Hard Water Stains...

[RcScRs]

I have a sexy three gallon tank but its old and there are hard water stains everywhere...

I used rice vinegar and it didn't work,,,

Also, the tank is acrylic...

suggestions?

[Eileen]

I use plain vinagar and water and one of those scubbers that are safe for non-glass tanks. I have hard water and I have to clean my tank, hood and equipment every now and then. I researched what is best and they said White Vinagar and water 1/2/water 1/2 vinagar in a spray bottle. I keep this with my fish suppys and label it to clean the fish tanks only. It's safe for fish.

[legomaniac89]

CLR or some sort of calcium remover with a little elbow grease would do the trick, but make absolutely sure the tank is completely clear of any residue before filling it.

[khanzer22]

Try Clorox and Windex... But be sure to do a final clean and rinse to remove cleaner residue...

[Church]

Regular old white vinegar. Don't dilute. Just pour a little into a paper towel and start wiping away.

[Strick]

Cut a piece of garbage bag a little bigger than the pane of glass. Use a spray bottle full of white vinegar to wet down the glass and press the plastic against it. Smooth out any air bubbles. Let it sit for a couple of hours. Every once in a while peel off the plastic and re-wet the area with the spray bottle. Don't let it dry. Heat (sunlight, fireplace, whatever) helps.

I've removed factory-applied tinting from car windows and scale from my shower doors this way.

[jerp]

It's only three gallons. I say empty a 1 gallon bottle of white vinegar into it and then top it off with water. The stains will be gone in a week. Leave the top on or seal with saran wrap to prevent evaporation and thus more water stains. Leaving it filled with regular water will remove stains too in enough time.

[roybot73]

Originally Posted by khanzer22

Try Clorox and Windex... But be sure to do a final clean and rinse to remove cleaner residue...

This is a horrible idea. Most window cleaners contain some amount of ammonia. Ammonia + Bleach = not good. Very, very dangerous.

Vinegar, patience and elbow grease.

[kid creole]

Originally Posted by roybot73

This is a horrible idea. Most window cleaners contain some amount of ammonia. Ammonia + Bleach = not good. Very, very dangerous.

Good catch.

[JonnyBlack]

Originally Posted by roybot73

This is a horrible idea. Most window cleaners contain some amount of ammonia. Ammonia + Bleach = not good. Very, very dangerous.

Vinegar, patience and elbow grease.

But gassing yourself with chlorine is half the fun in cleaning the house...

I just use Windex on my tanks, even the ones without a hood. I've heard strong warnings against it, but I just make sure to angle the bottle downwards from the edge. I've been doing it for a year on my four tanks, and I tested the water afterwards for a few months to make sure, never had a problem. I keep bleach away from my tanks, far away...

I handle thick stains with a wetted razorblade though, which probably wouldn't be too good for an acrylic tank. I razorblade the tops of the insides too where it gets left after evaporation.

Very dilute HCl might work too, but it's not something I'd recommend to anyone not familiar with basic chemical safety, and I don't know off the top of my head how it might interact with acrylic... I personally find vinegar too weak to bother with, but I'm not a very patient guy when it comes to cleaning my tanks. I'll spend two hours making a filter look brand new, but I'll be damned if I'm going to spend more than ten minutes scrubbing the glass.

[Hoppy]

If I had an acrylic tank that was clouded with hard water stains I would consider it to be beyond repair. Getting those stains off glass is very hard to do, in my experience, but doing so on acrylic borders the impossible. Some things, like ammonia based glass cleaner, will craze the acrylic surface, making it even more hazy and really impossible to correct. A new 3 gallon tank is very cheap anyway, possibly about the same cost as all of the vinegar, chlorox, windex, sponges, etc. you will consume trying to clean up an old one. And, Craigslist virtually always has small tanks at a give away price. OK, so that one is sexy, sex isn't everything.

[dantimdad]

just get some motorcycle face mask scratch remover from autozone and polish it. It's true that you can't hardly get it off glass. But, acrylic it can be buffed out.

Be careful using ANY chemical or cleaner they will cause the acrylic to blush...and not in a cute way!

Steven