JBL Blanki Non-Scratch Aquarium Glass Cleaner

JBL Blanki Non-Scratch Aquarium Glass Cleaner is a steel wool pad on a handle, for cleaning the inside of the glass without a blade anywhere near it. JBL makes the point that it is chemically neutral, blade-free and does not rust, which is what you want in a tool that lives in water.

Key Features

• Steel wool pad: abrasive enough for algae and film, with no cutting edge to go wrong.
• No blade: nothing that can nick a silicone seam or slip in your hand.
• Handle for circular cleaning: the pad works in small overlapping circles rather than long strokes.
• Chemically neutral: JBL's own note, and the reason it can stay in the tank while you work.
• Does not rust: JBL specifies a non-rusting wool, which ordinary kitchen wool is not.
• Glass tanks only: steel wool will haze an acrylic pane on the first pass.

Using It Well

• Work in small circles with light pressure. The pad does the work; leaning on it just drives grit into the glass.
• Stay above the substrate and rinse the pad out in the tank water if you feel anything gritty.
• Go round the silicone seams rather than across them.
• Clean the glass a day or two before a water change and siphon the debris out afterwards.
• Switch off heaters and pumps at the mains before putting a hand in.

Good To Know

• Glass only, never acrylic. A blade, steel wool or a metal-threaded pad will cut straight into an acrylic pane, and the scratches do not polish out in a filled tank.
• The usual way people scratch aquarium glass is to trap a grain of sand under the pad or the blade. Check the face of the tool before each pass and stay a finger's width above the substrate line.
• Never substitute a kitchen scouring pad. Most contain detergent or a rust-prone wool, and either will do real harm in a tank.
• Rinse the tool in plain water after use and let it dry. Never clean anything that goes into a tank with detergent.
• Replace the pad when it goes soft or starts shedding. Loose strands in a tank are a nuisance to net out.
• Scraping is the symptom. Algae on the glass means light, nutrients or both are in surplus, so look at the photoperiod, the feeding and the nitrate and phosphate readings as well.