water stains

[rocketboy]

hey there

i have a 90g tank that has a bunch of (what looks like)water stains on the outside of it. Ive scrubbed and scrubbed and they wont go away. does anyone know what i can do to get rid of these marks? someone suggested using bleach, but i really don't want to risk getting bleach in my tank unless someone had success doing so. if i cant get these marks out the only thing it would be good for is a sump, which would be very disappointing.
any suggestions?

[Nerine]

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf351538.tip.html

I dont know what bleach would do....but this site has a lot of good ideas dryer sheets work well for some stains

good luck!

[Nerine]

cream of tartar has also been suggested for hard water stains

if it doesnt work...you could always make meringue puffs

[Aquaviewer]

If its hard water stain (scale) an acid as household vinegar or lemon juice may be able to dissolve the mineral deposits.  Sometimes bad stains on glass will never come out if they have been there a long time.  The mineral build up etches the class surface.

[fischkopp]

If its water stains then vinegar, algae scraper (razor blade version) & wet micro fiber cloth should be able to get them off as long as the glass surface is not damaged.

[rocketboy]

thank you for all the suggestions , i just finished trying what fischkopp suggested but it didn't work. the only thing i did different was using a regular razor blade instead of an algae scraper (i don't think that makes any difference).

i received the tank about 2 months ago with the stains on it, and i know it sat there for at least 3 month prior to me receiving it. so I'm guessing its too late .

i do have some left over acid from cleaning my patio stones and brick , so i think ill try that as my last resort seeing how that stuff is very dangerous.

[audioslave_36]

you can use bleach(diluted), I use it to clean my tanks inside and out all the time, just rinse well after, bleach and a single edge razor blade took the hard water stains off of a tank I got used. it does take a little work though.

[Alchemist]

careful as some acids might even etch your glass....

You could always use some CLR if you rinse it all off thoroughly