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January 3rd, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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Cleaning Acrylic Lid of Tank
Does anyone have ideas or suggestions for how to remove the calcium ( I believe) that collects on the covers of the tank, under the lights;filter and bubble wand (where it splashes).
I have tried vinegar, scraping but have had no success. It bugs me since the light bars sit on top of it, and the tank does not get the full benefit of the lights.
Thanks. Val  |
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January 3rd, 2008
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Moderator
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Hi Val
I have the same problem with mine. They look great when they are new but in time get very cloudy. I clean mine with the tank water, but they remain cloudy. I have used glass cleaner and wiped off really good. It works some.. but for the most part, in my case anyway.. the acrylic stays cloudy no matter what I try. Hopefully someone has had some success in keeping them clear and can let us know! 
 ~ kate |
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January 4th, 2008
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Master Of Fish Poo!
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I'm not sure of a product that will do it AND be safe for the fish. I'd love to find one though, the glass cover on the 30g could use it.
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January 4th, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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The best result I've had was with vinegar soaking while doing tank maint. Then a scraping with razor blade.  |
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January 4th, 2008
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Fish Mentor
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Acrylic does scratch, which adds to the cloudy appearance. Glass tops can be a bit easier to keep translucent.
Which is the reason I am not inclined to get any tank except glass...
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January 4th, 2008
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Master Of Fish Poo!
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DFS sells an acrylic scratch repair kit, but I don't know how good it works.  |
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January 4th, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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Novus plastic polish http://www.novuspolish.com/ will remove the haze. Then a light wash with a vinegar solution will remove anything left that may be harmful to your finned friends. If you try this, make sure you get the Novus #1 (blue label) The 2 and 3 are much heavier and will scratch and cloud the plastic. They're for removing machining marks and serious scratches. Any product will require serious elbow grease and an afternoon or more of sweat to clean the acrylic. |
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January 5th, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by susitna-flower
Acrylic does scratch, which adds to the cloudy appearance. Glass tops can be a bit easier to keep translucent.
Which is the reason I am not inclined to get any tank except glass...
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This is not a scratch, it is from the calcium splashing up onto the guard from the bubbler, etc. I have made a few scratches in it when I tired to scrape it with this little plastic scraper supposedly for this problem. The tank is glass. Guess I will have to keep working at it,.
I think Lime Away would work, ( don't know if that is just a Canadian product or not) if I used it in the sink, on a cloth, and soaked it in clear water for awhile. But I know it would be toxic to fish for sure..so have stayed away, hoping for a miracle!! |
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January 5th, 2008
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Master Of Fish Poo!
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Yea, that's why we don't use a product called CLR on our glass folding lid. |
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January 5th, 2008
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Moderator
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Hi Val
We have to be so careful what products we use to try to get that cloudiness out of the acrylic part of the lids. Acrylic can tend to absorb some of those strong solutions and make it even more cloudier in the end.
I like CWC's idea of the vinegar. Vinegar is used in a lot of cleaning solutions.
I put down one of those supposedly acrylic brushes. I thought it looked to harsh and thought it would end up scratching my acrylic. I have no scratches in mine, just the haze as Magpie used the perfect term for it lol...
It sounds like Magpie is on to something with that product he mentioned... will have to investigate it further.
~ kate |
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January 5th, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by capekate
Hi Val
...I have no scratches in mine, just the haze as Magpie used the perfect term for it lol...
It sounds like Magpie is on to something with that product he mentioned... will have to investigate it further.
... |
One of the products my shop makes is those acrylic donor trees you see in hospital lobbies for recognizing contributors.
Since the plex scratches so easy, I keep a good bit of the stuff on hand to buff out any oopses during manufacturing. It's also quite popular among motorcyclists for removing scratches and solvent haze on windscreens and other solid colored plastic pieces... |
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January 5th, 2008
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Moderator
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Thanks Magpie!
Your tree looks awesome btw. Thanks for letting us know about that product.
~ kate |
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January 5th, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MagpieTear
It's also quite popular among motorcyclists for removing scratches and solvent haze on windscreens and other solid colored plastic pieces...
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Motorcycle is the magic word, we have a honda touring bike, and one evening my husband had the biggest brainfart and started to use a pot scubber ( the sponge with that stuff on the other side) to clean bug guts and made a scratch in his windshield. Well dahhhhhhhhhh -  - so I am thinking I should try some of this stuff..... And if I say I bought it for him, it wouldn't be money spent on fish stuff....thanks so much for adding that part!!
Val |
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January 5th, 2008
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Fish Keeper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by voiceless_kat
... And if I say I bought it for him, it wouldn't be money spent on fish stuff....thanks so much for adding that part!!
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Glad to be of service!
As I said, this will require some serious elbow grease to get it to work well. Actually, any plastic polish does. But when you see how well it works, you'll burn through an entire tube looking for plastic things to clean up. At least I did.  |
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