CLEAN GLASS AT LAST!!!!!

[pedan]

Originally Posted by harrywitmore

If the glass has been etched by the scale then there's not much you can do. I suspect that is the problem.

We had a tank with this problem, oddly enough citrus proved to be the solution here too.

We found that when we put acids on the glass the etching would dissapear, then promptly reappear as the glass was dried. Eventually we figured out the oils on our hands accomplished the same thing. So the question became, what can we oil/wax the glass with that will be relatively problem free and nontoxic.

If you wipe you towel off the oil with something especially absorbent then it comes back.

We ended up rubbing the glass with orange peels, the oil in the orange peel clears up the glass, and the effect lasts as far as we can tell. We did our tank about a year ago, and the etching is still invisible.

[McBobs]

A spray bottle full of water and a 000 grade pad of steel wool has always worked best for me. Spray, scrub, dry, repeat. It's also a lot faster than going at problems with a razor blade.

-Matt

[Boondoggle]

I can't believe this is new to you guys. I have VERY hard water where I live and I used de-chlorinated tap water to mist a tank for two years, 2-3 times a day. It was pretty opaque. I like cutting the lemon in half scrubbing the glass with the lemon itself, no fresh squeezing and it works better. Then followed with a quick thorough DI water rinse.

I've actually done this with frogs in the tank and tested my pH the next day...no discernible change. Be careful, your results may vary.

[McBobs]

Originally Posted by Boondoggle

I can't believe this is new to you guys. I have VERY hard water where I live and I used de-chlorinated tap water to mist a tank for two years, 2-3 times a day. It was pretty opaque. I like cutting the lemon in half scrubbing the glass with the lemon itself, no fresh squeezing and it works better. Then followed with a quick thorough DI water rinse.

I've actually done this with frogs in the tank and tested my pH the next day...no discernible change. Be careful, your results may vary.

Well... In all reality, this thread is 4 years old now and I didnt realize it until after I had already posted. In any case, I've used the lemon method and steel wool still seems to be easiest to me. Takes the grime and water stains right off.

-Matt

[Boondoggle]

Originally Posted by McBobs

Well... In all reality, this thread is 4 years old now...

Just noticed that myself...LOL.

[raimeiken]

yeah lemon works real well. I used to use this all the time when I remove the hard water stains that build up on the rim of my aquarium.

It also works on cleaning the reflectors on our light fixtures, because they get dirty from the water that evaporates up on it

[Lunar Gecko]

***I keep geckos in my tank, not frogs***

I'm always battling hard water stains. I hate the two times a year I get out the razor and vinegar and scrub all my tanks down. Takes me about a week to do all my tanks.

I refuse to buy water by the gallon because I use 12+ gallons of water a week and the amount of waist just in bottles alone is insane. I also add to the problem by actually adding cal to my misting water. I know... #-o.

Today I'm starting my 6 month schedule I got out the razors and got a new jug of vinegar. I got down to actually stating for about 5 mins. The whole time thinking *there has got to be a better way!!!* So what do I do... I get on the Internet. I started searching every herp forum I could think of and started hitting google with 20 different search entries.

I had seen the coke and lemon juice methods in the past and even tried each of them. They never worked for me. Glass would look nice while wet then dry and look the same, maybe a tad better. So after reading as many posts and odd ball methods I decided to mix a few of them.

Here is my first attempt. I figured if lemon juice works because of the citric acid why not try just citric acid???
I mixed 2 cups hot water and 1/4 cup citric acid. Dipped in a paper towel and wiped once.

*Yes this tank is the worst one I have its about 13 years old and even then I got it used.(picked it for demonstration on purposes).

Yes, thats mostly dry. Not bad!

So I wanted to see if I could do better. I got out the magic eraser and dipped it in the the citric acid mix. Keep in mind each test was done with no scrubbing and just one stroke of the paper towel or magic eraser.
Thats the line marked 2. One is the first attempt from the first pic.

The line marked 3 was my 3ed test. I did this with bottled lemon juice and the magic eraser. I figured some of you may not have citric acid on hand. #-o

Over all the best outcome was test two. So not to waist the lemon juice I just dumped it into the citric acid mix and started cleaning.
I removed the stiff from the tank next door so the glass would show up better. Keep in mind the tank in the next door had not been cleaned.



Hope that helps some of you at least. |0|

If interested in ordering pure citric acid you can buy it here.

[Pumilo]

This method can only be used on an empty viv. Muratic acid available from any hardware store or swimming pool supply store. It is a calcium specific acid and strips it off in mere seconds. Take it outside, spritz it on with a spray bottle, and rinse it off. When you spray it on, it foams, when it stops foaming, you know it's done. Rinse it well. It rinses away easily and cleanly. If you miss any, the only danger would be a slight ph change.
We do this for badly encrusted reef tank equipment. Works great for badly encrusted items and it won't attack glass, plastics, or organics. Still, don't get it in your eyes and rinse if you get it on your skin.

[davecalk]

Originally Posted by harrywitmore

If the glass has been etched by the scale then there's not much you can do. I suspect that is the problem.

That's not completely true. It just means that you have a bit more work to do.

I read about Turtle Wax "Heavy Duty Rubbing Compound" on this aquarium site.

Turtle Wax "Heavy Duty Rubbing Compound is a product that is designed not to leave any residue. It is designed to abrade and remove layers of dirt, oxidation and paint from a finish and it is used to prep surfaces for paint. It is a non-petroleum water based carrier with suspended super fine silica and volcanic ash. It is designed to remove dirt, minerals, oxidation and not leave a residue which might interfere with the bonding of paint. The reason why it doesn't scratch the glass is because the super fine abrasives of silica & Volcanic ash are supposed to be the exact same hardness as glass, which is a 6 on the hardness scale. So the end result is it will buff away only the softer materials like dirt, calcium and magnesium being removed. As it gets down to the glass the sharp micro surfaces just smooths and polishes the surface.


if you actually have scratches in the glass or if the surface is etched then you need to remove some of the glass to remove the flaws. There are other products that you can use to do this. I removed scratches in several tanks using a car buffing machine along with different grades of automotive buffing compounds. These have different gradients or sizes of diamond dust which are used to polish glass and automotive paints to a shiny non-scratch finish.

[mbrown81]

Thankyou so much for this suggestion. I tried the Lemon, Coke, and Vinigar. I even threw some baking soda in for good measure. Nothing worked. Finally i tried the cooktop cleaner, and I didnt even scrub long. I'll probably try the lemon on a cotton ball for quick clean ups after its planted and the frog is settled in. Thanks again for the tip.