What exactly is HCl ? Hydrochloric acid? Toilet cleaner?
I have always been under the impression that chemicals(especially anything that leave behind a residue) was very bad to clean an aquarium.
ammonia is advertised at a Glass cleaner(which the aquarium is), will break down on its own especially if left in the sun and I think if anything if left over, it can be neutralized by the same chemicals used to condition the tap water.
NH3 will not break down calcium or hard water deposits.
An acid type product will dissolve calcium deposit.
Local hardware stores usually have a brick cleaner (small container).
HD & Lowes sell by the gallon or two.
Muriatic acid is just a nice name for HCl.
If you are unhappy with these choices citric acid can be used.
Many in the hobby use in powdered form to generate CO2.
It is another very weak acid like acetic acid.
Solubility is about 145g/100ml, not sure of resulting solution in ppm.
Products labeled as "cleaner" could be something to stay away from.
Typical cleaners contain fragrance, tackifiers, coagulants, color changeling dyes, vehicle additives to prevent splash etc...
These extra additives may leave residue of sorts not easily removed.
Unscented ammonia is used by many to cycle aquaria.
Not good at removing calcium deposits though.
You can also try a product called Acid Magic by Certol. It is a muriatic acid replacement and supposedly less harder to work with.
A local breeder uses it in his fish room for sponge filter cleaning, removing calcium deposits from equipment and tanks, etc, just follow the instructions exactly. DO NOT mix with any other chemicals!!!!
I would not bother to look for difficult items for this job. Just an easy way to go is vinegar. If you have really thick, hard stuff to remove, I would buy a scraper like designed to clean paint off windows. You can find them often with the painting tools. Then once the really hard thick stuff is gone, soak cloth or paper towels to lay on spots or wipe down the remaining deposits. Ammonia might work but what is needed is an acid to react with the water deposits in many cases. Nothing wrong with using it but it may not help much either. Too much smell for me to want to use it and stick my head in the tank!!!
A razor blade (and/or scraper of some sort, a rag and water is all I usually need. I find that even if I use a cleaner of some sort (be it vinegar or something more caustic), the glass looks clean for a bit but once its dried again it still seems to have a film and/or deposits on the glass. The razor blade has never let me down though!
Not going to read the whole thread, but Distilled white vinegar desolves calcium and
is harmless after rinsing it out even just good and not 39 times.
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