Safe & Easy Aquarium Cleaner

[paralegal321]

I'm a novice who has a nice 10 gallon aquarium. On occasion when doing a 25% water change, I come across a lot of white crusty salt-like deposits on my aquarium hood and on the airline hoses. I've been using Safe & Easy Aquarium Cleaner and it seems to be doing a decent job but I was wondering if there's a better product out there or if anyone has a safe homemade remedy to cut down on these salt-like deposits.

 

[JDogg]

are you adding aquarium salt?

or is your water just really hard...?

i have very hard water but i do not get that much in the way of deposits :?

 

[paralegal321]

Yes, I do add aquarium salt when i do the water change. I'm not sure if the water is hard though it might be.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Why are you using Aquarium Salt?

It could be calcium buildup. I have it really bad on my tanks and just scrape it off with a razor blade. I also replace the airline tubing every few months because it gets really crusty.

 

[JDogg]

why are you adding salt?

i used to use salt too and was always getting salt build up..unless you are keeping brackish fish i so don't see any need for adding salt

 

[NeonJulie]

I read somewhere you can use baking soda for cleaning an aquarium. Maybe an expert can yay or nay this.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Baking soda will increase the hardness of the water (assuming you mean when water is in the tank) so if you already have really hard water you may not want to do this.

My 10g hood got pretty nasty too when I used it...I think it was just from water evaporation and stuff. I just wiped it down every once in awhile with a damp washcloth. For the airline, I'd just either wipe what was out of the water or replace it regularly.

The crusty stuff on the hood may be from water evaporation and the salt in the water.

 

[JDogg]

i actually had aquarium salt build up corrode my heater and cause it to leak and fill with water...i noticed when i got a shock... salt makes water a better conductor... :?