Residue on tank

S

Serk

Assuming the tank is glass...
...try a razor blade at a shallow angle to see if that'll take it off... Be careful of scratching the glass though...

Also, muriatic acid (Available at Home Depot and the like, usually in the pool department I beleive) is like vinegar on steroids for these purposes... But be VERY VERY VERY careful and do some research if you're gonna go that route...
 
Also try 'lime away' or 'CLR'- both work wonders on stubborn stains. (rinse _very_ well with either of these, though.)
 
@acat1976 wrote:
II am letting a soaked wash cloth with vinegar sit on there to see if it will loosen up. said:
Are you not filling it up with vinegar and water and letting it soak overnight?????

Cheers,
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@acat1976 wrote:
if its lime it seems to be very smooth. i have let the vinegar lay on it for 30 min no change said:
That's not a lot of time with just a damp rag laying on it. I would try the fill and soak overnight trick...a gallon of white vinegar is cheap. :wink:

Cheers,
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Take the tank outside, lay it on a smooth surface (even if you have to put down a towel to protect the glass and trim from damage, and pour in some muriatic acid and water to create a 1/2" layer of liquid on that panel. Let it soak for 20 minutes.

Wearing gloves, carefully flip the tank so the back is soaking. You can use a sponge or soft (SERIOUSLY) scrubby to clean the front surface. The edge of a plastic credit card works too.

By rotating the tank, you use and reuse the same acid & water to soak the panels one by one. Gloves and eye protection is a very good idea. Rinse it out well when done.

Fill it up with water and see how it looks. Perhaps the white stuff you see isn't visible when the tank is wet. Just a thought.
 
As posted above, you can buy it at Home Depot. I buy it at Kroger in the area where pool supplies are sold. It is sold by the gallon.
 
A warning , if you decide to use Muratic (Hydrochloric) acid be VERY careful of it. It WILL burn skin and the fumes can cause respiratory problems. Do Not use it inside a closed environment or in your home.
Also, posting a pic of the haze might help others indentify it for you.
 
the Pictures show a calcium buildup (or at least some mineral deposits) Miratic acid is an acid that eats away at the calcium and dissolves it into solution. Almost every used tank I've seen has had similar deposits and they do come off with muratic acid and time. I think Marc's method would be the way I'd opt to go or fill the tank completely and add a full gallon of muratic acid and leave it overnight in a safe area. Drain and Rinse a few times and you should be good as gold.
 
If you go with Russ' method, be sure to put a powerhead in there to keep it mixing. Muriatic acid will collect at the bottom of the tank otherwise.

When you dump it out (or pump it out), be sure you do so in an area you don't care about (like a nice weedy area). It will bleach/etch concrete, so don't do this project right outside your patio door, for example.
 
If it is rimless, you'll have to prop up the tank a little bit to keep the liquid in the tank's panel. That will be a fun little project.

It will not turn into a paste.

The silicone will be fine. I've done this plenty of times.
 
That is up to you. Where will you dump out an aquarium's worth of acid and water?
 
Don't trash it. If you are just going to throw it out let me know and I will come pick it up. :)

I might be able to pay to have it fixed somewhere. Someone has to be able to fix glass in that condition.
 
It doesn't appear that the problem is ON the glass, it would seem that the problem is IN the glass. It looks like what happens to shower doors sometimes where they actually get etched by years of hard water. No amount of scrubbing or chemicals will take it off because at this point it's just a deformity in the surface of the glass.

I would imagine there is someplace that will 'resurface' glass (for lack of a better word). They would have to heat it up to nearly the melting point and then let it cool. I wouldn't imagine it would be cheap so buying a tank AND having it resurfaced would probably be less than cost effective. If you are just throwing it out and it would cost $150 to get it fixed I would do that. :)
 
My mistake. It's SOFT water that etches the glass. I just know it happened at my grandparents house all the time and now that I think about it, the well water WOULD be soft water, not hard...

[I]Etching is a permanent chemical alteration of the glass surface. Etched glasses appear cloudy or hazy. Glassware is comprised of what is known as "soda-lime" glass. The major ingredients are sand said:
[/I]
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Sometime tanks can have 2 pieces of glass stuck together instead of a thick piece of glass. So the problem could be between the pieces of glass...like when really old double pane windows get foggy inside. What brand of tank is it?
 
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