Cleaning used tank

Thanks for the replies everyone. I actually just finished cleaning it. My dad bought a huge bottle of vinegar and that did the trick. My sinuses got opened up thanks to all the vinegar. . Next I need to strip the old silicone and add the new.

 

Welcome to Fishlore Morgan. Vinegar is really great for cleaning...I think I will give it a try on my sinuses now that you mentioned that though LOL. Tommy strips a lot of used tanks out and then puts new silicone in them. You can buy the aquarium silicone or you can buy silicone from a hardware store that has nothing added to it at all (plain silicone) no mildew deterrent or anything like that and it is much cheaper and works great.

 

Hello Morgan. You can do a "search" at the top of this page for "sealing a tank" and you should find some helpful information there. Too, I listed one link below:


Best of luck !
Ken

 

Old thread but thanks for the vinegar tip! Will try that with a dirty 10 gallon I have laying around.

 

its pretty amazing how well vinegar works to clean up tank, really does a number on your nostrils too lol

 

I just aquired a used 125 gallon tank that was used for salt water and has been empty about a year. How and what do I use to get all the glass clean? It has a pretty good white build up on the inside and I want to completly clean it before It is set up again. Thank you

 

Good morning,

Congrats on the new aquarium. The link above may help you.

Ken

 

I've used vinegar with success on hard water build-up. You might fill it up, let it sit a while, and then empty it and try scrubbing it, just to a) check for leaks, and b) let the water soften some of the build-up to make less work later.
Edit: ed.

 

My all time favorite: Vinergar and a razor...lol....just a touch of elbo greese!!!!!

 

I like Gem's idea. Fill it up first and then when you empty it you can clean off everything. The water will get rid of some of the junk in the tank and it will make cleaning the rest off easier. Also that way you check for leaks at the same time.

Vinegar and a razor work well. Also you can use lemons or limes. When I have really tough spots I cut a lime in half and rub it on the spot pretty hard. That works well. Try not to use any sort of rough cloth or scrubby on the tank sides. Use very soft cloths so you don't scratch the glass.

 

Thanks everyone I will try the suggestions. I will wear a life jacket in case I fall in cleaning it!!!!!!!!!

 

I'm using water and vinegar which is great for glass butnot doing anything for the black edges as seen in picture.. Also how do you get the black stick on thermometers off the glass??

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That looks like algae buildup, have you tried scraping it off? Can you peel off the thermometers? I'm guessing that could work

 

Ive tried peeling the thermometer but well and truely stuck

What can I use to scrape it

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A razor blade should work. Here is a video that can help

 

Well usually when I want to scrape stubborn stickers off car windshields, I find using goo-gone and a quarter works real well. I don't know if you want to try it on a fish tank. You could probably rinse the goo-gone off real well later.

 

You can use goo-gone, I used it in my tank when I bought it from my LFS for some reason Fluval decided to put a sticker inside the tank. Just rinse the tank out really well after and you should be fine. You could also do the same thing with rubbing alcohol.

 

Ok so ive scrapped the algae off glass has come up great no scratches yay but what should I try with the black frame



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The glass lids are lying on bottom of tank soaking in water I scrubbed them but they still have white cloudy stuff on them which I'm assuming is calcium deposits? Will they fade after soaking or should I try something else.. Any little hints and tricks would be appreciated as this is my first second hand tank.. Also any tricks on getting algae out of canister pipes?

I used to buy new but now I'm getting into bigger tanks its very expensive to buy them new so I want to work miracles on this so far so good.. I want to impress hubby so I can upgrade again later on down the track

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That's a neat aquarium. Is it all glass? The curved piece that forms the front and sides is very cool!

For glass, a razor blade held in a safety handle (commonly called a widget) will work wonders and get the residue left over from the thermometer off. Just keep the blade at a shallow angle to the glass, as if you were giving the glass a shave, and it won't scratch the glass. You can honk on it pretty hard. Just be very careful not to cut toward any part of your body. Razor blades are incredibly sharp, and one slip can mean a terrible injury.

You can get an edge of the thermometer started with the razor blade. Then they usually pull off in one piece, but they often leave some adhesive behind. That scrapes off. The goo gone or other solvent helps with that.

As for the gunk on the plastic, there, you must be more careful. Solvents can attack plastics.

But water-based chemicals can help. You can try citric acid (lemon juice) and let it soak for a while. You can keep it wet with the acid solution by using some cotton, or strips of old rags laid into the area that needs to soak.

I buy pure citric acid powder from Amazon. It has many uses around the house. You do need to be careful with it, though.

Big bottles of lemon juice are available at most grocery stores. It has a lower pH than vinegar and seems to strip calcium deposits faster.

Just rinse it all off well when you're done so it doesn't alter the pH of the aquarium water.

 

Yeah its all glass.. Ill try lemon juice on the plastic... How long should u leave it to soak??

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I thought about what some of the deposits might be. If there are silicate deposits (from the water directly, or from diatoms), then you'll want to use something that helps dissolve silicates. The first thing that comes to mind is hydrofluoric acid. But that is some seriously nasty stuff! And it will dissolve the glass, too. In the labs where I've worked, this is one of the things that really had the full respect of the analysts! I do NOT recommend it for home use at all. Pretty scary stuff!

