Limescale in tank

[Alien Anna]

Hi Everyone,
back from my holiday and all's well (except for two cardinal tetras with signs of nipped fins). My main tank was fine except it had lost about 2 inches of water in the heat and my giant vallis was living up to its name! The water in that tank is pre-softened/acidified through peat (I'm keeping the pH stable now at about 7.0).

My small betta tank had also lost a lot of water. I use water straight out of the tap for that tank, which has a high pH and off-the-scale water hardness (both KH and GH) and I've now got limescale marks over the front and limescale over all the tank furniture.

What is the best way to get it off, and would filtering the betta's water through peat be a good idea? If you remember, I was a little over-enthusiastic with my main tank, and lost a couple of fish through pH shock. My betta is a pet so I don't want to risk his health.

Additionally, I've got some kind of scummy bacterial bloom in the betta tank, probably caused by the death of some elodea that didn't get enough light. Would water changes fix that or should I be doing something more?

Thanks in advance. :love:

 

[Great Lakes]

Welcome back Anna.

A little vinegar on a clean cloth will usually rub hard water spots away

Your algae bloom. Do you mean tinged water, discolored gravel, or some patches of slime?

 

[adeyc]

Thought those aliens had taken you away again.

If you don't want to used the vinegar trick you could use a scraper to shift the stuff. just use an old net to collect the bits.

As for peat filtered water for the betta. it wouldn't to any harm and may be beneficial. it's quite comonnly used in the conditioning/breeding process, but I don't see why it shouldn't be used at other times.

Onto the scum. same as wot GL rote. lol

 

[Alien Anna]

Your algae bloom. Do you mean tinged water, discolored gravel, or some patches of slime?

Frothy white slime on the surface of the water, mainly at the edges of the tank, plus slimy bits of rotten elodea leaf.

 

[Great Lakes]

Anna, yeah, I would try a water change for the scum.

 

[Alien Anna]

Hi,
I did a 30% water-change (as suggested) with peat-filtered water and I wiped down the chalky bits with some vinegar (which has the additional benefit of being acid, thus lowering my high pH a tad).

Worked a treat! Thanks guys. :love: