# CLEAN GLASS AT LAST!!!!!



## Tim F (Jan 27, 2006)

Several years ago I was given an aquarium that had severe hard water stains. I mean it was tough to look through. This tank had literally sat half full in someone’s garage until all of the water had evaporated. But I figured that I could make it presentable by using some of my standard tricks (like vinegar). Well, this ended up being tougher than I thought. I wiped, scrubbed, and ultimately used a few things that I would not recommend (CLR and much harsher), considering what this tank would soon become home to. I never did get the glass very clear, but I made it into a viv anyway.

Fast-forward a few years (to a couple of days ago). The tank is well planted with happy inhabitants, very stable and has been for a couple of years. But when I looked at the nice clear glass of my other vivs, I began to think about breaking this one down. 

So this past weekend, I was cleaning the water stained leaves of an orchid that I had just purchased using freshly- squeezed lemon juice. I’ve had done this for years to clean stained, thick-leaved plants that I acquire from careless nurseries. Then it hit me! I have no idea why I didn’t try this before!

I dipped a cotton ball into the bowl of lemon juice, squeezed out the excess, and wiped the inside of the still badly stained viv, and then I wiped it with a moist paper towel and then a dry one. Guess what? 

*It #@*! SPARKLES!!!*

A lot of you may have already known about this, but for those who didn’t, I hope it helps!


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## JL-Exotics (Nov 10, 2005)

Are you kidding me?? I've been scrubbing with vinegar all this time when I have a lemon tree 6 feet from my back door!?

As soon as I get home I'll put this one to the test... thanks for sharing!


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## kyle1745 (Feb 15, 2004)

Please post more results as I have 2-3 tanks I would love to try this. Does it have to be fresh?


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## Steve (Apr 8, 2006)

I managed to kill my lemon tree.. or more to the point, the Nevada desert did.. but lemon juce isn't exactly the hardest thing to find in a store (i'll ask my wife, she'll know where it is).

What a great tip.. purely organic too.

Nice one... thanks

Steve


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## Guest (Jun 14, 2006)

Thanks for the tip, I'll be trying it out


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## Guest (Jun 14, 2006)

oh man this works!

I just tried it but with out fresh lemons I just used the sutff in a bottle and it worked awesome! completly clear and it smell like lemons!!! 

but I tried it on my leopard gecko tanks my vivs arnt that dirty yet...


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## Tim F (Jan 27, 2006)

Kyle,

I don't know if the lemons have to be fresh, it's just what I've been using on plants. But it really takes very little. The juice from just a wedge of a very ripe lemon was more than enough to clean the front of a standard 55 gal (18"x48"x12), and you certainly can't beat the price!

I will add that I make sure not to have it dripping down the glass, and only apply what can be controlled with a cotton ball. I'd rather not have lemonade water features, and I don't want the frogs to come in contact with it.


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## Lukeomelas (Mar 15, 2005)

The other thing that works really good for removing hard water stains is Coke. It works like a charm. Not as PC as lemons, but it works great none the less.


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## Tim F (Jan 27, 2006)

Good to know!


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## JL-Exotics (Nov 10, 2005)

Tim, you're a genius!

As I walked into the house a grabbed a lemon off the tree, cut it in half, and made the horribly encrusted top 6" of my turtle tank spotless in about 20 seconds. Amazing!

I had been agonizing all week about how I was going to tackle the mineral build-up... Thanks Tim!


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## elmoisfive (Dec 31, 2004)

Vinegar contains acetic acid

Lemons and other citrus fruits contain citric acid 

Coke contains phosphoric acid

Any of these three acids will react with the calcium carbonate buildup and remove those hard water stains (note that depending on the location, more or less of other components will be part of the stain)....the extent of the stain will dictate the amount of acidic solution to use plus the time needed to fully solubilize the calcium into a more water soluble form.

Bill


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## tchok13 (Apr 5, 2006)

So if I open my Swiss bottle of "Vinlemcokegar" :lol: I can us this to clear up the stains on some old aquariums? Thanks for the info!

Now if someone can list a scratch remover, ill be doing great.


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## JL-Exotics (Nov 10, 2005)

No wonder the glass in your tanks is always so spotless Bill! You've been holding out on us!!


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## defaced (May 23, 2005)

You know, I've actually heard of this and totally forgot about it until this thread. I'd buy bottled lemon juice to do it to make life a little easier. Lemon juice, yummy


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## Tim F (Jan 27, 2006)

JL-Exotics said:


> As I walked into the house a grabbed a lemon off the tree, cut it in half, and made the horribly encrusted top 6" of my turtle tank spotless in about 20 seconds. Amazing!
> 
> I had been agonizing all week about how I was going to tackle the mineral build-up... Thanks Tim!


Ahhh... My work is done here.


