cleaning a glass aquarium cover

[nitrous]

on my 55 gallon tank i have a glass topper that goes above the tank and under the light. it is in 3 sections and it usually gets some green and orange muck on it which i wash off but after that it gets kinda foggy and has some white fog on it. what can i use to clean that? i use water but it just comes back when its dry and what chemicals can i use that wont get the fish sick bc this sometimes does touch the water but its not always sitting in the water.

thanks
nitrous'

 

[tropicalfish]

yes, I have that white stuff too!!
I could never get it off the glass portion of my hood.

 

[MoSinister]

It's probably just hard water deposits. Try using common white vinegar. Then rinse with water.

 

[nitrous]

thanks ill try it

 

[kaz]

white stuff is calcium deposits, buy yourself some razor blades and scratch it off, yes it will leave scratches but unless you want to buy over $200 bucks a R/O to fix your water. just try not to make it spell on the cover to leave that.

 

[tropicalfish]

I tried bleach before, didn't work well...
afterwards, I flushed it over with hot water several times and dried it in the sun...Then put it on the tank.. but it was still very white

 

[lovemybarbs]

What would work is tub and tile cleaner for hard water deposits, but I would be very, very, very careful about rinsing it.

 

[Toirtis]

Extra-strong vinegar will work, as will CLR cleanser (a mild acid)...just be sure to rinse very well after cleaning.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I use razor blades to get it off. I get it all over my tanks and vinegar just isn't strong enough to take it off of mine. Razors take it off in an instant.

 

[tropicalfish]

razors don't seem to do anything for me... They just glide over it, no matter how hard I press, and makes the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard!

 

[Toirtis]

razors don't seem to do anything for me... They just glide over it, no matter how hard I press, and makes the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard!

Soak it in warm water or warm water with vinegar for 20 minutes first....it will make a world of difference.

 

[courtnee]

I had the same problem. Mine was really bad. I tried to scrub it with an extra algea scrubber I have, I have used salt for something abbrasive etc. I figured it I tackled it every other day I would see it come off. Nope nothing.

I used the white vinegar approach. I laid my cover out over my sink and dumped vinegar on it and let it soak 10mins, rinsed and did it again. I scrubbed a little (not hard it worked so well) and rinsed it off very well and let it dry. The white cloud was gone and I had clear glass again!

I just did this like Friday myself. It works.

I plan to do this once a week to keep ahead of it.

 

[Jman17H]

Is it really actually possible to get those things perfectly clean? I am doing planted tanks and found that it was too hard to clean them and just took them off and built hoods for my tanks so the fish could not jump out. now the hoods annoy me for it is hard to do anything in the tanks.....

 

[courtnee]

It took it all off mine. I was amazed and it was not that much work, I just let it soak a few minutes as I continued my water change. I scrubbed hard before thinking it would come off with just hot water. I used the vin. and it came off with ease.

I plan to just do it weekly with my water change, that way I just need to wipe it off instead of soaking it.

 

[kaz]

how about for the inside glass and trims of the aquarium itself not for the covers?

 

[JDogg]

white stuff is calcium deposits, buy yourself some razor blades and scratch it off, yes it will leave scratches.

not if you do it right, i have used razors to clean off hard water and have yet (knock on wood) to scratch the glass

 

[kansei]

I scrape mine with a razor blade and wipe them off with aquarium wipes at each PWC . My tank was used and the covers were very dirty Now they are alot cleaner than when I got it.

 

[dsmalls]

Windex and a razor blade seem to work ok. Keep the blade at a 45% angle and you won't scratch the glass.

 

[mobiusnu]

I use water, razors, and sometimes a little vinegar.

 

[bs6749]

If you have the surface of the glass wet and you keep the razor blade at a low profile it is very difficult to scratch the glass. If the glass is dry or if you are not applying equal pressure to the blade you will scratch it.