# Acrylic tank chewers?



## RolandtheHeadless (Oct 21, 2008)

I have an old acrylic tank I used for years for various fish, mostly Africans. The inner surfaces are etched by thousands of tiny gouges and scrapes. I'm making the tank walls clear again with fine sandpaper and polish, but it's a lot of work.

Not sure what caused this, but it seems likely that various algae grazers like Tropheus, mbuna, and some plecos must have chewed up the soft acrylic. If this was the cause, then I'm strongly motivated to avoid any algae grazers in the future. Is my theory correct?

Are some African cichlids better for acrylic tanks than others?


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

I've never had any problems with scratches on my acrylic tanks that I didn't put there myself! 

I find that sand substrate is the worse thing in the world in an acrylic tank.

I've never kept any heavy duty algae grazers in an acrylic tank. I never seem to have alot of algae growths in any of my tanks, but I've always had plecos in there from the start, to control it.


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## blairo1 (May 7, 2006)

I think it's been suggested that Petro's may be rough on acrylic....

I'll be watching this one.


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## RolandtheHeadless (Oct 21, 2008)

I'm curious about why sand would be worse than gravel in acrylic tanks. I used gravel before, but have been thinking of switching to sand.

The surface damage I'm talking about has nothing to do with substrate though. You can clearly see the old gravel line, and surface line, in my tank. The damage is only between the two lines; below the old gravel line, the tank is clear, except for a few scratches left by my carelessness.

The damage or etching that I'm talking about does NOT resemble an ordinary, isolated scratch. From a distance it looks just like old dried algae, but on close inspection you can see there is a multitude of overlapping, tiny gouges.

Since the damage exists only in the area formerly inhabited by fish, I'm assuming fish were responsible. I'm just trying to find out if anyone here knows which fish were the culprits. (I never kept Petros.) My main suspects are the plecos, Tropheus, and mbuna, all of which I recall seeing graze on algae on the tank walls. It seems plausible to me, absent any other explanation, that fish teeth might be harder than acrylic.

I'm removing the damage by sanding wet with 600- and 1500-grit sandpaper, then using the Novus polish. A lot of work that I'd like to avoid repeating anytime in the future.


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

If you go to clean the sides of the tank, you won't notice a piece of sand under your sponge or imbedded in your sponge as quickly as you will a piece of gravel. :wink:

I have sand in all my tanks, wouldn't have it any other way, but I'm no longer using any acrylic set ups.


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## RolandtheHeadless (Oct 21, 2008)

I like everything about an acrylic tank, except how easily they get scratched.

This is a fairly big (115 gal.) tank, and I like something that two people can move.

Roland


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## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

RolandtheHeadless said:


> This is a fairly big (115 gal.) tank, and I like something that two people can move.
> 
> Roland


Can't argue with that! :thumb:


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## Hoosier Tank (May 8, 2007)

I thought I read that a regular pleco was hard on acrylics but B/N were safe... maybe on "planetcatfish" or "plecofanatics".


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## RolandtheHeadless (Oct 21, 2008)

According to Kathleen Wood, "The 101 Best Tropical Fishes," p. 60 on the Pleco, "Acrylic tanks are not recommended, as the Pleco may scratch the panes with its mouth."

Wish I'd known that years ago. I had a Blue-eyed Pleco in this tank for 5-6 years, and it got pretty big. It was always twitching along, sucking along the tank walls. I guess there must be some sharp, fairly hard teeth buried in those rubbery lips. It was a cool fish, but now I wish I'd turned him into garden fertilizer.

The question remains: Can any of the algae-grazing African Cichlids also chew up a tank?


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