Best way to clean aquarium glass

[AquaticJim]

How do you clean your aquarium glass and which is the best and safest scratch free way?

 

[Ardell]

If you mean cleaning the outside i have found that ordinary glass cleaner sprayed on a piece of newspaper gives a clean streak free surface. Just make sure that you dont spray the cleaner near the tank, I usually do it in another room.

 

[AquaticJim]

Newspaper is excellent for a streak free finish I agree.

I'm more interested though in how people clean the inside glass. I'm paranoid about scratches as they show up pretty bad on metal halide lit tanks.
GSA is a bit tough to get off with just a cloth which is pretty safe otherwise for just diatoms etc. I don't trust magnet cleaners as I believe they can cause scratches. Razor blades for me are equally scary. I haven't ever tried the credit card method.

 

[Tom Barr]

Top to bottom cleaning, no snails etc, the main cause over time is pieces of gravel being caught in the scrub pad etc .........and then it scratches.

So swap out the pads often, be careful not to get any caught, use ADA AS etc.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Carissa]

Credit cards work great for me. Since they are made of plastic which is softer than the tank glass, and don't get rocks etc. stuck in them, the chances of scratching are pretty slim. That's all I ever use.

 

[Ardell]

I am a big fan of the mag float brand, ive used it for several years since I first saw it in stores in southern illinois, If you buy the size appropriate to your tank it has a very firm grip that i have never had gravel, snails, other things that scratch get under it. Just so long as you connect the magnets near the surface.

 

[Joetee]

I use a mag float. But I don't like it. Actually I love the conveinence, but have scratched my glass with it several times and I am real carful. But it does not matter how carful you are, you are bound to scratch it. I now use a paper towel on water change days and only use the mag float in between water chages.

I wish there was a good product that would remove scratches from glass.

Joetee

 

[tcomfort]

I throw in a second recommendation for credit cards, particularly for near and under the gravel line. They work very well, and they won't scratch the glass even while pushing gravel around.

 

[Tom Barr]

Clean top to bottom with a credit card also, be careful around the bottom along the gravel line.
Very careful.

You can be wild as you clean on the upper parts, or use mag cleaners etc. But that last 2-3 cm, be careful and pull the gravel away from the glass as you clean with each swipe.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[AquaticJim]

Just finished getting lots of GSA of three sides of my tank with a credit card. The card is nearly all white so that made it very easy to highlight the green spots and remove 'em! Worked like a charm.

Now if I could just stop the bloody GSA from growing.......................

 

[Signus]

Instead of a credit card (which you conceivably damage) wouldn't using one of those plastic Teflon scrapers from the grocery store work as well?