Moving from 10g to 36g...bacteria Question

I just ordered a kit to check the GH/KH levels. I also spoke with my water softener company and they said soft water would not change pH levels.

I'm gonna take some water from a outside spigot that bypasses the water softener and see what the pH level is just for kicks.

As a side note I failed to mention prior that during initial tank set up, I added 3 tablespoons of aquarium salt, thinking it was a good thing...but from reading other threads here it appears I don't need to add salt unless getting rid of ich or other medical needs. Not sure if this causes any issues though, since with ongoing water changes the salt levels should decrease.

Learn something new every day.
 
Nope, the salt isn't needed for day-to-day fish health. It will be removed with water changes, but it can impact pH. I'm not sure what, besides NaCl is in the 'Aquarium Salt'--if it includes any buffers it could affect pH.
 
Just a note on the salt thing, I know soemone is going to disagree with what I am about to say. I add one tablespoon of aquarium salt per 10 gallons of water to soften it. I have been doing this for the past 6 years and never had a problem with itharming the fish, have never had any disease at all not even ick. Fish are doing great, and they are happy. My longest lived fish (blue columbian tetra) was 5 years 3 months and 19 days. I know the age because I got him on my 20 birthday and he just died July 7
 
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Aquarium Salt does not soften water. Freshwater fish don't benefit from adding it--and for every person who claims their fish live longer with salt additions, there are 3-4 who get the same results without adding anything. I'm not saying adding salt does't work for some people--but it is NOT needed by the fish, and without some serious attention, can cause problems (ie, very few people who add salt have anyway of determining the salinity of the water).
 
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with UGF the method you used doesnt matter as long as you started it soon after covering it with new gravel. In normal tanks you want the old gravel on top.

In terms of the salt... you should not be adding salt to a freshwater tank imo unless you buy a salt test kit and monitor the level of salt so that it is consistent.

With a house with a water softener it varies on how you installed it. Since water softeners use a sodium or pottasium chloride based removal process you may already have salt (the sodium chloride one) in the water so this needs to be considered too. Some houses only install the softener to treat the hot water side. Others do all water in the house. Doctors generally suggest the cold be left for drinking water and cooking with or at least have one or two bypassed faucets using plain hard water instead of the treated water. In the case of fish you should use the non-treated water and run it through a RO membrane. The harder the water is the faster you will destroy the membrane though so you should get a bypass type rinse kit to clean the membrane after use.
 
All interior water sources are run through the softner(sodium type). I do have one outside spigot that is bypased (for watering yard, plants, etc.).

I guess I can drag my 5g bucket outside and fill it up each time for water changes. Wish there were a better way.
 
orion girl, why did you call me a liar? quote "Aquarium Salt does not soften water"

I use it with every water change at a rate of 1 tablespoon per 10 gallons and softens my water up. You even can use it to recharge water softner units. What basis do you have that says it will not? I have my test results to prove that it will. It is posts like this that confuse ppl, ppl posting so called facts with no scientific basis behind what they are saying.
 
It's simple--there is nothing in Aquarium Salt that will remove those ions within the water to make it softer. Salt in particular will not soften water--if NaCl softened water, the ocean wouldn't be considered hard water. You want science? Okay...Try this. Test the water parameters in a glass: KH, Alkalinity, GH, pH. Add salt. dissolve. Test the same parameters again. Aquairum salt does not contain anything to reduce the dissolved minerals in the water--it just adds to them. Heck, softening water is not even a claim the product makes!
 
We will agree to disagree on this subject. The only thing I can tell you is my test test kit must be bad. By the way I don't appreciate how rude you are.
 
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