has anyone used water softening resin if so what success did you have using it thanks in advance.......................blade
water hardness
- Thread starter blade929
- Start date
hi blade.i used the resin back in the 60's and 70's and it worked very good.back then as now i have very hard water.i have to use about 12 drops to get the test waer to change color using the ap general hardness test kit.some people dont think its best to use this stuff.some use peat instead to soften the water or they use ro water.i will probably use the resin on my tanks although my fish have adapted well to this water in my tanks.i think using distilled water will also help somewhat in lowering the general hardness.allwet...
thanks for your reply, but this is not something that you add to the water, its a resin that you add to your external filter that can be recgarged when it has stopped working
the resin i used blade was packed between floss in a simple box filter that went inside the tank.the stuff your talking about i beleive works on the very same principle although i could be wrong.the resin i used likewise could be recharged.allwet.........
I have water that is 15 - 18 grains hard so I pretty well need a whole house softener. I have had no problems as far as my fish are concerned, and I find it is help to keep things cleaner. My KH is 13 grains, which is great for plant growth.
A whole house softener is great for more than just your fishtank however.
A whole house softener is great for more than just your fishtank however.
a whole house softener only removes the calcium and magnesium. In fact, water softeners actually increase the total dissolved solids (TDS) of the water so you actually have more crap in there.
If you want to reduce water hardness from 18 grains you will really need an RO system. I use tap water (330 PPM) and set buckets of water (4 gallons water, the rest filled with peat moss). This water is specifically for the Amazon Blackwater Stream for my Tetras, Rams, Appistos, Angels and Discus.
After a few days (4 or 5) of peat moss soaking in tap water, I can go from 330ppm hardness to 60ppm. Then I can use pH adjusters and buffers to get where I want to be. Two more days to let things settle (precipitate from the pH adjusters). Then I pump off the top 3 1/2 gallons and dispose of the 1/2 gallon that has all the particulate and settled matter. My system loses 1/2 gallon for every 4 gallons where my RO wastes 5 gallons for every 1 gallon because of all the TDS in the water.
If you want to reduce water hardness from 18 grains you will really need an RO system. I use tap water (330 PPM) and set buckets of water (4 gallons water, the rest filled with peat moss). This water is specifically for the Amazon Blackwater Stream for my Tetras, Rams, Appistos, Angels and Discus.
After a few days (4 or 5) of peat moss soaking in tap water, I can go from 330ppm hardness to 60ppm. Then I can use pH adjusters and buffers to get where I want to be. Two more days to let things settle (precipitate from the pH adjusters). Then I pump off the top 3 1/2 gallons and dispose of the 1/2 gallon that has all the particulate and settled matter. My system loses 1/2 gallon for every 4 gallons where my RO wastes 5 gallons for every 1 gallon because of all the TDS in the water.