Hard water stain on used tank..What to do?

[nemokeeper]

I have a 20g tank and near the top where the water line was there is a hard water stain. I have 100% vinager and a razor blade. The blade took off the scale but there is still a film on the glass. Setting this up for the kids for Christmas and want it to look like new. Any suggestions?

 

[Enki]

I have found ammonia to be very effective. Janitorial strength Ace Hardware brand is 10% ammonia solution, good for cleaning and fishless cycling

 

[jbrown03]

I would have thought any of the normal household limescale removers would do the job. Obviously making sure you wash off all traces of whatever cleaning fluids you have been using before using the tank.

 

[nemokeeper]

I have some CLR here, I wonder if that would work, the amonia sounds like a good idea too, thanks. Seeing that I have to get this tank cycling anyway, there must be articles on this site for using amonia to start the cycle?

 

[TankGirl]

I don't think anyone has written an article just yet, though many of us do this. Here is an excellent article by Chris Cow on the subject http://hjem.get2net.dk/Best_of_the_Web/fishless cycling.html

 

[nemokeeper]

Thanks TankGirl & Jbrown!
Great article TankGirl, I just tried Lime Away and it didn't work. So off to the hardware store for Amonia.
Thanks Again

 

[justDIY]

I like CLR too... I use it at about 10:1 strength, 1 part clr to 10 parts water ... scrape the scale with a sharp blade and then finish with a plastic srubber pad

vinegar will eventually work, but it takes a lot longer than clr... I guess it's a trade off between safety (vinegar) and expedience (clr).

I've always had trouble with rinsing clr out after I use it, so I usually do a double rinse - wash the tank and then rinse well, and let dry - then rinse it again ... must be the drying helps flush out the last traces of the clr.