Water Stains

Morning!

I would just like to inquire if there's anything that I can clean the outside of my tank with that would prevent water stains or make them easier to remove. I clean the outsides of the tanks twice a week with a vinegar cloth but the white marks still accumulate.

It's especially a problem on my one and only tank with a canopy. The water constantly dribbles down the sides of the tank. I end up scraping it off with my nails (there goes my manicure) because I'm worried that a sharp object may scratch the glass.

Would really appreciate some advice.

Thank you very much!

 

Is it forming some form of encrustation? I've only had such severe cases on my marine and brackish tanks - otherwise these marks are easy enough to remove with a wet cloth or sponge.

In particularly bad cases, I have had luck with the 'rough' side of a sponge; despite what you think, this shouldn't scratch your glass so long as it is wet. I've used this for both bad water stains as well as tough algae growing on the glass.

Good luck.

Regards,

 

Razer blades should do the trick and they dont scratch the glass

 

I have the same problem. The water condenses on the inside of the canopy and then just runs down the glass. The razor blades works well, but I prefer just a wet sponge and then dry it of. It is so easy to accidentally scratch the glass, and that's not something you want. Glass cleaner works well too, but I can't stress enough that you have to be careful with it as it will cause some serious problems in your tank.

 

just be careful, using steel on glass, steel can have a hardness of between 4 and as much as 7 on the Mohs scale glass can have a hardness beween 4 and 6 with 5.5 being more common so in theory you do run the risk of scratching your glass so use with caution.

 

glass stoves come with a little metal holder for the razer blade.. so that's what I use and touch wood haven't scratched my glass yet.. but yes it can scratch..

 

@dkj

Yes, that's exactly what happens to my tank. It drives me crazy and I've had a good mind to remove the canopy but the light unit on my open tank causes the same problem.

@SalmonAfrica

It's indeed causing an encrustation that I would associate with saltwater condensation. It's really hard to scrape off the glass. Comes off easily enough from the light unit, but sticks to the glass (I have a very good afrikaans expression for it! Lol!) It makes a white edge to the trail the drop went.

I tried to capture it in a photo but the camera focus beyond it. This is the best I managed but you'll see that it's more than the normal watermark.

 

If you don't want to run the risk of scratching it with a razor blade you can use a old credit card you aren't using more.

Start by wetting it with a towel and then use the short side of the card to clean it up(your thumb should either be on the side of the card or under it,hold your other fingers on top of the card so you can apply pressure).You need to hold it against the glass in a slightly bent position with a bit of pressure (don't bother with the long sides of the card,it doesn't bend easily that way)

Oddly enough a credit card is also the best tool to clean algae with,especially the hard type of algae.

 

@DCWarHound

Thank you very much, will definitely give that a go!

 

do you have hard water Dinky?

 

@Ray Port Elizabeth

I really don't have an idea.

I use filtered tap water from the kitchen so I assume it must be softer than the usual tap water.

 

How is it filtered? If it's through carbon it won't be softer because carbon doesn't remove calcium & magnesium, which is a good thing for water meant for human consumption. I would say your water must be hard if you're getting hard water marks on your glass. Also, Gauteng water is hard.