Clear For Life - Anyone Know What Is Safe To Clean Inside And Outisde ?

HI I was looking for suggestions on how to clean a acrylic tank. I have a Clear for Life and have seen that they scratch easy. What is good to clean outside and inside. Thanks.

 

HI I was looking for suggestions on how to clean a acrylic tank. I have a Clear for Life and have seen that they scratch easy. What is good to clean outside and inside. Thanks.

Hi, welcome to fishlore!

I’m not sure if you’re speaking of cleaning an empty tank or an in use tank but I’ll try to help!

You can you use white vinegar on a paper towel to clean the outside and inside of a used tank. It does a great job of removing hard water deposits. You only need to rinse a bit when you’re done, and there’s no worry of leftover harsh chemicals. You can of course use it on the outside as well with paper towel as well when the tank is in use.

Cleaning inside when filled can be done with a a soft aquarium sponge or plastic/rubber scraper instead of the usual razor blade which should not scratch the acrylic. (I saw these at Petsmart just 2 days ago) Honestly I use a rinsed paper towel on the inside of an acrylic tank when in use as well and it has never hurt anything, personally speaking.

I hope this is helpful

 

If you have a lot of calcium buildup you can get the super fine wet sandpaper. I use it when my fish are in the tank because you only need water

 

I would not use sandpaper on an acrylic tank.

A weak bleach solution is fine for an empty tank, as long as you rinse it well with water that you’ve treated with your conditioner to dechlorinate. If you’re talking about an occupied tank, I just use a folded up paper towel to clean algae off the inside of mine. If you need to scrub get one of those plastic dish scrubbers, but not a super rough one like the dark green Brillo pads. One of the old used tanks I bought came with a bottle of “aquarium safe glass cleaner” - I don’t know what’s in it as half the label is gone, but it’s clearly from the 80s. I don’t know if there’s something like that still on the market, but it’s awesome stuff to have.

Edit: I guess this tank is not really “Clear for Life” is it? sorry, I had to

 

I would not use sandpaper on an acrylic tank.

A weak bleach solution is fine for an empty tank, as long as you rinse it well with water that you’ve treated with your conditioner to dechlorinate. If you’re talking about an occupied tank, I just use a folded up paper towel to clean algae off the inside of mine. If you need to scrub get one of those plastic dish scrubbers, but not a super rough one like the dark green Brillo pads. One of the old used tanks I bought came with a bottle of “aquarium safe glass cleaner” - I don’t know what’s in it as half the label is gone, but it’s clearly from the 80s. I don’t know if there’s something like that still on the market, but it’s awesome stuff to have.

Edit: I guess this tank is not really “Clear for Life” is it? sorry, I had to

Agreed- oops, I missed that this was an acrylic tank.