so driving to mcdonalds yesterday i spied a 55 gallon tank and stand sitting on the side of the road with a "FREE NO LEAKS" sign on it. sweet! it even had a bag with an aquaclear filter and some brushes and stuff inside of it. so of course i loaded it into/on top of the car and took it home. it was (and hopefully will be) a really nice tank that definately has been neglected. i cleaned it as best i could but the top three inches of the tank have this crusty stuff ( i think calcium) where the water level dropped for an extend period of time. I've scrubbed and scrubbed but its still there. never really had any experience with this. any tips for getting rid of it without harming the future fish i'm gonna put in there?
help with calicium buildup on glass plse!
jonclark96
Past CCA President
I've heard that vinegar will help to clean. That and a razor blade.
bschuhart
Members
place vinegar soaked paper towels on it and let it soak, Then use a razor blade on the glass parts and a coarse sponge on the plastic parts. may have to repeat several times.
THe razor blade is your best bet. Get as much off as you can with a piece of board or plastic scraper, then remove as much as possible with the razor blade, then soak with straight vinegar and use the razor blade again. Still may not take it all off. You might consider laying it down on the side you are working on so that soaking it is easy. Still a couple packs of single edge razor blades and a razor blade scraper are your best bets. LUCK!!
Leffler817
CCA Members
Awesome free score!!! :happy0180: Good luck with the cleaning, you can do it! 
Hawkman2000
Members
Vinegar - is acidic, will remove hardwater stains and rejuvenate the plastic.
I just used it on my 12 year old Eclipse assembly and it made it look like brand new. I would be very carefully using razor on glass, it could scratch it. NICE SCORE.
I just used it on my 12 year old Eclipse assembly and it made it look like brand new. I would be very carefully using razor on glass, it could scratch it. NICE SCORE.
londonloco
Members
I've used a 3 way (or maybe it's called 5 way) painters tool before to get coraline off of overflow boxes. Added some CLR to the water and let it soak overnight to get the job done tho. I also have some glass canopy's, no matter what I do, the white %^&* won't come off. Good luck!
Hawkman2000
Members
VINEGAR!!! Works on coffee makers as well.
toddnbecka
Members
Surely you have filter media in an established tank you can use to seed the new setup.
leisure_man
Members
Vinegar takes too long and razor blade is just too much work. I use muriatic acid at 10 to 15% concentration. Wipe on and wipe off, is that easy. You can get it at HD or Lowes for $10/2gal is more than a lifetime supply. I can do an entire 55 gal tank in 5 mins. Just soak a paper towel with the acid and wipe on the glass, is that simple. Prepare some baking soda solution to help neutralize acid when finish.
BTW, make sure you use acid gloves, goggle, and work at a well ventilated area. Oh, the stuff works on acrylic as well as glass, just make sure it doesnt come in contact with metal. You dont need a day off to clean the tank, just do it between commercial breaks. I will be at the ACA convention, look me up and I can walk you through the whole process.
BTW, make sure you use acid gloves, goggle, and work at a well ventilated area. Oh, the stuff works on acrylic as well as glass, just make sure it doesnt come in contact with metal. You dont need a day off to clean the tank, just do it between commercial breaks. I will be at the ACA convention, look me up and I can walk you through the whole process.
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UNCLERUCKUS
"THE ALL POWERFUL Q !!
GOOD TO KNOW THERES A GOOD REPLACEMENT FOR VINEGAR AND ELBOW GREASE. ILL KEEP THAT IN MIND.
leisure_man
Members
I used to go to the extreme of even boiling the vinegar, or used a clay bar and still with unsatisfactory results. I realized the CLR uses a mixture of sulfamic acid (sulfuric acid) and citric acid but it cost too much. After learning the muriatic acid (HCl) and citric acid are used to etch concrete, I put the two and two together and tried it on glass. To my surprise, I didnt even need a scrub pad. It literally 'bubbles' the problem away as I applied it on with a paper towel.
I had since contacted a window manufacturer and they also recommend using muriatic acid on cleaning window as a last resort. I tried it on low-E window that has a metallic oxide coating and it works without taking out the coating. In fact, if you 'scratch' the low-E coating with a metal blade, the coating is harder than most metal and cause a 'scratch' like residual metal on the coating. In another word, it left a line of residual metal on the low-E coating. It can only be removed using muriatic acid. I did that on one of the windows and the 'scratch' disappeared.
I had since contacted a window manufacturer and they also recommend using muriatic acid on cleaning window as a last resort. I tried it on low-E window that has a metallic oxide coating and it works without taking out the coating. In fact, if you 'scratch' the low-E coating with a metal blade, the coating is harder than most metal and cause a 'scratch' like residual metal on the coating. In another word, it left a line of residual metal on the low-E coating. It can only be removed using muriatic acid. I did that on one of the windows and the 'scratch' disappeared.
