Can this tank glass be cleaned?

ritter6788 · Jul 3, 2012

Ran into a snag right off the bat with my new tank build. The white haze on the sides isn't scraping off. I filled the tank with water and vineger and scraped with a razor. Anyone had success removing it? What's my best plan of action here? Am I totally screwed here?

revhtree · Jul 3, 2012

How long did you let it sit in vinegar and at what ratio to the water?

mallorieGgator · Jul 3, 2012

That's bizarre. I've never noticed a white haze on glass before. I hope someone can help you!

ritter6788 · Jul 3, 2012

revhtree said:
How long did you let it sit in vinegar and at what ratio to the water?

Well I can't get a very strong mix since the tank needs to be about 1/2 full to cover the area that needs to be cleaned. It's been soaking about 4 hours now. I'm wearing myself out with a razor blade and it's not budging.

Would I be better off draining it and spraying a stronger solution directly on the area? Should I use something stronger than vinegar?

wysiwyg · Jul 3, 2012

i would go with a stronger solution of vinegar

sokarber · Jul 3, 2012

you could try spraying it with plain vinegar however it works best if you can soak it in a 50/50 mix of vinegar. I has something like this on my 125 and it took about a day worth of sitting there with a strong mix to come off. Still it took a bit of elbow grease to get it off.

Steelerfan747 · Jul 3, 2012

Hope the stronger solution works, if not you could always contact a glass company. They generally have different buffing compounds that should be able to remove that.

miyags · Jul 3, 2012

i'd try stronger solution and let it sit for days and then start with the elbow grease. it takes a long time for vinegar to break that stuff down.

mallorieGgator · Jul 3, 2012

Can you use the acid we use to clean rock? I can't remember the name right now but maybe using a diluted about will work?

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wysiwyg · Jul 3, 2012

muratic acid i believe is what your refering to mallorie

mainereefer · Jul 3, 2012

Mr. clean magic eraser!! and a little elbow grease or I have used C.L.R. then clean with bleach

mallorieGgator · Jul 3, 2012

Yep. Muriatic acid. I just got on here to edit my post but wysiwyg got it.

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impur · Jul 3, 2012

I would also suggest muriatic acid. I had a 29gal that had sides which looked like that. I never could get the haze off with vinegar. Good luck!

Loki · Jul 3, 2012

I would suggest laying a towel down and laying the tank on its front/side(wherever the haze is) and using a higher concentrated mix of vinegar and water. 50/50 or straight (try 50/50 first). When I got my 120 I took it to a car wash and sprayed it like crazy with their rinse and then spot free rinse (RO water).

ritter6788 · Jul 3, 2012

Thanks for all the replies. I'm going to pick up some Muriatic acid, CLR and a magic eraser. I'll update everyone soon!

KSzegi · Jul 3, 2012

If none of the above solutions work ..... try cerium oxide. I had the same issue with a used tank that I bought and tried all of the above .... nothing worked but cerium oxide finally did the trick.

ritter6788 · Jul 3, 2012

Vinegar didn't work, Mr. Clean Magic Eraser didn't work. I'm going to try CLR next then Muriatic Acid. Now that I've soaked and scraped all day it looks like that "etching" that you see in glass sometimes.

I'm not even removing a little bit of it.

mallorieGgator · Jul 3, 2012

It may just be really scratched.

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rufus2008 · Jul 3, 2012

If you can get your hands on citric acid that also may work. Its used to break down hardness in water and its a natural product (correct me here if I'm wrong) so it shouldn't have any ill effects.