Streaking on the inside of a glass aquarium

shawpanther23 · 01/04/2014, 02:00 PM

On the inside pane of my glass aquarium I have noticed streaks that are about 2 inches wide ,that run vertical about 6 inches apart across the front.They are not scratches or scrapes but a milky white smear or streak that to me looks a lot like the baked on salt creep that I get on my top glass covers.Contacted the tank manufacturer and he told me he has never heard of anything like this before ,he said the glass is guardian glass and it's the glass all aquarium builders use..So could it be possible that it is actually trapped in the glass itself?The tank has been set up for a year now and I didn't really seem to notice till about 4 or 5 months ago.If anyone has anything similar to this could you please share any information you might have.

rfgonzo · 01/07/2014, 11:22 PM

Since no one has replied I will take a shot in the dark. You said it looks like baked on salt creep/milky white smears, are you sure it's not on the outside glass? The reason I ask is if you put your hands in the tank and get water drip on the glass then wipe the glass with a towel or similar with out some type of glass cleaner it will put a milky smear on the glass. If you come back later with a glass cleaner and clean the glass it will not come off with one or two cleaning. Do you clean your glass Vertically? may be the cause but like I said shot in the dark.

Epicreefer · 01/07/2014, 11:46 PM

I have heard of a similar issue with a tank before, very unusual though, and never heard of the end result. When glass is made it's molten and floats on molten tin to give a flat surface. A microscopic layer of tin or tin oxide forms on that side of the glass. You can tell the side with a uv light, the tin side is white the air side is clear. This glass tank was being dosed heavily with lanthum chloride for phosphate removal and about ten years old, thats the only strange thing about it. I would expect the whole pane to change not just a stripe or two.s May not be much help to you but it's an idea. I seriously doubt an imperfection inside glass would show up in distinctive bands but is more likely a surface flaw. Try cleaning by hand without an algae magnet and then maybe when water level is low/water change time, with vinegar or acid to see if it has any effect.

shellz · 01/08/2014, 11:31 PM

I had a similar issue. The front and sides of tank turned a milky white. I had to contact the manufacturer about it, they had one other person that happened to as well. Manufacturer took tank back and replaced the glass all three sides which were starfire. It was a nightmare but fixed now

rfgonzo · 01/08/2014, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shellz

I had a similar issue. The front and sides of tank turned a milky white. I had to contact the manufacturer about it, they had one other person that happened to as well. Manufacturer took tank back and replaced the glass all three sides which were starfire. It was a nightmare but fixed now

Did you find out the reason for this to happen?

provost_reefers · 11/07/2017, 01:40 PM

I know this is an old thread...but having the same issue. Seems to be getting worse now that tank is almost a year old.

ali1 · 08/11/2019, 06:36 PM

thread is old, but anyone else have this problem? Is it a defect?

01/04/2014, 02:00 PM	#1
shawpanther23 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Michigan Posts: 8	Streaking on the inside of a glass aquarium On the inside pane of my glass aquarium I have noticed streaks that are about 2 inches wide ,that run vertical about 6 inches apart across the front.They are not scratches or scrapes but a milky white smear or streak that to me looks a lot like the baked on salt creep that I get on my top glass covers.Contacted the tank manufacturer and he told me he has never heard of anything like this before ,he said the glass is guardian glass and it's the glass all aquarium builders use..So could it be possible that it is actually trapped in the glass itself?The tank has been set up for a year now and I didn't really seem to notice till about 4 or 5 months ago.If anyone has anything similar to this could you please share any information you might have.

01/07/2014, 11:46 PM	#3
Epicreefer Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Posts: 238	I have heard of a similar issue with a tank before, very unusual though, and never heard of the end result. When glass is made it's molten and floats on molten tin to give a flat surface. A microscopic layer of tin or tin oxide forms on that side of the glass. You can tell the side with a uv light, the tin side is white the air side is clear. This glass tank was being dosed heavily with lanthum chloride for phosphate removal and about ten years old, thats the only strange thing about it. I would expect the whole pane to change not just a stripe or two.s May not be much help to you but it's an idea. I seriously doubt an imperfection inside glass would show up in distinctive bands but is more likely a surface flaw. Try cleaning by hand without an algae magnet and then maybe when water level is low/water change time, with vinegar or acid to see if it has any effect. __________________ Aquatic systems supervisor, somewhere around 100k gal. Current Tank Info: 40g breeder sps

01/08/2014, 11:31 PM	#4
shellz Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Southern California Posts: 51	I had a similar issue. The front and sides of tank turned a milky white. I had to contact the manufacturer about it, they had one other person that happened to as well. Manufacturer took tank back and replaced the glass all three sides which were starfire. It was a nightmare but fixed now __________________ Sea Shellz for life Current Tank Info: 78 Gallon Cube

08/11/2019, 06:36 PM	#7
ali1 Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2010 Posts: 997	thread is old, but anyone else have this problem? Is it a defect? __________________ Originally Posted by Gogandantess "I'm totally frustrated by this disease. My display has been fallow for 2 months now. If ich happened to mysteriously appear again, I'm giving up and going back to African Cichilds."

01/07/2014, 11:22 PM	#2
rfgonzo Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Michigan Posts: 1,280	Since no one has replied I will take a shot in the dark. You said it looks like baked on salt creep/milky white smears, are you sure it's not on the outside glass? The reason I ask is if you put your hands in the tank and get water drip on the glass then wipe the glass with a towel or similar with out some type of glass cleaner it will put a milky smear on the glass. If you come back later with a glass cleaner and clean the glass it will not come off with one or two cleaning. Do you clean your glass Vertically? may be the cause but like I said shot in the dark.

11/07/2017, 01:40 PM	#6
provost_reefers Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Montana Posts: 12	I know this is an old thread...but having the same issue. Seems to be getting worse now that tank is almost a year old.