scratches

[Reef69]

Hey guys.. Do any of you ever wake up to see scratches in the glass of your tanks from the inside?...Im pretty ****ed off to notice some new scratches every so often..I dont know if snails do them while sliding along the glass or something..any ideas what may cause them and any ways to get rid of them?..thanks alot!

[Richard]

IMO, the most common source of scratches on glass tanks is from magnetic glass scrapers like mag floats. Most people leave them in the tank all the time and eventually they pick up a little grain of sand and the microscratches begin. After causing a small scratch on my tank, I started taking mine out of the tank and cleaning it after every use.

[Richard]

****, Josh is fast...

[Reef69]

Thanks guys, its very frustrating..i have a cheap ***** scraper, its a magnet one but doesnt float..made by penn plax or something like that...it really sucks having some scratches but i guess nobody really has a perfect scratch free tank..is there such this as the perfect scraper?

[NaCl_H2O]

... is there such this as the perfect scraper?

Yup, here it is! ;)

[Reef69]

eah, i use razor blades to get rid of the coraline algea that grows on the front glass..but for the green film?

[NaCl_H2O]

A razor is probably the hardest to use (reaching in the tank), but used properly they won't scratch & they clean off ANYTHING. I rarely use one myself, but have them handy!

A razor on a long handled scrapper is dangerous. They CAN scratch (BAD) if not held flat against the glass, and you can mess up a silicone seal if you go crazy with one!

[Ram_Puppy]

I would say for really hard stuff, like coraline, a Kent Pro Scraper is awesome, for a mag scraper and every day cleaning, get a Tigershark from AlgaeFree, it's a rare earth magnet that floats. I agree that leaving your magnets in, while convienient, is just asking for a scratch eventually, who's to say your urchin won't poop right on top of it and get some 'sand' in there? it doesn't even have to be that exotic of a situation. In addition, the Algaefree magnets all come with replacement pads so you can switch them out if you contaminate the pad, or it wears out. Replacement pads are also inexspensive on their website. I love mine, i can take out what used to take three or four swipes with a magfloat, I can wipe out in one pas with my tigershark. NICE. (of course being a rare earth magnet, if you DO get sand in there, count on the scratch being even worse.)

BTW, I have successfully removed minor scratches from one of my tanks with the scratch removal system I bought from Janvil. It doesn't work on really deep stuff, but on tiny almost not there scratches, it removes them very well. I am about to re-furbish the 30 gallon hex and get the scratches out of it before turning it into a hospital tank for one of my wifes goldfish.

[Reef69]

thanks, with that removal system you are talking about..i would have to empty my tank out..correct?..

[Richard]

An old credit card makes a great scraper, won't scratch the glass, and you won't accidentally slice the silicone.

[Ram_Puppy]

silverchair, yes, you would have to empty the tank. I am not sure I would even try it on the outside of a tank that was full, the Janvil system heats up the surface of the glass slightly, and uses micro abrasives to clean out and polish the scratch, it DOES remove a very fine layer of glass and I would worry that under pressure, changing surface tensions might cause a blow out (with the tank full) the tank I was working on has now been full of water for 3 weeks and all is well, so the system appears to be safe.

[Reef69]

Thanks, well..I guess i will have to live with the scratches then...they make me uncomfortable..lol