Cleaning the outside of aquarium

[evilannabelle]

Really retarded ?? here.....I know the suggested cleanser for the outside of an aquarium is vinegar....what is the ratio of vinegar to water? Or is there a better option?
Thanks!

 

[wayne]

Straight lemon juice is very good.

 

[Orion]

I don't have very hard water where I live, so I just use a damp paper towel.

wow, I never thought of useing lemon juice. I would say that works great as acidic as it is. Thanks wayne I'll try to pick some up and try it out.

 

[revfred]

Yes a damp paper towel wet with vinegar works well. Should any vinegar get into the tank it will not harm fish or plants.

 

[schwartzy]

I spray windex on the outside of my tank with no problems. Actually spray windex on a towel than clean the outside of the tank. Hope I am not hurting anything. Have been doing it a few months with no problems.

schwartzy

45 gallon
2 silver dollars
1 redtailed shark
1 albino shark
1 paradise
1 pleco

180 gallon - empty- wanting to go to saltwater but still reading before I jump in

 

[FroggyFox]

Schwartzy, thats what I was going to say. If I'm just wiping up from water changes I'll just use a plain ol paper towel. If the outside really needs to be cleaned I spray windex on a towel and use that. You dont want to spray any type of cleaner in the air around the tank for fear that it might get in the water or on your nets/buckets and other fishy stuff.

 

[Mindy]

Yeah, I usually just spray Windex on a paper towel in another room then clean the outside of the tank.

 

[Iggy]

I never really measure the vinegar/water mixture. It does not take very much, like a 1/4 cup per gallon. I use vinegar for sanitizing my tanks also... easier on the hands, great at killing the odour, and not leathal at low doses to fish.

For general cleaning, use 1 tbs per liter of water. Add more if it does not dry quickly.
For sanitizing, use use 1/2 cup per gallon of water.

Works for me anyway.

Note. I never use a vinegar mixture to clean porous materials like rocks or sponges, just to hard to rinse away once obsorbed.

 

[Firebug]

I do what FroggyFox does, use plain paper towel after water changes, and windex if it's dirty with finger prints

 

[NoDeltaH2O]

Moist paper towels. Here's a trick to clean the inside. I have a plastic scraper that came with some stone-ware. It's meant to be used to scrape the stoneware clean instead of using a soapy scrubber. Works wonders on the green algae on the inside.