scratches and certain lights show the scratches more than others...I can't remember which way it goes...LED's show more I think and T5/T8's less? or vica versa
Those are scratches Wes...I know...I had em but I didn't make em...tank came that way to me too
Those are scratches Wes...I know...I had em but I didn't make em...tank came that way to me too
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Anonymous
Guest
I can live with scratches. Not cracks. Thanks for your response.
Have you guys ever tried the colgate and silicon tricks? I've been curious about these for a while.
colgate: http://www.wikihow.com/Fix-Scratches-on-an-Aquarium
silicone (and buff): http://www.bostonaquariumsociety.org/html/faqs/scratches.htm
colgate: http://www.wikihow.com/Fix-Scratches-on-an-Aquarium
silicone (and buff): http://www.bostonaquariumsociety.org/html/faqs/scratches.htm
zach_discus
Well-Known Member
The toothpast trick works ok on Acrylic but not as fast 3 stage Novus. It is about a 1/4 of the cost though 10x the sweet equity.
Flyfalcons
New Member
Yep I used a Mother's headlight restoration kit to restore my used 55 gallon. Worked great, even on some deeper scratches. As an aside, when I was done with the tank it gave me motivation to go and actually use it on my car's headlights.lloyd378 said:
Missgrumpygills
New Member
Thanks for the tips guys