Curious glass question...

[DonkeyFish]

Ok, of course this is a total car geek ponderance...

has anyone ever used Rain-X or an equivalent product on the outside of their tank? I'm wondering if it would help minimize the water spots that I seem to be cleaning off every time I turn around. Theoretically it should, as it would cause the water to bead up and off the glass and not dry on the surface, right? I know it works great on my cars...

Thoughts? One concern would be if it has any weird reaction with light to make taking pictures a problem. Although you'd think there would be traces you could see through a windshield in bright daylight or at night against oncoming traffic...

[chris_todd]

Now that is thinking outside the (glass) box!

Sorry, that's bad even by my standards, which are already quite low, LOL.

Sounds like a great idea, try it and let us know how it works out!

[seiji64]

Here's some info from NIH.

http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cg ... d=21003001

A health rating of "slight" for "level of severity for acute exposures" is a little vague for me.

Doug

[DonkeyFish]

Nice Chris! Very punny.

Doug... *I* interpret it to mean if you take a bath in the stuff you will have "slight" reactions, like your eyes will burn and your skin might dry out. But don't drink it, ok? I think they just can't put "0" because there are some irritations associated with it in the above lines. But that's me reading into it what I want, seeing as how it's not so well defined Nice pull on the site though. I'm gonna look up all sorts of stuff now and waste a few hours I'll wish later I could have back. LOL.

[B Considine]

I agree, Jen. Acute exposure would be a squirt in the face.

[Aaron]

Did you ever try this? you could try it on the side of the tank to see how it works.

[DonkeyFish]

Funny you should bring it up. Was meaning to post results.

I did try it on 3 tanks. No ill results to fish/inhabitants, and I made sure to spray on a rag away from the tank and apply to the glass that way instead of spraying directly on the glass. Also, it should be noted I used a glass cleaner with rain-x, not straight rain-x.

Results, well, I think it helped a little, but the issue is still with where the water runs down the glass and dries, instead of the spots from the beads of water that don't run down. If that makes any sense. I do think that either additional applications of this quasi-Rain-X OR an application of the real thing could work better. Like a good coat of wax on a car, if you could get the water to run down off the glass surface without leaving a trail or anything behind to dry and leave marks you'd be in business.

I haven't given up, but also haven't followed through with additional testing. And that's my answer.

[gconcepcion]

Ok, of course this is a total car geek ponderance...

has anyone ever used Rain-X or an equivalent product on the outside of their tank? I'm wondering if it would help minimize the water spots that I seem to be cleaning off every time I turn around. Theoretically it should, as it would cause the water to bead up and off the glass and not dry on the surface, right? I know it works great on my cars...

Thoughts? One concern would be if it has any weird reaction with light to make taking pictures a problem. Although you'd think there would be traces you could see through a windshield in bright daylight or at night against oncoming traffic...

I've not used it on the outside of my tank before, (i enjoy squeegees!)

However, I have used it on the INSIDE of terrarium's i've built before since it's no fun looking at frogs if you can't see through all the condensation.

Stuff works great! no adverse affect on critters!

[DelawareJim]

Jen;

It sounds like your talking about the little mineral deposits left by the water trails running down the glass and asking if you should be using something like CLR to clean them off.

Never tried it, but I don't see why it shouldn't work.

Cheers.
Jim

[marydotson]

I use a product called "Bar Keepers Friend"--I think it's pumice powder. Because it's dry, there's less chance of spilling chemicals into the tank. I just make a paste of it with water, apply with a paper towel, let dry, then polish off with another dry towel. It removes mineral deposits, takes off all residue on the glass and leaves it all shiny.

My experience with Rain-x have been with my windshield and it isn't something I'd want on my tank (or my windshield again, either). Yes--it did cut fogging, but I found it left a residue that ws somewhat cloudy itself. But maybe thinner application? I don't know--I just don't think I'll try it again.