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## gturmindright (Mar 15, 2006)

Just be sure not to spill any tequila in your tanks.


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## zaroba (Apr 8, 2006)

wow, i never new that.

i've got a few tanks that really need to be cleaned of buildup.
i'm gonna have to try it out.


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## darkpilatus (May 25, 2006)

*HAHAHHAHa*

I should have said something sooner ive beed using lemon juice for about 15 years.


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## Guest (Jun 21, 2006)

Wow, I can't believe its that easy. I'm gonna go try it on my 10. ANd to think I've been ignonring this thread up until now.

Thanks Tim!


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## Guest (Jul 21, 2006)

Tried it, uhm..... It did not work for me. Not at all. I tried limes, lemons, bottled lemon juice. Tangerines!!!!!! Not happening. Maybe I have mutant CaCO2 on the tank?


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## Dendrobait (May 29, 2005)

I've heard water stains can permanently etch the glass and this can't be removed...is this true?

I've soaked a tank lid for 2 days in white vinegar and nothing. It comes off with a razor blade so I know if can come off. Gotta try lemon juice sometime.


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## bluedart (Sep 5, 2005)

All the tanks I didn't have to toss...


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## JL-Exotics (Nov 10, 2005)

Khamul1of9 said:


> Tried it, uhm..... It did not work for me. Not at all. I tried limes, lemons, bottled lemon juice. Tangerines!!!!!! Not happening. Maybe I have mutant CaCO2 on the tank?


Hmmm, on light build-up it works great just by cutting a lemon in half and rubbing that on the glass. It takes some elbow grease, but it cuts through it pretty well after a few minutes. For a really heavy build-up I use a half lemon and razor blade together. It's still a bit of work, but it really works much better than anything else I've used. keep trying!


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## mtolypetsupply (Dec 18, 2008)

Cooktop cleaner.

Weimann's, Cerami-brite, brand doesn't matter. I've gotten almost all my tanks used with "stuff" on them that didn't come off with any other method.

Now, here's how it's done:

1. Get the cooktop cleaner and a Green scotchbrite pad or something similar.

2. Let your tank dry completely from your last "yuk" removal efforts

3. Apply Cooktop Cleaner to DRY glass.

4. Rub with DRY scrubby pad.

5. Keep rubbing and rubbing (and rubbing ad infinitum) until the cleaner disappears.

6. Rinse with water until you are satisfied that you have no residue left. There shouldn't be much anyway, but I know I rinsed mine over and over, being the paranoid person I am.


The key in this is DRY glass and scrubby pad. It will feel like you are rubbing FOREVER, but the cleaner will disappear all of a sudden. Trust me, keep rubbing. Works on all sorts of stains on glass, like on skylights, greenhouses, shower doors, etc.


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## MattySF (May 25, 2005)

Is this a natural product or chemical?



mtolypetsupply said:


> Cooktop cleaner.
> 
> Weimann's, Cerami-brite, brand doesn't matter. I've gotten almost all my tanks used with "stuff" on them that didn't come off with any other method.
> 
> ...


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## mtolypetsupply (Dec 18, 2008)

Here's a link to the MSDS sheet for the cleaner.

http://www.montgomery.k12.ky.us/msds/Vol2/Vol2_W.pdf

It's basically silica in a suspension, and it's action is physical, not chemical. The fine particles of silica "sand" or "buff" off the yuk, as opposed to say, lemon juice or vinegar which uses a chemical action to emulsify the "yuk" so it can be carried away by rinsing.


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## MattySF (May 25, 2005)

Thank you.


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## harrywitmore (Feb 9, 2004)

I have had very good luck with just plain old dry steel wool. Nothing else.


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## wilberthegr8 (Oct 9, 2009)

I tried this method on one tank that I have always kept pretty clean and it worked well. However, when I tried the lemon juice on a tank that had always been dirty and I could not remove that hard water with windex or a razor blade, the trick did not work. The tank looks the same as it always has... any ideas why this might be the case?

Thanks, 
Will


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## harrywitmore (Feb 9, 2004)

If the glass has been etched by the scale then there's not much you can do. I suspect that is the problem.


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## pedan (Jul 13, 2009)

harrywitmore said:


> If the glass has been etched by the scale then there's not much you can do. I suspect that is the problem.


We had a tank with this problem, oddly enough citrus proved to be the solution here too.

We found that when we put acids on the glass the etching would dissapear, then promptly reappear as the glass was dried. Eventually we figured out the oils on our hands accomplished the same thing. So the question became, what can we oil/wax the glass with that will be relatively problem free and nontoxic.

If you wipe you towel off the oil with something especially absorbent then it comes back.

We ended up rubbing the glass with orange peels, the oil in the orange peel clears up the glass, and the effect lasts as far as we can tell. We did our tank about a year ago, and the etching is still invisible.


