water softener water

M

minnesotagal866

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May 30, 2005
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I just moved and my house is now equipped with a water softener. I haven't been using it in my fish tanks, but I'm wondering if I could/should. I really don't know much about water softeners, just that you buy salt and dump it in the softener. I'm keeping fire bellied toads and bettas right now but in the next 2 months I'm going to be setting up my 55 again and hope to keep some angels. Haven't tested the water out of the tap--threw away my test kit during the move and the nearest fish store is 60+ miles away and the nearest GOOD store is 150.

Any thoughts about water softeners?

Jackie
 
My grandparents have a water softener because their water is VERY hard without it. They don't have fish, but I do know that very little salt actually makes it into the water. And if you are really worried about it, you also can use Potassium Chloride instead of Sodium Chloride. I don't see any reason to worry though, it should be just fine.
 
a water softener is just an ion exchanger that removes heavy metals from the water. very little salt is released in to the water. i have one and i use the water from it for my aquariums
 
a water softener is just an ion exchanger that removes heavy metals from the water
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actually it removes calcium and magnesium and replaces both with sodium. the anions Ca++ and Mg++ are exchanged for sodium (Na+) but notice the difference in electron charge ... Calcium is a divalent anion (++) but sodium is monovalent (+). this means that when the calcium is exchanged, TWO sodiums must replace ONE calcium or magnesium. the net effect is that while you are softening your water with respect to your laundry and those white spots on your faucet, you are actually INCREASING the total dissolved solids of your water. sooo, no it won't be
perfect for my tetras
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liv2padl said:
actually it removes calcium and magnesium and replaces both with sodium. the anions Ca++ and Mg++ are exchanged for sodium (Na+) but notice the difference in electron charge ... Calcium is a divalent anion (++) but sodium is monovalent (+). this means that when the calcium is exchanged, TWO sodiums must replace ONE calcium or magnesium. the net effect is that while you are softening your water with respect to your laundry and those white spots on your faucet, you are actually INCREASING the total dissolved solids of your water. sooo, no it won't be
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Has someone been watching those Good Eats episodes about water? hehe

I agree. Though I wish I could be offering you a solution other than expensive r/o filters. All I know about is dealing with hard Philadelphia tap water; which to the best of my knowledge isn't even water at all...it's clear and acts as a universal solvent. I think it's a bond of hydrogen and oxygen as well. It has all the properties of water. Though I am still convinced it is a form of liquid limestone as yet uncatalogued.
 
THANKS--

I had this idea that it was not good for my fish and have avoided it to this time. The biggest annoyance with this is that the only water not softened is the drinking faucet which is . . . cold.

Would adding a touch of softened water (warm) to my cold tap water be OK?

I'll get to the "big city" at some point and get a test kit and post some results.

Jackie
 
Are you using a python or similar thing to fill your tank? If not and you are using buckets then you can always age the water and use a heater to get it up to temp.

Otherwise I doubt mixing some softened water in will hurt your fish at all. I would do some smaller water changes over a larger period of time at first to let your fish adjust to changes in the water chemistry though.
 
I had this idea that it was not good for my fish
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i didn't mean to suggest that it was BAD for your fish. it may not be appropriate for some species of fish, notably those amazonian species that do best in water with a low TDS (low in mineral content) and i'll include tetras in this category.

i was responding to Caitx who felt that "softened water was perfect for tetras". it would be if water from a sodium exchange softener was indeed soft with respect to fish. unfortunately it's "soft" only with respect to your laundry and since fish don't do laundry, it benefits them not at all.

all that said, water from a sodium exchange system contains sodium and that isn't necessarily a BAD thing. i'm not saying it's a good thing .. more that a great many fish in the hobby don't care. it's not that much salt to begin with.
 
Right now it isn't a huge deal because I only have the toads in a 20L with about 8 gallons of water or so, the 2.5 and the 5.5 betta tanks (filtered, heated, and planted). The toads are fine with the colder water and the bettas have tolerated a slightly cooler water change. I was thinking of adding some softened water (hot) to make the water change less stressful. I use buckets with such small tanks.

I'm hoping to set up my 55 over the next month--planted with angels and other south american fish. Still working out the details. Hoping that my water will be OK for angels.

Jackie
 
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