Streaks of White Cloudiness on wet side of glass

[Treefer32]

To start with, the critters in my tank are doing awesome, fish and corals all seem to be doing amazing. I have several types of anemones and they've been reproducing and none are dying so a sign of happiness. SPS, LPS, and soft corals are all growing great and having great color.

In a 340 gallon mixed reef, setup about 6 years.

So, the issue is a strange one. My front glass has a white cloudiness I've been so far unable to remove. I use a scraper weekly to remove algae from all sides of the glass and have a flipper as well that I use to scrape the front glass throughout the week (it's an in wall display).

I've tried to scrape the front glass pretty hard, and puffs of white cloud off the glass, but it doesn't completely remove the cloudiness.


I think I've read in the past that this could be some type of calcium bonding to the glass. It's not coraline or hard or anything, in fact the glass feels smooth, but the cloudiness doesn't wipe or scrape off all that well. I've gotten lines to come off it seems (or some of my snails are able to create random lines through the white cloudiness, but my scraper does not. At least not in a consistent way. There's streaks of paths where the whiteness is removed, but more there's very apparent white cloudiness areas.

Note, this is not the outside of the glass, it's definitely wet side. I've made my own amonia free glass cleaner on the outside and wiped it down really well and wiped it really well and no visible change in the white cloudiness.

My next step was to try a magic eraser on the wet side and see if something with some abrasiveness is able to clean it.

I'm assuming this is a chemistry issue with aging tanks and higher calcium levels, but curious what others' experiences are?

 

[Dburr1014]

My next step was to try a magic eraser on the wet side and see if something with some abrasiveness is able to clean it.

This^

Try this and report back.
There was a thread a bit ago about a top ero brace the guy couldn't clean. Not sure how it ended but it wasn't cleaned off.
I'd like to know if the eraser works.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

It kind of sounds like water stains, those are not easy to remove, almost impossible. Google some idea's on how to get it off. My 17 year old tank has stains, I've been able to scrub some of it off, but some won't come off.

 

[twentyleagues]

Hopefully the magic eraser works. I have very hard water at my house and most of my fresh water tanks have this calcium bonding issue on some or all panels. Its pretty hard to see when the tank is wet but clean it out and dry it and it is there. My current reef tank was freshwater before I converted it. It took a while to clean the haze off, had to use cerium oxide. It came out great but was a lot of work. I tried all kinds of stuff that was a last ditch effort and glad I tried it instead of scraping the tank. I have heard this is more common in tanks with the ultra clear "starfire" glass than standard float glass unless the water is very hard. My water is 15dkh and 16-18 gh so much higher than anyone would keep a typical reef tank the rift cichlids love it though.

 

[stewy14]

white pics?

 

[Treefer32]

It's hard to see with a camera, but my naked eye sees it clearly up close. I'll try to get a couple pics. Yeah I would expect this from hard water, but I have a whole house softener before it goes through the RO then to DI. I can't imagine the water is hard. It is starfire glass on the front. I was wondering that too, if the sea water is hard on star fire. I'll see if I can grab a few pics.

 

[twentyleagues]

It's hard to see with a camera, but my naked eye sees it clearly up close. I'll try to get a couple pics. Yeah I would expect this from hard water, but I have a whole house softener before it goes through the RO then to DI. I can't imagine the water is hard. It is starfire glass on the front. I was wondering that too, if the sea water is hard on star fire. I'll see if I can grab a few pics.

Check out tidal gardens on this subject. I think they had a couple tanks that were starfire that did this maybe only 1 I dont remember exactly. I came across it when I was trying to figure out how to fix mine. Starfire also scratches easier than normal glass maybe the iron content makes the glass harder....

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If a razor blade won’t remove it, it is likely a very thin coating of calcium carbonate.

 

[Treefer32]

If a razor blade won’t remove it, it is likely a very thin coating of calcium carbonate.

This is exactly what I'm thinking it is. Is there anything that removes this from glass or a way to test. I tried doing using the magic eraser by hand. I didn't see anything come onto the eraser in terms of (algae, etc), but the glass seems slightly clearer in the spots I was able to apply some force with the eraser. I can't reach to the bottom of the tank with my arms (31 Inch tall tank) So, I won't be able to test it on all the glass, but it seems the white streaks are less pronounced.

Can I wet a rag with vinegar, citric acid or something to essentially wipe down the wet side of the glass (with it full of water)? Or would the water quickly react with the vinegar rag and remove the acidic qualities?

I'll see if I can find a magic eraser Wand to see if it works on the entire front glass just thinking through other easier options if this doesn't work.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I would not try to treat the inside glass underwater with any chemical designed to dissolve it. If you can lower the water line below it, then it would be possible.

It is also possible it is surface roughness from abrasives, if you used any.

 

[Treefer32]

It seems, viewing it throughout the day with different lighting, I can see the line of where my hand was able to reach (about halfway down the glass) with the magic eraser, it seems the white cloudiness is removable with the eraser, but two different types of scrapers do not touch it. So weird.