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## McBobs (Apr 26, 2007)

A spray bottle full of water and a 000 grade pad of steel wool has always worked best for me. Spray, scrub, dry, repeat. It's also a lot faster than going at problems with a razor blade. 

-Matt


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## Boondoggle (Dec 9, 2007)

I can't believe this is new to you guys. I have VERY hard water where I live and I used de-chlorinated tap water to mist a tank for two years, 2-3 times a day. It was pretty opaque. I like cutting the lemon in half scrubbing the glass with the lemon itself, no fresh squeezing and it works better. Then followed with a quick thorough DI water rinse.

I've actually done this with frogs in the tank and tested my pH the next day...no discernible change. Be careful, your results may vary.


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## McBobs (Apr 26, 2007)

Boondoggle said:


> I can't believe this is new to you guys. I have VERY hard water where I live and I used de-chlorinated tap water to mist a tank for two years, 2-3 times a day. It was pretty opaque. I like cutting the lemon in half scrubbing the glass with the lemon itself, no fresh squeezing and it works better. Then followed with a quick thorough DI water rinse.
> 
> I've actually done this with frogs in the tank and tested my pH the next day...no discernible change. Be careful, your results may vary.


Well... In all reality, this thread is 4 years old now and I didnt realize it until after I had already posted. In any case, I've used the lemon method and steel wool still seems to be easiest to me. Takes the grime and water stains right off. 

-Matt


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## Boondoggle (Dec 9, 2007)

McBobs said:


> Well... In all reality, this thread is 4 years old now...


Just noticed that myself...LOL.


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## raimeiken (Dec 24, 2006)

yeah lemon works real well. I used to use this all the time when I remove the hard water stains that build up on the rim of my aquarium. 

It also works on cleaning the reflectors on our light fixtures, because they get dirty from the water that evaporates up on it


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## Lunar Gecko (May 7, 2010)

***I keep geckos in my tank, not frogs***

I'm always battling hard water stains. I hate the two times a year I get out the razor and vinegar and scrub all my tanks down. Takes me about a week to do all my tanks.

I refuse to buy water by the gallon because I use 12+ gallons of water a week and the amount of waist just in bottles alone is insane. I also add to the problem by actually adding cal to my misting water. I know... #-o.

Today I'm starting my 6 month schedule I got out the razors and got a new jug of vinegar. I got down to actually stating for about 5 mins. The whole time thinking *there has got to be a better way!!!* So what do I do... I get on the Internet. I started searching every herp forum I could think of and started hitting google with 20 different search entries.

I had seen the coke and lemon juice methods in the past and even tried each of them. They never worked for me. Glass would look nice while wet then dry and look the same, maybe a tad better. So after reading as many posts and odd ball methods I decided to mix a few of them.

Here is my first attempt. I figured if lemon juice works because of the citric acid why not try just citric acid???
I mixed 2 cups hot water and 1/4 cup citric acid. Dipped in a paper towel and wiped once.

*Yes this tank is the worst one I have its about 13 years old and even then I got it used.(picked it for demonstration on purposes). 








Yes, thats mostly dry. Not bad!

So I wanted to see if I could do better. I got out the magic eraser and dipped it in the the citric acid mix. Keep in mind each test was done with no scrubbing and just one stroke of the paper towel or magic eraser.
Thats the line marked 2. One is the first attempt from the first pic.








The line marked 3 was my 3ed test. I did this with bottled lemon juice and the magic eraser. I figured some of you may not have citric acid on hand. #-o 

Over all the best outcome was test two. So not to waist the lemon juice I just dumped it into the citric acid mix and started cleaning. 
I removed the stiff from the tank next door so the glass would show up better. Keep in mind the tank in the next door had not been cleaned. 










Hope that helps some of you at least. |0|

If interested in ordering pure citric acid you can buy it here.


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## Pumilo (Sep 4, 2010)

This method can only be used on an empty viv. Muratic acid available from any hardware store or swimming pool supply store. It is a calcium specific acid and strips it off in mere seconds. Take it outside, spritz it on with a spray bottle, and rinse it off. When you spray it on, it foams, when it stops foaming, you know it's done. Rinse it well. It rinses away easily and cleanly. If you miss any, the only danger would be a slight ph change.
We do this for badly encrusted reef tank equipment. Works great for badly encrusted items and it won't attack glass, plastics, or organics. Still, don't get it in your eyes and rinse if you get it on your skin.


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## davecalk (Dec 17, 2008)

harrywitmore said:


> If the glass has been etched by the scale then there's not much you can do. I suspect that is the problem.


That's not completely true. It just means that you have a bit more work to do.

I read about Turtle Wax "Heavy Duty Rubbing Compound"  on this aquarium site.

