Hello I just purchased a 75 gal used fish tank and it has a really stubborn hard water stain all around the whole tank. I have cleaned the glass with a bleach/water solution and tried steel wool, but it's not coming off. Normally I wouldn't ask if chemicals were appropriate, but I don't have it filled or anything because I still have yet to get the filter, heater, substrate, etc. and I have heard that vinegar will work. Will it be ok for me to use the lime-a-away if I rinse the tank a few times after the use? thanks!

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Frontosa Fanatic

Distilled white vinegar. On stubborn hard water marks, use at full strength.

- Gently lay the aquarium on its side
- Pour in vinegar until it covers the entire panel of glass
- Let sit ~ 15 mins
- Using a scraper, scrape the build up right off
- Repeat for other sides and bottom
- Rinse well

Don't use Lime-a-way...

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the tank is so big that I can't really rotate it onto it's sides by myslef, and I can never get help from anyone to help me rotate it

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Frontosa Fanatic

Here's a trick I've learned. So the vinegar does not evaporate, cover it with a piece of Saran Wrap while you let the vinegar do it's job.

DLH

Try using a spray bottle and mist the glass several times and scrape. I would not use chemicals either they can soak into the silicone and leach out after the tank is filled.

Don't know how everyone else feels about this but I recently had some hard water stains and i tried scrubbing, soaking, vinegar and was going nuts. They would not come off so I turned to rubbing alcohol. You wil obviously have to rinse really really well but it takes it off in seconds.

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125 gallon community, planted and driftwood. 1 bala shark, 9 roselines, 3 tiger barbs, 4 rasbora tetras, 5 lemon tetras, 5 diamond tetras, 1 clown loach, 1 bristlenose pleco, 1 dwarf bristle nose pleco, 1 albino rainbow shark, 2 bamboo shrimp, 1 siamese flying fox, 4 cardinal tetras, 2 jurapari and , 2 electric blue rams.

10 gallon:10 red cherry shrimp, 1 crystal red shrimp, 100 snails and 5 assassin snails (hopefully no longer 100 snails) and various plants

I use a box cutter blade. hold it at an angle with good pressure and it will scrape it off!

agreed with unicorn. you can fill it with water and scrape away but the seams will never be anything but white.

NEVER EVER EVER EVER put chemicals in your personal tanks. Commercial places can afford to throw away livestock and rarely replace anything as it's cheaper to just keep buying up diseased fish that need chemical treatment.

I would definitely use alcohol. Everclear might be safer than rubbing, but either way it's going to evaporate and allow you to just wipe it away with a rag.


I will never forget 1985. My dad and grandpa always had chromed out, slate'd out bottom tanks. Back when the only exotic fish were swordtails and mollies. Anyways, that year we had to move and in moving our tanks dad had to move two 6inch oscars he had had for a long time. It was a simple replacing tanks for larger ones in the wall so it involved some time on construction. Being summertime he had a few half whiskey barrels filled with rainwater. Totally should be purewater right? Kinda smells that way with a beer in your hand. We thought the oscars died, but they were just drunk as heck for about 3 weeks. The rainwater brought out the liq from the wood. Next time you buy half barrels, keep in mind they may have actually been used for their purpose.

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fishing for a wife in the sea of life

Not necessairly. Alcohol evaporates very rapidily. Still goot to rinse though.


and interesting. Never thought of alcohol.

my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

I use alcohol in tank cleaning sometimes, I like it for grease marks, like fingerprints, it does leave a slight residue after it evaporates but I rinse and have never had a problem. Vinegar is the best thing I have found for hard water stains though. I soak a sponge in it and wipe around the sides of the tank, leave it a while and repeat, after a while the stains soften up enough to scrub off. Be careful what you scrub with, steel wool will scratch the glass.