Crust

[cinnastix911]

I am going to restart up an old fish tank. When I said old I mean it is rather old little 10 galloner. Does anyone know how to get the water lines (white 'crust') off the sides? Should I just take a razor thing and scrape? or is there a better faster way?

 

[mr86mister]

be careful with the razor, it does work....but vinegar might do the trick as well...i went and bought 2 gallons of vinegar from my local bulk store and pretty much used it all to clean out my friends tanks....man old water stains are a pain in the butt

 

[cinnastix911]

Vinegar? I will check to see how much we have. Thanks a ton for the advice. If anyone else has something better or something like that.. just let me know.

What do you use with the vinegar to clean it? As in, brush or cloth?

 

[cinnastix911]

It hasn't worked very well (the grime is thick and ollllddddd) Would a bleach wash work if I set it in for a few days? Say... two cups of bleach in a 10 gallon tank full of water (the grime is mostly at the top) for about 4 days? Anyone have an experienced idea that is hyper strong?

 

[greenmaji]

I can usually get the crud off with bleach.. I dont use alot of it but I dont dilute it very much either..

 

[cinnastix911]

Do you soak it or just scrub away with it?

 

[greenmaji]

it usually wipes right off.. are you trying to clean up a tank that was used for SW?? or just a bad calcium deposit line from FW.. if its the later then you can scrub it off with a strong bleach solution..

 

[QTOFFER]

The white crud is mostly mineral deposits. Soaking it for a few days with, or without bleach will definitely help soften it.

If wiping with vinegar didn't work, try applying some vinegar-soaked paper towels to the area. Then cover the paper towels with saran so the vinegar doesn't evaporate. Let this sit overnight - even the most stubborn deposits should ne dissolved, or at least softened enough that you can scrape them off. HTH.

 

[Lepomis]

Vinegar works really well the trick is to let it "scale" soak submersed. Turn the tank on its side on a level surface and fill to the edge rim with vinegar let sit and then stand up and carefully lay it on the other side. I possible I just do it in my shower or tub.

 

[QTOFFER]

LOL, Lepomis and I posted the same general idea at the same time!

 

[cinnastix911]

These are all really great! I don't have a lot of vinegar and I don't trust my ancient lining on the top of my fish tank to gold the vinegar in, and my tub is at an angle so it wouldn't get the spot I need. I will try wiping it down w/blech or the paper towel thing...

 

[Guest]

I have a steam cleaner that I got at Target for $50 that works great on my tank, as well as a bunch of other places. That being said, you can get a brand new 10g at Petco for $10, so you might want to consider just getting a new tank.

 

[cinnastix911]

Our only giant pet place like that is an hour an a half away (I live in a basin; completed surrounded mountains) and it's petsmart. I will try my lfs on saturday if I get a chance and hopefully I will have money to buy sometihng with. I just washed is down with bleach. Didn't work. once it dries again I will take a picture so you can see the damage

 

[Guest]

Our only giant pet place like that is an hour an a half away (I live in a basin; completed surrounded mountains) and it's petsmart. I will try my lfs on saturday if I get a chance and hopefully I will have money to buy sometihng with. I just washed is down with bleach. Didn't work. once it dries again I will take a picture so you can see the damage

I'm sure petsmart has a similar deal, I always see 10g tank for dirt cheap at both places.

 

[cinnastix911]

And if i can figure this out, the pic. of my currently crusty tank...

 

[greenmaji]

it looks like someone might have already taken a razor to it.. I did that when I was a noob.. scratches are almost inevitable.. if its just a 10 gallon you could get a gallon of vinigar from the grosery store, used for canning mostly.. and just fill the thing up for soaking.. you might want to wait for the consentration to use..

 

[cinnastix911]

My brother bouht it at a garage sale, I ahve never had guts enouhg to use a razor except for at the top on one of the sides were it was really thick about 2 years ago, and then on the side aboout 5 hours ago, but again only on the top of the side.

I will ask my mom if I can use the rest of our vinegar... we are only canning come jelly so I doubt she will need it. We probably have about 1/2 gallom. And then I let it soak for longer or something.

 

[QTOFFER]

Looks like someone took a brillo pad to it! 8O
If it's scratched, it will never look clear. You may have to soak it in vinegar for a few days.

If it were my tank, I would use it as a quarrantine/hospital tank and just buy a new one for show.

 

[cinnastix911]

As far as I know, no brillo pad was ever used on it... If you saw the tank, acutally see it not camera, all you see is crust. THere are no swirls on it indicating someone had taken something like that to it. Just years of mis use. But it would probably be better as a QT tank. But currently my main tank is having an ich attack that i am treating so it would be useless... Maybe, as i am planning on a brand new fish tank now, I could use this one as a storage to watch fish for two weeks before adding them to my main tank, to make sure they don't bring in ich or other icky stuff.

But I am still going to try and clear it out and see if it may work...

 

[mr86mister]

yeah, if everything else fails....and its only just mineral deposits you could still use it as a QT tank....and you definetly have the idea of what its for! as said earlier, petsmart does have dirt cheap 10 gallon aquariums, good luck! we're always here to help