borrowed heater and fake-plant

[myfriendpeter]

my neighbors have an old aquarium in their garage thats been sitting there for 6-12 months with no fish, i noticed that they have a heater (which i am in need of) and they let me borrow it, along with a plant. i noticed in their dry tank that it was really full of white crusty deposits on most of the plants and especially the heater.
i soaked the plant in hot water and scrubbed it to try to get the white stuff off, its clean for the most part, but when it dried, the base had a cloudy film on it.
the part of the heater that actually goes in the tank has a similar, but thicker crystallish coating in some places.
its kind of gross, im wondering if its maybe because they had a bunch of shells in their aquarium? i was even going to use some gravel but it looked kind of gross as well.
id really like to use this heater rather than buy a brand new one with money that i dont have, and the plant might as well go to good use if possible.
ill post pictures later, if that would help.

 

[FishDan]

Sounds like calcium deposits. You can try some vinegar to remove them, or a very mild bleach solution (then rinse, thoroughly), though they probably won't adversely effect the fish.

\Dan

 

[SirMinion]

Yep, deposits from hard water limescale.
Ugly, but harmless.

 

[Jimmy927]

if you have real plants in your tak when the heater goes in they will soak all the calcium off the heater which makes the plants shoot to the top.

james