Getting Lime Deposits Off Aquarium Equipment

[ArtesiaWells]

Does anyone know what the best stuff is for getting those dreaded, awful, white crunchy lime deposits off the glass surfaces of the aquarium and plastic surfaces of the HOB filters? For whatever reason -- must be my water supply to blame -- during evaporation, the back glass of my tank plus the edges of the trim as well as all the plastic (especially the covers) on my filters all get that nasty, thick lime coating that comes off in crystalized chunks if you scrape at it. The problem is, no matter what I use -- steaming hot water, chemicals like 409 (not on the glass or near the water, just to clean off the lids of the filters by the sink) -- some of these deposits just won't come off; it seems like a lot of them are "baked" into and onto the plastic of the filters as well as onto the black plastic of my fluorescent strip light.

As soon as I'm done wiping the hard, crusty deposits off, they almost instantly reappear on my Aqueon filter's cover and the AquaClear 110's cover -- and they're totally all over the glass lids that cover the tank...especially the plastic insert "ends" that face the back of the tank...I cannot get the deposits off those at all.

Is there any chemical I can get or is there a trick that will get rid of the lime deposits? Should I begin looking at putting purified water in my tank instead of the dechlorinated tap? I know API makes some kind of "aquarium cleaner" fluid of some kind, but does this work?

 

[calfishguy]

I also would like to know how. Subscribed

 

[ocean]

Soaking in vinegar will work, rinse well afterwards.

 

[butterfly_koi]

Soaking in vinegar will work, rinse well afterwards.

I agree, that's all I've ever used in my aquarium and it works great.

 

[khartig]

White vinegar is the answer.

 

[BillD]

White vinegar is the answer, but some scrubbing may be required once the vinegar softens the deposits.

 

[ArtesiaWells]

Thank you for your replies, everyone!

I've read about the white vinegar method; the thing is, we get these crusty, flaky, crystalized deposits on everything -- the plastic of the HOB filters, the rim of the tank, the back of the wooden stand...can I use the vinegar method to clean most of these surfaces? In other words, can I scrub the tops of the filters to get the crud off as well as the other areas, and with the filters, what's the best way of going about cleaning them? Do I need to dissolve the vinegar in water first?

Is it normal for some of these deposits to be so baked on that they're kind of embedded in the material already? For example, the plastics of our filters seem to have these embedded stains from the deposits so bad, no matter how I scrub or even if I use boiling hot water on them, they reappear after a little while of cleaning them, as if they're always there, embedded in the plastic...

 

[Daxhua]

Try soaking over night the parts that have crud imbedded in them.
If you have a bubble wand or any kind of bubble producing device in your tank I suggest you remove it for a while and see if you still get all those lime deposits everywhere.

 

[ArtesiaWells]

Try soaking over night the parts that have crud imbedded in them.

Thanks Dax -- do you mean like the filter covers?

If you have a bubble wand or any kind of bubble producing device in your tank I suggest you remove it for a while and see if you still get all those lime deposits everywhere.

Can you explain to me why this would be? Could the aeration be causing the deposits?

 

[Lonestarbandit]

I use straight vinegar and though smelly and of course needs to dry and air before going near fish seems to work for me. Even on nasty used old aquariums from Craigslist lol

 

[ArtesiaWells]

I use straight vinegar and though smelly and of course needs to dry and air before going near fish seems to work for me. Even on nasty used old aquariums from Craigslist lol

Thanks, Bandit. I was planning on, no matter what kind of vinegar I used, rinsing the vinegar off with scalding hot water before returning even the filter covers to the tank...

How do you apply the vinegar in your case -- do you soak the components in a bucket? What about at your tank...do you just scrub the surfaces encrusted with the deposits down with a rag with vinegar?

 

[Lonestarbandit]

I've never tried soaking things. Except for other reasons algae, snails, smokers equipment you bought used for cheap (pheeew) but that's with bleach solution. For the vinegar / lime / hardwater stains I always just used a cloth and scrubbed. But don't see why soaking would harm anything ?

 

[butterfly_koi]

Thanks, Bandit. I was planning on, no matter what kind of vinegar I used, rinsing the vinegar off with scalding hot water before returning even the filter covers to the tank...

How do you apply the vinegar in your case -- do you soak the components in a bucket? What about at your tank...do you just scrub the surfaces encrusted with the deposits down with a rag with vinegar?

