Glass cleaning question

[Slug]

I am in the middle of a build where I am taking a discarded fish tank (calm down everyone, I have thought this through veeeerrrry thoroughly) and modifying it to be an arboreal terrarium similar to the commercially available zoo med glass terrariums. I will go more into what it take to make one when I get my completed and have my Jackson's in it and happy with his surroundings.

Anyway, my question is this: since I am using an old aquarium and have the hard water/mineral buildup on all the sides. I have used many things to get it cleaned off and the most effective thing was a product called "Bar Keeper's Friend", which a product used in bars and restaurants to clean surfaces and has a mild abrasive in it. I used a liquid version of it and I was wondering what I would need to do to make sure any residue is completely gone before I move Wierdo to his new enclosure. The instructions on the bottle say to rinse the surface and dry with a towel, which I did, which works for bar surfaces, but I am concerned about being safe for my guy.

Any and all suggestions are welcome.

 

[mika]

Are you saying you're keeping a Jackson cham in an aquarium?

 

[Slug]

Yes, I plan to put my male Jackson's in an aquarium. However, I am heavily modifying a 29 gallon aquarium to be similar to the Zoomed Naturalistic Terrarium (like this one here)

It will allow plenty of ventilation, access to water, room to climb, and should be no different from any commercially available terrarium aside from the fact that it used to be a fish aquarium.

 

[shaunaroxanne]

Just use a razor blade and scrape it off, it works better than any cleaner.

 

[Miss Lily]

Jacksons need good airflow and are best kept in screen cages. I was never a fan of screen as I had always had Exo Terra glass enclosures, but when I got my Jackson I knew I had to keep him in screen and they are fabulous! I am now converted! They are an awful lot lighter and easer to move around too!

That said - I have always cleaned my glass vivs using a halved fresh lemon - rub it on and leave for a few minutes and then rinse of. I never bother with any glass cleaner now, I just use lemon. Best tip anyone ever gave me.

 

[Slug]

Thanks for that tip, I will give that a try.

The main reason I am going to use glass is due to our unseasonably cold and dry weather here in Missouri (for example, today it is currently 48deg F. (8deg C.))

I have him in a large reptibreeze (18x18x36) right now that I have put plastic sheeting around and it just leaks humidity, even with a fogger running most of the time. The plan is to keep him in the screen when the weather is nice and the glass when the weather is colder.

I will get some pictures posted of the process to help explain what I have done to modify the aquarium to put minds at ease. I have planned this project out (a little too much if you ask my fiance, even getting an engineer that I work with to plan out the top panel on an autocad program).

For those who own Jackson's please explain to me why I shouldn't use glass. Bear in mind, I already use screen and it is decent during warmer,more humid weather, but during the colder, dryer months, it just doesn't work.

 

[leedragon]

I have hear that limon jucie does the trick

 

[sillycupid]

I will have to try that lemon trick! A lot cheaper than buying a specific glass cleaner.

 

[Miss Lily]

The reason that Jacksons are normally kept in screen rather than a glass enclosure is due to the fact that where Jacksons require higher relative humidity all the time, there is not enough air flow in a glass encolsure. I kept my baby Jackson successfully in a glass enclosure but, once he was big enough to not squeeze through the side of the doors, I fixed some stiff cage wire across front opening (allowing the doors to be left open) to allow for airflow whilst retaining humidity.

I have had him in his 'big boy' house now since the start of November (right at the start of our winter) and we have had temps far colder than yours to contend with, along with very low humidity. I resorted to misting his cage 3 or 4 times a day and I also recently bought a cool air room humidifier which I aim at his cage. He LOVES it and always goes to sleep right where the cool, moist air is entering his cage. This, coupled with his requirement of a good drop in temps at night, I feel really suits him. He knows where it is and what time it comes on and and roosts right in it's path every night. The humidifier comes on for 45 minutes first thing (starting about 15 minutes before his lights turn on) and then for further periods of half an hour throughout the day, then a longer session of 45 minutes when his lights go out (currently 19:45). I have also got 2 sides of the screen covered with plastic sheeting and even considered doing a third, but never needed to resort to that as yet. I have a friend who keeps Hoehnelli (sp?) and she lines the inside of her screen cages with 'Coratherm', which is a very light rigid plastic often used for windows in outbuilding/sheds.

 

[leedragon]

let me know how it goes

 

[Ulrich]

White Rice Vinegar is also a good solution to get off the stains.

Good luck with the setup. I personally never had luck with glass enclosures. But my environment is rather the opposite. Too hot and too wet.