Well water and water softener

[PooCooper]

I am getting new 125 and am planning to put central american cichlids in it. I was wondering if well water with a softener will hurt the fish? The softener also has an additive in it called crystal clear wihich gets rid of iron in the water because my well has a high iron content. Finally, a little off topic, how many pounds of gravel will I need for a 125? Thanks.

[OrionGirl]

If possible, I would use the water before it goes through the softerner, or filter it. There are different kinds of softeners, but they all soften the water by exchanging ions--the water ends up with high TDS, as opposed to naturally soft water. Some softerners swap phosphates for calcium, which means the water is great for growing algae (or plants).

For gravel--how deep a substrate are you wanting?

[PooCooper]

DOes that mean the water is okay? If not how do you bypass the softener? Finally I would like at least 2-3 inches of gravel for digging. Thanks.

[OrionGirl]

There should be some faucets in the line before the softener--you'd have to look. I would not used softened water, but I think many people do. You just need to determine how your model works, and see what the potential impacts are in the tank.

[PooCooper]

What about the high iron content? The water turns orange literally within an hour without treatment.

[OrionGirl]

That's why you may need to get a filter. There are several reasonably priced options to filter the water--from rigging up some household style filters, to Reverse Osmosis. Basically, if you wouldn't drink the water, your fish don't want to live in it. Check your softener, and see what your options are for it. There are different softener pellets that can be used, and some will cause no problems for most fish--even though it doesn't result in low TDS soft water.