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Old November 20th, 2009  
Fish Helper
 
Whitish yellow crusty stuff

Hi everyone
I am new to this site, I just discovered it yesterday and I've learned a lot already from reading threads. I didn't see anyone posting about this tho, so I figured I'd ask.
I have two tanks, one fairly new 10 gallon and an older 50 gallon. On my 50 gallon tank, around the rims, and on the back of the lighting unit, is all of this whitish yellow crusty stuff, that is very hard to clean/get rid of. I can see it starting to build up on my new 10 gallon tank, and I have no idea what it is! Is there a way to permanently get rid of it? Or is it something that I just have to deal with?
In my bigger tank, its been there for quite some time and doesn't seem to be doing any harm, other than the fact that it's ugly.
Thanks!
ErinM is offline  
Old November 20th, 2009  
Fish Master
 
welcome to fishlore erinm!!!
sounds like the stuff is hard water buildup with some extra algae ...its ugly to look at, and should be cleaned off with a sponge whenever it builds up, it wont hurt things....
Shawnie is offline  
Old November 20th, 2009  
Moderator
 
Hi Erin welcome to FishLore
Ditto what Shawnie said. I get it on mine too and try to keep up with wiping it down.

We hope you share some pics of your tanks!
Lucy is online now  
Old November 20th, 2009  
Fish Helper
 
thanks!
I definitely will add some pics soon
ErinM is offline  
Old November 20th, 2009  
Fish Keeper
 
When things get wet and the water evaporates this is the calcium that is left behind. I have been told if you use RO/DI water this won't happen. Also if it is on the glass I have found the best way to clean it. Go to an auto parts store and get turtle wax brand "heavy duty" rubbing compound. It is a wax based substance that is used to buff cars. It has an abrasive in it but turtle wax has verified (on another forum) that the hardness rating of the abrasive in this compound is a 6, the same as glass. This means it cannot scratch the glass. I recently tried this on a 120 tank I got off of craigslist. I tried vinegar first with mixed results. The rubbing compound polishes the glass. You won't be disappointed. I wouldn't use it on the plastic stuff though.
flyin-lowe is offline  
Old November 20th, 2009  
Fish Master
 
This should scrape off of glass with a razor blade. If you're careful, it won't scratch. To clean up a used tank, soak some paper towels in vinegar and lay them on the area you want to clean. Leave it for a while and come back to it later. It will be MUCH easier to clean off after a little while.
harpua2002 is offline  
Old November 21st, 2009  
Fish Helper
 
Thanks everyone! I will try those suggestions next time I'm cleaning!
ErinM is offline  
Old November 22nd, 2009  
Fish Keeper
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by flyin-lowe View Post
When things get wet and the water evaporates this is the calcium that is left behind. I have been told if you use RO/DI water this won't happen. Also if it is on the glass I have found the best way to clean it. Go to an auto parts store and get turtle wax brand "heavy duty" rubbing compound. It is a wax based substance that is used to buff cars. It has an abrasive in it but turtle wax has verified (on another forum) that the hardness rating of the abrasive in this compound is a 6, the same as glass. This means it cannot scratch the glass. I recently tried this on a 120 tank I got off of craigslist. I tried vinegar first with mixed results. The rubbing compound polishes the glass. You won't be disappointed. I wouldn't use it on the plastic stuff though.
Probably wouldn't use it on a tank with fish, though.
callichma is offline  
Old November 23rd, 2009  
Fish Keeper
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by callichma View Post
Probably wouldn't use it on a tank with fish, though.
I originally got this info from this site (I was half asleep when I typed this thinking I was on a different forum.) I will try to find the original thread but the stuff is non toxic substance. The research was already done I was just paraphrasing. Ill do some digging and try to find it.
flyin-lowe is offline  
Old November 23rd, 2009  
Fish Keeper
 
If you type in "personal breakthrough cleaning" in the search you can find the original thread. It is a couple pages but I copied one of the post's in regards to the safety of the product.




"I missed your question but saw it as I was about to get back to work. So I called the 1800 number on the can to spoke to Turtle Wax and surprisingly they put me in touch with someone who knows the chemistry and purpose of this product. Fist off in answering your question Lucy they said that the product is designed not to leave any residue because it would interfere with it ability to abrasion and remove layers of dirt, oxidation and paint, also would interfere with wax polish and oils designed to be applied later, this product has none. The product is a non-petroleum water based carrier with suspended silica super fine dust and volcanic ash designed to remove dirt, minerals, oxidation and paint if necessary. The reason why it doesn't scratch the glass is because its a super fine powder abrasive of silica & Volcanic ash which has the exact same hardness as glass 6. so the result is a wash with only the softer materials like dirt, calcium and magnesium being removed and the glass only getting sharp micro surfaces smoothed out or polished. The coarseness would have to be greater to see any abrasion marks but since the powder far exceeds 2500 grit it cannot visibly scuff glass.
IMHO Residue if any comes off with the ammonia cleaner which dissolves all greases and oils and waxes, then vinegar removes that followed by RO which absorbers any toxins because RO has no ions it pulls in anything it can. But besides all this the amount of any residue after all that cleaning would be in the PPB's (Parts per billion) which means there are far more contaminants that would be sucked in through your air pump then off the surface of the cleaned glass, so no worries."
flyin-lowe is offline  
Old November 23rd, 2009  
Fish Keeper
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by flyin-lowe View Post
I originally got this info from this site (I was half asleep when I typed this thinking I was on a different forum.) I will try to find the original thread but the stuff is non toxic substance. The research was already done I was just paraphrasing. Ill do some digging and try to find it.
Thanks. Good to know. I'l be watching for the link.

Just saw your post above. So you wouldn't be using it on a tank while the fish are in it if I understood what you said about cleaning residue with an ammonia cleaner. Would be great for cleaning a secondhand tank or a tank you are redoing though.

Last edited by callichma; November 23rd, 2009 at 07:51 PM. Reason: Another thought
callichma is offline  
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