I soak my artificial aquarium plants, filter coverings and decor in vinegar in a clean 5 gallon bucket for a few minutes then rinse it in really hot water. Sometimes it doesn't always work in that case I bought a hard bristled toothbrush that makes the scrubbing much easier

 

[ArtesiaWells]

Thanks...

 

[ArtesiaWells]

I soak my artificial aquarium plants, filter coverings and decor in vinegar in a clean 5 gallon bucket for a few minutes then rinse it in really hot water. Sometimes it doesn't always work in that case I bought a hard bristled toothbrush that makes the scrubbing much easier

Thanks, 'koi. Do you dilute the vinegar in the bucket with water?

See, the thing is (and I will try and post some pics of what I'm talking about), our filter covers in particular and the glass tops of the tank have already gotten so encrusted with this junk that it doesn't even come off anymore even if I use chemicals like 409 spray on it (on the filter covers, not near the tank) -- if I soak these plastic pieces in scalding hot water or wash them down with the hot water, or spray them with 409, the white residue comes off and then reappears within a few minutes, eventually getting sprayed with splashing tank water causing more of the problem when I return the covers to the filters on the tank...I'm beginning to suspect perhaps we have too much aeration in the tank from the bubble bars making the massive lines of bubbles snap and break all over the surface of the water and exposed back of the tank where the filters hang...

 

[butterfly_koi]

Thanks, 'koi. Do you dilute the vinegar in the bucket with water?

See, the thing is (and I will try and post some pics of what I'm talking about), our filter covers in particular and the glass tops of the tank have already gotten so encrusted with this junk that it doesn't even come off anymore even if I use chemicals like 409 spray on it (on the filter covers, not near the tank) -- if I soak these plastic pieces in scalding hot water or wash them down with the hot water, or spray them with 409, the white residue comes off and then reappears within a few minutes, eventually getting sprayed with splashing tank water causing more of the problem when I return the covers to the filters on the tank...I'm beginning to suspect perhaps we have too much aeration in the tank from the bubble bars making the massive lines of bubbles snap and break all over the surface of the water and exposed back of the tank where the filters hang...

The vinegar that I use is distilled vinegar (I believe) I don't dilute the vinegar. When working with old tanks I found that if the vinegar is slightly warmer it works great on old deposits. But I recommend doing that outside because man oh man that smell will burn the hair out of your nose lol.

 

[ArtesiaWells]

The vinegar that I use is distilled vinegar (I believe) I don't dilute the vinegar. When working with old tanks I found that if the vinegar is slightly warmer it works great on old deposits. But I recommend doing that outside because man oh man that smell will burn the hair out of your nose lol.

Thanks much.

 

[Lonestarbandit]

The vinegar that I use is distilled vinegar (I believe) I don't dilute the vinegar. When working with old tanks I found that if the vinegar is slightly warmer it works great on old deposits. But I recommend doing that outside because man oh man that smell will burn the hair out of your nose lol.

Yes but some of us are older..... Where Is the negative in nose hairs getting burned out ??? Seems to be a double positive !!! Lol

 

[Daxhua]

Thanks Dax -- do you mean like the filter covers?

Can you explain to me why this would be? Could the aeration be causing the deposits?

Yes I do mean filter covers.

Yes bubbles cause a lot of aeration, when the bubbles burst they splash water that accumulates around the edges of your tank then you get hard water or lime deposits.
The HOB filter will provide plenty of oxygen for your fish so don't worry about that if you decide to remove any bubblers. I saw a big difference on my tank after removing my bubble wands and HOB filter, no more deposits on tank and no more algae underneath my glass top.

 

[ArtesiaWells]

Yes I do mean filter covers.

Yes bubbles cause a lot of aeration, when the bubbles burst they splash water that accumulates around the edges of your tank then you get hard water or lime deposits.
The HOB filter will provide plenty of oxygen for your fish so don't worry about that if you decide to remove any bubblers. I saw a big difference on my tank after removing my bubble wands and HOB filter, no more deposits on tank and no more algae underneath my glass top.

Indeed, I notice the bubbles popping at the surface and splashing all over the filters and the glass tops...I suspected this may be causing or contributing to the issue, but I never really wanted to get rid of the bubble bars because they just look so cool at the back of the tank; we actually have two of them running off two separate air pumps so almost the whole back of the tank has bubbles coming up...