On Sun, 19 Sep 2004 12:48:48 -0400, "Allyb" wrote:

I think the idea of a vinegar solution is safer than lime remover. You have
to let it sit longer, but it works really well. You can also use table salt
in conjunction with the vinegar as a safe abrasive if you're in a hurry. I
would take the hood off to remove what's there now if the deposit is
significant. I would wipe the glass with a paper towel dampened with
vinegar and then with one dampened with water weekly or every other week to
keep from having to take the hood apart. Allison

"Royal" wrote in message
.. .
I have a 46 gallon with a glass hood. Over the past 8 months I've
noticed that the hood has accumulated some mineral deposits, mainly
near where my airstones bubble air up the surface. I'm guessing it's
because of water splashing onto the glass, evaporating, and then
leaving the minerals behind. It's actually quite a bit too, I'm
guessing that's because my tap water is pretty hard (GH btwn 150-200
ppm), and the fact that I rarely clean the back part of the hood.

Is there a safe way of cleaning that stuff off the glass? Using tank
water and a scouring pad won't even remove all of it. I thought maybe
about using some kind of vinegar solution, but since it sits so close
to the water, I was worried that that might contaminate the water.
Any good ideas?

Sorry if this is a dumb question, but I'm a newbie and don't want to
screw up what has turned out to be a nice little tank.


I remove all that will come off. I have used vinegar and even the
lime cleaner after removing the hood. Nothing seems to remove all of
the deposits. Scrapping as with a razor blade is fine for glass, but
on plastic it is apt to scratch. I have deposits on the clear plastic
which keeps the moisture from reaching the light. One of my tanks has
deposits as far away from the water as the top of the light hood. It
has a grainy surface and I just keep the top crust off.

I like the air bubbling and in a heavy populated tank it does add
oxygen. Anyway, not running air is not an option for me. However I
have closed all excess openings on the top, but no cover is completely
closed. I guess one could stuff something into the remaining open
areas, but I can imagine they would become gooey from the deposits and
need changing.

dick