Anyone have a good deal of experience with acrylics?

I'm working on a piece of cage furniture right now. It's almost done, but I didn't realize how freaking SHINY polycrylic is :/ Anyway, after a bajillion coats of poly( rough estimate), I'm trying to figure out a way to cut the shine. I have a few options here. My first, which I'm currently testing, is spraying a matte finish over the final coat. I'm not sure how much that will help though. I'm also testing a tip I found online to add a pinch of sand over the final coat. I'm not sure how fond I am of this... The sand distorts the color and gives it a really rough finish. My final option (at least the only other that I've come up with!) is to use a coat of regular old matte acrylic paint as the top coat. I'm really leaning toward this one, as it will cover up some of the patches of bubbles in my poly. I know acrylic is waterproof, but to what extent? Do you guys know if it will hold up to weekly soap and water cleanings? I want this piece to have some longevity. Thanks for any input!

Anyone?

What about a water based clear poly with a mat finish.

Rough it up with triple zero stainless steel wool? Or fine sand paper?

I thought about roughing it up with like a 320 grit, but it'd take me days to get it finished. It's very heavily textured. I looked at all the local hardware stores, best I could find was a satin finish in poly. Here's what I'm working with
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/10/11/8ane9a8e.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/10/11/2erunahu.jpg
Flash shows how truly shiny it is.

Eh, decided to just throw it in the tank as is. Too much of a hassle to get it up to my satisfaction. http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/10/14/e7aje8um.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/10/14/ahyte6a4.jpg
Pictures came out kind of crappy, one of his lights diee. We averted a minor catastrophe when we were rearranging the enclosure. Accidentally set a sample packet of turtle food near his daylight bulb, which caught on fire :/ Whoops, looks like I'm heading to the store for a new bulb tomorrow lol.

Aww, I think it looks good as-is, Moot.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Anya

Aww, I think it looks good as-is, Moot.

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Thanks, lady! The whole thing was a pain in the butt lol. But I'm glad it's done...For now :)