How to Clean the Calcium From Your Fish Tank

The hardness of water refers to how many minerals are in that water. Calcium is one of the most common minerals found in water. Measured in parts per million (ppm), any amount over 540 means the water is very hard. Hardness is an issue if your water is exceptionally high in minerals such as calcium. This can cause problems for sensitive fish species and plants in an aquarium, Joseph S. Levine reports in ̶0;The Complete Fish Keeper.̶1;

Things You'll Need

  • Peat media filter
  • Mesh filter bag
  • Water test strips
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Instructions

    • 1

      Purchase a peat filter media and mesh filter media bag. Peat media are small granules of peat found in most any fish supply retailer that will filter out the calcium. Choose a mesh bag that will fit inside the filter you have on your tank.

    • 2

      Fill the mesh back with the peat filter media. Then insert the bag into the remaining space in the tank̵7;s filter. You may need to remove some peat to make it fit. Use as much peat filter media as you can comfortably fit into this space in the filter.

    • 3

      Test the tanks water twice a day for several days with aquarium water test strips following the addition of the peat. You want to test the pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels as these may change due to the peat, according to the authors of ̶0;Freshwater Aquariums for Dummies.̶1;

    • 4

      Do a 10 to 20 percent water change if the pH becomes too acidic according to the test strip results. This will help raise and stabilize the pH.