calcium deposits in scratches

[Ron Popeil]

i have a friend with a 300 gallon acrylic tank. lately in addition to the algae that grows on his front pane, a harder, white calcium like substance starts to grow. it particularly likes to fill in all the scratches. with an acrylic scrapper removing these calcium deposits is next to impossible. the only thing ive found that works is very gently using the metal kent scraper. he cleans his tank once a week, and by then the white substance is fairly prevalent.

are there any other removal suggestions? why would this substance essentially come out of nowhere? for years it was just brown algae, and now this stuff too...

calcium is at 500
alkalinity is at 8 dkh
magnesium is at 1400

thanks for the help!

 

[Untamed12]

Yikes...metal scraper isn't a good idea, no matter how careful you think you are.

I assume you've tried a soft acrylic pad? The softer material gets in the small scratches better than a stiff scraper.

I have actually seen what you refer to. It happened to me on my previous tank. I was dripping Kalk and I'm sure it is related to excessive Ca level or pH getting too high. I think you are correct in your guess that it is Ca. In my case, I recall that I did some water changes to get things back to normal and it went away.

Ca of 500 is high and a good clue that this might be the issue.