Rio 400 Repairs - Advise needed pls!

Hi Guys, Recently bought a 2nd hand Rio400, unfortunately made the mistake of letting my wife take delivery of it, as the previous owner kindly offered to deliver it from the north. As my better half has no interest in fish she just paid over the cash and thought a tank is a tank.

I realized on my return home that the previous owner (obviously had no clue of fish keeping or keeping a aquarium tip top) had cleaned the tank with what seems to be steel wool,,THAT BAD! Swirl marks everywhere on the glass, far too deep to attempt to polish out, not deep enough to cause structual damage i would imagine. Also the top panel, side panel and one door of the cabinet has bad water damage and the wood has bubbled.

I'll have to replace the front panel of the tank, and the three wood panels of the cabinet. So just wondering if you fishy folks have any suggestions on where the best place is to source glass, and laminate wood in black for the cabinet. I got a qoute from Glass centre for 120 Euro for the front panel, and enough glass to make custom braces,(Side braces x 2, and bracing front to back x 2, as the standard plastic brackets are broken, dunno if thats a fair price???

Any advise on the actual glass panel replacing would be appreciated as well,, with such a large water volume,,,I wouldnt want to wake up the wife with a few fish swimming around the lounge with a unexpected leak! My concern kinda was the floating bottom of the Juwel tank, and if there's anything I should know before attempting a panel replacementa on a floating bottom...

Any insight would be great guys...thanks!!

are both sides of the tank scraped? is possible to just turn the tank around?
replacing a sheet of glass is something that you really should avoid if you can,
i wouldnt attempt it myself unless you know what your doing,plus will be quiet expensive!!
how much did you pay for the tank if you dont mind me asking..

I was quoted something similar for a panel of glass similar size.
Dyco is right about trying to turn the tank around. I have the same tank myself and can live with the scrapes, but it would have been handy to know they were in it before filling.
If the top hood/bracing piece can come off, then just turn it around so that the cut outs can be put to the new back side.
Aquarium silicone is dear enough, there are alternatives alot cheaper such as Geocel Frame Seal.

Thanks for the input guys,,Unfortunately all sides are scraped, the back worse than the front actually. Turning the tank around was my first thought, but not gonna be a viable option.. I considered living with the scrapes, but Jeesh their bad,,its honestly like previous owner used a scourer or something, loads of swirl marks which will just ruin the tank once filled and lights are turned on. Not to mention frustrating the hell outta me! I Paid 400 for it, so thought wasnt' a bad deal, ugh until i saw it... If the guy didn't live up the north, he would've had the tank re delivered through his lounge window as a goodwill gesture as he assured me the glass was in top condition. I'm presuming he just didn't know much about fish and tanks as a whole, judging by the ornaments and coloured gravel he kindly "threw" into the deal ha ha.

I'm gonna have to attempt to replace the panel, otherwise the tank is a gonner and might as well use it for a snake (can only picture the wife's face on that suggestion ) I'll obviously water test outside, and keep the water in for at least a week before bringing into the house.

Have ye filled the tank and turned on the lights as some scratches are invisible with the water. Although u did mention steel wool so it sounds pretty bad. Phone yer local glass dudes and give them the measurements and see what happens as ye have the tank in the gaff now so its worth a quote eh.

There was a post recently about removing scratches.
Though if you can catch your nail in it, then its usually too deep.
The lighter scratches were removed with toothpaste.

Does the hood frame come off easy ? I'm considering turning mine for similar reasons.
I tried turning the reflector a bit, but can still see some of the scrathces.
It seems to be stuff grows or catches in them, then they're more noticable as the light really catches them.

Hi yeah, the hood frame comes off easily enough, was surprised actually! Its held on with a bead of silicone that runs along the top of each glass panel, so the plastic surround sits on top of this continious bead of silicone on the top edge of each glass panel. Gave it a good tug, and it just peeled off.

In the meantime, I have replaced my front glass panel, total cost for 10mm front panel, and glass bracing (enought for front and back, and two cross braces) was Eur 120 from glass centre. I've siliconed it in, but must still re seal the whole tank,,,then have several beers to calm the nerves, fill it up to check for leaks, and pray to the fish tank gods the whole think doesn't explode....

Met a guy at a petshop a few days ago, that was telling me about his earlier days when he constructed a room divider tank, and as it was built into a existing unit in the house, he couldnt test it outside,,,well surprise surprise, he filled it and a hour later the front panel shot off - 300 litres over his leather couch and solid teak floors - OUCH He laughs about it now!!

Wow i have 2 x 720 sitting here beside me in the living room.
If mine blow i will be sent out the door with the rush of water lol.
Hope all works out well for you