glass cleaning

[Native Keeper]

Hi everyone!

We all know that cleaning the inner glass of a tank is talked about a lot; Aquarium coop even sells sponges specifically for the purpose of cleaning things like algae of the inner glass.

But surprisingly, cleaning the outer glass is not often talked about. We know that we should, but I've never heard any tips on how to do it, so here's my question:

How do you clean the outer glass of your tank?

[Tanked]

If you are careful, use the same methods you use to clean the windows.  I spray the cleaner on the rag directly, and wash my hands afterwards.  

[Struggle]

I use a spray bottle that has a mixture of white vinegar and water. Works great for me. 

[lefty o]

when i do water changes, you always end up with runs down the outside of the tank, and damp towels. i use the damp towel to wipe down the glass, and if need go over it again with a dry one. ive never found the need for any actual glass cleaner on a fish tank.

[Guppysnail]

I use these and water. I have hard water so I douse with bottle water instead of tap then use a dry section to wipe. These remove hard water droplets as well and give me sparkle. If I drip on the glass (I ALWAYS do) I wipe (I don’t do enough 🤣) and again it sparkles. I wash in the sink with ordinary dawn and good to go. They last a really long time. No fuzz left behind. I love them. I do my house windows (very rare but if I can’t see outside I break down and do them) and television monitors phones and tablets with them. They have a thick paper texture vs normal cloth microfibers 

Edited February 3, 2022 by Guppysnail

[H.K.Luterman]

I just stand away from my tanks and spray glass cleaner into a rag, then wipe the outside of the tanks down. 

[Fonske]

I use alcohol wipes, eyeglasses cleaning solution, or just water, followed by a dry paper towel. Gets rid of those pesky hard water stains quite well. 

[tolstoy21]

Windex. On acrylic tanks I use an acrylic specific cleaner. I also spray it on a rag if the tank has an open top. If it has a glass lid, I just spritz the glass a bit. I’m not overly careful when I do this, nor overly careless.  

[MickS77]

I make my own DIY glass cleaning, it works great 

 

[Minanora]

All of my tanks are glass. I use my granite daily cleaner from "method" because I use that on just about everything in my house.... I spray it into my kirkland yellow microfiber cloth, then clean the glass with it. I then turn the cloth to the dry side (I fold it into quarters) and wipe it again with the dry side. No streaks, no hard water, no problems.

I'm sure someone would give me flack for my method, lol I crack myself up with puns, but eh. it works, no deaths, less stuff in the cabinets.

Off topic: I clean my mirrors, window glass, and autoglass with Stoner invisible glass. I use newsprint on those surfaces. The ink does wonders for the glass. True story.

Edited February 5, 2022 by Minanora
Added that my tanks are glass

[Atitagain]

I use and love fritz glass cleaner, bought from aquarium co-op of course. I can spray on glass and lids then wipe horizontal and vertical till dry. Ive never used anything else on my outside glass except just water so can’t compare but it works very well.
 

🥴Cleaning the outside glass is one thing I tell myself is not needed or a waste of time! If I thought otherwise I would spend way to much time cleaning glass. I was real obsessive about it when I had 5-6 tanks, I had to let that go. 🥴

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/products/fritz-glass-cleaner?_pos=1&_psq=glass&_ss=e&_v=1.0

[KittenFishMom]

I take my eye glasses off.  The spots on the glass disappear and the fish look furry.

[Jeff]

Old fashioned water out of the tap in a spray bottle for me. Nothing fancy, and works every time. 

No worries about scent, or chemicals. 

[Greg Stewart]

I remove my contacts and everything sparkles like Guppysnail's tanks do. At least I think that's how it works.

[Scapexghost]

I use a rag and a 1:10 solution of vinegar and distilled water. Its important to use distilled water and not tap water if you have tap water with high pH. The solution has to have a pH of less than 7 to remove hard water stains.

[Torrey]

I use a paper towel, invert the bottle of isopropyl alcohol onto the towel, and wipe the outside of the glass.

I don't spray anything anywhere near my tanks as I lost an entire tank once. I don't spray anything near my air pump, either. 

As the isopropyl alcohol evaporates rather rapidly, and it is the *only* thing that appears to break down the hardwater stains which like to do impressions of stalagmites getting started, I've been pretty happy with the results. Especially as half the time I forget to clean the outside of the tank 😅

[KaitieG]

I use a norwex window cloth.  You can get some cheap on amazon too.  I wipe it off with a wet towel (usually wet from water changing) and then use the window cloth to get it nice and shiny.  No chemicals or spray.  I use them on all my windows too (you know, like twice a year when I actually get around to washing those 😉)

[Imperfect_aquatics]

On 2/4/2022 at 6:48 PM, Atitagain said:

I use and love fritz glass cleaner, bought from aquarium co-op of course. I can spray on glass and lids then wipe horizontal and vertical till dry. Ive never used anything else on my outside glass except just water so can’t compare but it works very well.
 

🥴Cleaning the outside glass is one thing I tell myself is not needed or a waste of time! If I thought otherwise I would spend way to much time cleaning glass. I was real obsessive about it when I had 5-6 tanks, I had to let that go. 🥴

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/products/fritz-glass-cleaner?_pos=1&_psq=glass&_ss=e&_v=1.0

This is best!!! NEVER use Windex or other cleaners. Accidents happen you don’t want those chemicals in your tank.

[Flumpweesel]

White vinegar on a micro fibre cloth or heavy duty paper towel. Both kept me with the water change kit to remind me

[Dwayne Brown]

I carefully spray windex on a few crumpled up newspapers, the newspaper strategy my dad taught me and I still use it. It surprisingly leaves behind no streaks every single time I clean glass.