# Water Etching on Glass Top



## kwseiders (Jan 6, 2007)

The glass tops on my aquariums get water stains etched on them. I don't know how to keep that from happening. Do you suppose that if I give them a coat a auto wax it will keep the water from etching the glass? Without killing the fish? What other suggestions are there that would keep the tops clear?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

Some sort of wax should would, but I have no idea which ones are fish safe. I'd also be afraid to handle waxed glass (I would drop it). You could keep the water level lower. Or clean periodically with acid (vinegar, or lime away). Let us know if you come up with something good.


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## welchrock (Jan 4, 2008)

On an old tank I inherited, I tried using 'CLR' (calcium, lime, rust). It didn't even touch the buildup of water deposits.

I think the major way to prevent a problem is just continual maintenance. By the time I attempted to clean mine, it was too late. 

An auto-sticker-style scraper ($2 at any Home Depot) might be of some assistance on stubborn buildups.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

Not much. This stuff is HARD to eliminate. Strong acid only etches the glass even more, making the stain completely permanent.

One remedy is vinegar. Soak some paper towels in vinegar and lay them onto the affected glass. Let them sit and soak for a whole day and then see if the crusty stuff has loosened up enough to scrape off with a razor blade. sometimes it takes several days. It's a slow and annoying process, and works to a good but unpredictable degree.

I really, really wish that somebody somewhere would finally work to invent a product that is made just for fixing this problem, and more importantly, I hope that it really works, unlike everything else. I've lost a lot of tanks over the years to waterstains.


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## SueM (Jan 23, 2004)

I did an experiment a few years ago because I was tired of scraping glass lids. I used clear paraffin wax (the type used for canning) and it worked. All I had to do is rinse. The down fall, is I could not put lights on the lids. Paraffin has a low melting point. Oh well, back to the drawing board


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## fish_guy (Mar 6, 2008)

For over 20 years all I have done is wet the glass and take a razor blade to it. This has even worked for my Cichld tanks that I used reef builder in.
While it may take a little while it has always worked for me
even with the hard water I had up in Nashville.
The main thing is to try to keep up with it on a montly basis


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## Knight~Ryder (Dec 2, 2007)

TheOldSalt said:


> I've lost a lot of tanks over the years to waterstains.


What do you mean by "lost tanks"

This hasnt even entered my mind until now. Are we talking about the circle water stains under my light?

Why not just by another hood piece after awhile? Wouldn't that solve the problem?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

I think he means that tanks got ugly, so he replaced them. I've kept my ugly tanks and put them in the basement. But they will always be ugly.


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## Ron the handyman (Jan 18, 2005)

fish_guy said:


> For over 20 years all I have done is wet the glass and take a razor blade to it. This has even worked for my Cichld tanks that I used reef builder in.
> While it may take a little while it has always worked for me
> even with the hard water I had up in Nashville.
> The main thing is to try to keep up with it on a montly basis


You got it! Water and razer blades. R.


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## Knight~Ryder (Dec 2, 2007)

emc7 said:


> I think he means that tanks got ugly, so he replaced them. I've kept my ugly tanks and put them in the basement. But they will always be ugly.


How many years and what part of the tank are we talking about?
Also if you wanted to transfer your whole tank to a new one, wouldn't that kill the fish?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

> transfer your whole tank to a new one, wouldn't that kill the fish?


 Glass is glass. The biology is in the filter. As long as the water chemistry is close (and if you move the water it will be) most fish don't mine a large water change.


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## Knight~Ryder (Dec 2, 2007)

emc7 said:


> Glass is glass. The biology is in the filter. As long as the water chemistry is close (and if you move the water it will be) most fish don't mine a large water change.



So when I take my olf filter out that I left in the tank for about 2 months and then switch it to a new one. Shouldn't that affect the fish in a bad way?

I was told to take my old blue cartrisge with carbon out and wash the new one under water and then slip that one back in, but if I do that, that means there is no good bacteria in the new cartridge....or does that matter?


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## Ricker (Nov 23, 2007)

Windex and bleach worked great on my friends tank yes not the best way to clean it put took off 2 years fo water stains. Not sure if he used anything else.


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## ikevi (Jul 28, 2006)

Your bio material, ie what keeps ammonia down is in your filters... So that is what you don't want to rinse with normal tap water, and what needs to go from tank to tank. The water or the tank doesn't matter nearly as much. Well depending on what is in your water you likely should pretreat it with something like Prime, especially if you are doing a tank change.

Changing all of your filters at once would be a bad idea, since you loose all the good bacteria.

As for getting this stuff off, I only used ethenal and acetone... It worked ok, but best method is the razor and water.


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## TheOldSalt (Jan 28, 2005)

By losing tanks I meant having tanks develop a big white stripe across their front faces ( due to a water level not all the way to the top ) that simply would NOT come off no matter what.


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## Knight~Ryder (Dec 2, 2007)

So when I change the cartridge (and throw my old one out) can I simply put in the new cartridge, or wash it in the water that is in the tank?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

> that means there is no good bacteria in the new cartridge.


True. 

Thats why many of us reuse the old cartridge until it falls apart even though we lose the benefit of fresh carbon (after a month, it doesn't adsorb anything anymore). New aquarists who follow the directions on the box often toss there entire biological colony as soon as they finally get the tank cycled. 

Good filters have more than one place for the biology to grow. They have a cartridge and a sponge, two cartridges, or a cartridge and a bio-wheel. Then you can safely toss a cartridge without fear of more than a quick "mini-cycle" because the bacteria only have to double to reach the original amount. 

If you have a one-cartridge-only filter. I suggest you get a second filter of any kind and run them both for 2-4 weeks before changing the filter cartridge of the old filter.


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