Turtle Wax "Heavy Duty Rubbing Compound is a product that is designed not to leave any residue. It is designed to abrade and remove layers of dirt, oxidation and paint from a finish and it is used to prep surfaces for paint. It is a non-petroleum water based carrier with suspended super fine silica and volcanic ash. It is designed to remove dirt, minerals, oxidation and not leave a residue which might interfere with the bonding of paint. The reason why it doesn't scratch the glass is because the super fine abrasives of silica & Volcanic ash are supposed to be the exact same hardness as glass, which is a 6 on the hardness scale. So the end result is it will buff away only the softer materials like dirt, calcium and magnesium being removed. As it gets down to the glass the sharp micro surfaces just smooths and polishes the surface. 


if you actually have scratches in the glass or if the surface is etched then you need to remove some of the glass to remove the flaws. There are other products that you can use to do this. I removed scratches in several tanks using a car buffing machine along with different grades of automotive buffing compounds. These have different gradients or sizes of diamond dust which are used to polish glass and automotive paints to a shiny non-scratch finish.


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## mbrown81 (Mar 30, 2011)

Thankyou so much for this suggestion. I tried the Lemon, Coke, and Vinigar. I even threw some baking soda in for good measure. Nothing worked. Finally i tried the cooktop cleaner, and I didnt even scrub long. I'll probably try the lemon on a cotton ball for quick clean ups after its planted and the frog is settled in. Thanks again for the tip.


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## Yobosayo (Sep 27, 2009)

Not just for your car's paint, a clay bar and some RO work great on glass.


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## intelsuit (Jul 31, 2011)

Tim F said:


> Several years ago I was given an aquarium that had severe hard water stains. I mean it was tough to look through. This tank had literally sat half full in someone’s garage until all of the water had evaporated. But I figured that I could make it presentable by using some of my standard tricks (like vinegar). Well, this ended up being tougher than I thought. I wiped, scrubbed, and ultimately used a few things that I would not recommend (CLR and much harsher), considering what this tank would soon become home to. I never did get the glass very clear, but I made it into a viv anyway.
> 
> Fast-forward a few years (to a couple of days ago). The tank is well planted with happy inhabitants, very stable and has been for a couple of years. But when I looked at the nice clear glass of my other vivs, I began to think about breaking this one down.
> 
> ...


Thanks so much!! I just got two old tanks for about $95. both are heavily crusted with gunk and calcium. I was worried about how I was going to clean thme. I stumbled across this post and I just about jumped with excitement. My wife loves lemons and lemon juice. we always have some around the house. What a GREAT tip! Thanks!


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## verybadcow (Aug 6, 2010)

Question though. Obviously the stains are caused by hard water, but wouldnt it be a bit easier in the long run to just use spring water? I only use that and I have never had any problems with scaling and such. Is there a benefit to using hard water or is it just a cost concern?


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

verybadcow said:


> Question though. Obviously the stains are caused by hard water, but wouldnt it be a bit easier in the long run to just use spring water? I only use that and I have never had any problems with scaling and such. Is there a benefit to using hard water or is it just a cost concern?


There is no guarantee that it won't happen with spring water as the phrase spring water is not regulated and in fact a number of companies sell tap water as bottled spring water. You may be using a brand with less dissolved minerals in it or due to how you are caring for the tank, getting less deposits. 

Ed


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## crazkt (Oct 30, 2011)

Wow, this works great! I was a bit skeptical, since things supposed to "work like magic" never do- but this does! It takes a bit of elbow grease in some areas, but yay!!! I shared my new insight with a friend who has been keeping reptiles and fish for years longer than me- and he already knew! (this earned him a tongue-stick-out since he's sold me multiple tanks with water residue and never hinted to me how best to solve the problem- lol)


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## james67 (Jun 28, 2008)

ive tried this and it never works for me. (ive been using the concentrate)

james


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## Otterwater27 (Dec 1, 2014)

Getting the lemon juice right now


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## temscbame (Nov 28, 2008)

I put a tank together and never really paid to much attention to the hard water stains, until I put it together. The lighting showed how bad it really was. I did some investigating, including on here. This thread was most helpful. Another solution I came across was Bar keepers friend. I haven't tried it, but there are a few video's on youtube that show how well it works. My big concern is the health of the frogs with all of these. My tanks planted, but no frogs for a couple weeks. What ever I use, it will be controlled to only be on the sections of glass, and not get on anything in the tank. I'll post on what I use and how well it works.


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## zerelli (Sep 14, 2009)

Baking soda would just neutralize the acid and render your cleaner ineffective.



mbrown81 said:


> Thankyou so much for this suggestion. I tried the Lemon, Coke, and Vinigar. I even threw some baking soda in for good measure. Nothing worked. Finally i tried the cooktop cleaner, and I didnt even scrub long. I'll probably try the lemon on a cotton ball for quick clean ups after its planted and the frog is settled in. Thanks again for the tip.


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