I did a little web searching, and found that a number of people recommended two products for removing silicates. Both are made by the same company, and I have no idea what the active ingredients are. So I can't vouch for their effectiveness or safety.

But, both are made by CRL. One is called CRL Bio-Clean Water Stain Remover, and the other is called A-Maz Water Stain Remover. Amazon carries both.

People seem to say that both will require a bit of elbow grease, but will get the job done. I need to try these on my glass shower doors, which must have silicate deposits because acids don't touch some of what's there. I can get the soap scum and carbonates off with acid, but there's a thin scale that's always left behind. This is supposedly silicates, and is what people have a hard time removing. I may order some of both of those products and see if they do anything for me.

I also found a lot of razor blade scrapers on Amazon. Here are a couple:





Again, razor blade scrapers are very handy. But be very careful. Those blades are sharp with a capitol S.

 

As I'm pregnant I don't want to be using any tough chemicals so was hoping to get away with house hold stuff like vinegar or lemon juice :/

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Perfect excuse to get your husband to help out!

 

Perfect excuse to get your husband to help out!

Hah!

I think you'd have to play it by ear to find out how long to let the lemon juice soak. It might take it off right away, or it might require hours. It's worth a try.

Also, you may need to apply the lemon juice a number of times. As it eats up the deposits, it will lose strength. So just soaking for a long long time might not be productive. You might want to wring out, then re-wet the cloth with fresh juice over and over to get the best effect.

I have an old aquarium that I need to clean up one of these days, so I'm afraid I'll be trying a bunch of these methods myself sooner or later.

 

Ok so finally applied the first soak of lemon juice at 8am this morning I had a spare pack of cotton makeup rounds so used them.. I used an entire 500ml bottle of lemon juice on this first soak and will continue to reapply lemon juice as needed.. After this soak I have very fine steel wool that's used for polishing that I'm gonna try.. Ill keep you posted on outcome

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Need some more tips for the glass tops.. Ive had them soaking in vinegar and water for 3 days and have also tried glass cleaner anything else I can try to get cloudy marks off glass

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If it feels like something is on top of the glass, I would try and use goof off or goo gone then just rinse it really well with lots of water. Fluval decided to put a sticker on the inside of my tank and I needed to use it to take off the sticker residue.

 

Its not from a sticker its on the inside you can feel it its rougher than the clear glass..

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I have no idea what goof off or goo gone is? Is that an australian product?

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Well if it;s rougher than the glass it might be a scratch on the glass and if it is i'm out of ideas. Never dealt with scratched glass, but IMO it should be fine.

I have no idea what goof off or goo gone is? Is that an australian product?

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No, here is goo gones site: https://googone.com/

 

Need some more tips for the glass tops.. Ive had them soaking in vinegar and water for 3 days and have also tried glass cleaner anything else I can try to get cloudy marks off glass

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I think that if you don't think that there is anything actually on the glass, then its probably acid erosion, which can only be fixed by buffing it.

 

Its funny cause when they are fully submerged they go clear but when dry they look like this.. I have to say though they are so much better then what they were shame I didnt take a before shot


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Then it is probably acid erosion imo

 

Well after a 6 hr soak in lemon juice this is before and after pic.. I haven't used the fine steel wool on it yet its looking good



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The steel wool will be pretty rough on the plastic. I'd try to avoid that if you can, but then again, if the plastic gets scuffed up, it won't really hurt much, I guess.

The deposits on the glass may well be silicates. People don't think about this much, but it's common. That stuff that remains on a glass shower door after you've hit it up with all of the soap scum and calcium busting acid is usually silicates.

What makes it tough to get off is the fact that it's really made of pretty much the same thing as the glass! Glass is mostly silica sand that's been melted down and then formed into glass.

If you do a web search for "how to remove silicate deposits from glass", you'll get a lot of hits. The ones that take you to the industrial finishing forums end up having some very useful recommendations.

I still think that's a really interesting aquarium. I've never seen one with a curved piece of glass that forms the front and sides like that. It's really cool!

 

You can paint the trim too. As long as there is no residual algae or any other build up on it. It will cover any water stains you may not be able to remove. I would be hesitant in using steel wool on plastic.

 

No the fine steel wool is specifically designed for polishing doesn't scratch it worked a treat

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This is the stuff ultra fine steel wool designed for light sanding/ polishing

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No the fine steel wool is specifically designed for polishing doesn't scratch it worked a treat

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Good to know. Thanks.

 

One website suggests a mix of hot water and baking soda to remove silicate deposits off shower glass doors would this be ok to try?

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That might work... but so would vinegar.

 

Ive come to the conclusion the glass tops arnt gonna get any better.. However they are much better then when I got them so that's ok..

Next thing:
How do I go about getting the gunk out of the canister tubes?? I can't find bottle brushes that would fit or even go as long.. How can I clean it or should I just replace tubes if I can even get replacements?

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What kind of canister is it again?