Hi,
With your vast experience, I was wondering if you ever had this problem, and possibly found a fix.
I am thinking I have this issue. Unfortunately with the bird and cat dander, I need to keep a top on the fish tank.
"If your deposits on the glass are lime, then the CLR cleaner will work, but, I am afraid that what you are talking about may be much more resistant. If you have what I have, it will be clouded glass which is due to etching of the glass and redepositing of the dissolved silica. What happens is that during the day the lights heat the water surface and the glass. when the lights go out, the glass cools much faster than the water does, and so vapor from the warm water condenses on the glass. This water is pure distilled water and some of the glass dissolves in it. Then in the morning the lights come back on and heat up the glass, drying up the condensed water and redepositing the dissolved glass. The dissolved glass, which is silicon dioxide, does not redeposit smoothly. This process is repeated each day, and in a year or so, the glass is badly clouded. This is really tough to clean off, and I have not found anything yet that will take care of this problem, other than replacing tank tops every several years. I am thinking of getting some of those polishing compounds used by people who grind their own telescope lenses and trying them. Another possibility is coating the glass with something that is transparent, less soluble in water and which does not release anything toxic to plants or fish."
thanks
With your vast experience, I was wondering if you ever had this problem, and possibly found a fix.
I am thinking I have this issue. Unfortunately with the bird and cat dander, I need to keep a top on the fish tank.
"If your deposits on the glass are lime, then the CLR cleaner will work, but, I am afraid that what you are talking about may be much more resistant. If you have what I have, it will be clouded glass which is due to etching of the glass and redepositing of the dissolved silica. What happens is that during the day the lights heat the water surface and the glass. when the lights go out, the glass cools much faster than the water does, and so vapor from the warm water condenses on the glass. This water is pure distilled water and some of the glass dissolves in it. Then in the morning the lights come back on and heat up the glass, drying up the condensed water and redepositing the dissolved glass. The dissolved glass, which is silicon dioxide, does not redeposit smoothly. This process is repeated each day, and in a year or so, the glass is badly clouded. This is really tough to clean off, and I have not found anything yet that will take care of this problem, other than replacing tank tops every several years. I am thinking of getting some of those polishing compounds used by people who grind their own telescope lenses and trying them. Another possibility is coating the glass with something that is transparent, less soluble in water and which does not release anything toxic to plants or fish."
thanks