I will be moving in the next month and the area I am moving to has extremely hard water. Apparently its very common for most households to install a water softner for the entire house and I am planning on doing this. I was just wondering if anyone else has done this and if there are any considerations I need to take into account. I keep piranha so I am fine with doing soft water.
Water Softener
- Thread starter nzafi
- Start date
I've gotten back into fish keeping for nearly 3 years now, and my current house uses a water softener to remove trace arsenic from our well water. I keep tropicals and cold water natives using the filtered water and there doesn't seem to be any issue as far as I can tell. The best part about softened water is that there's little to no mineral build-up on the tanks and equipments.
Following along.
Looking for reasons to convince my dad he can use his softened water.
old men aren't always the easiest to convince they are wrong lol.
Sent from my SCH-R950 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Looking for reasons to convince my dad he can use his softened water.
old men aren't always the easiest to convince they are wrong lol.
Sent from my SCH-R950 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Most water softeners simply exchange the calcium ion, with a sodium ion.
Do you think salt is better for fresh water fish than calcium?
The soft (mineral deficient) water most Asian or Amazonian soft water fish come from, is not salty.
And the mineral salts that most rift lake, or Central American fish are osmotically evolved to live in, are not sodium based, but more calcium based.
The main purpose of water softener water is to help produce suds for washing clothes, not to remove the minerals that are incorrect for soft water fish.
Not that sodium based water will kill your fish, but what do you think is more natural?
Do you think salt is better for fresh water fish than calcium?
The soft (mineral deficient) water most Asian or Amazonian soft water fish come from, is not salty.
And the mineral salts that most rift lake, or Central American fish are osmotically evolved to live in, are not sodium based, but more calcium based.
The main purpose of water softener water is to help produce suds for washing clothes, not to remove the minerals that are incorrect for soft water fish.
Not that sodium based water will kill your fish, but what do you think is more natural?
I am not adding the soft water unit for the fish tank. I am adding it because you can see the effects of the hard water in the bathrooms, kitchen, etc. My concern is whether there is an impact on my fish tank/piranha. Just not sure how to handle it.
I have a water softner in my house and have been keeping fish for 6 years now. The fish don't mind it I usually stick with soft water species like angels and what not. Definitely couldn't have African cichlids with my water otherwise I would.
Sent from my SM-N900V using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Sent from my SM-N900V using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
If you're that concern about it, then you could just add a bypass in the plumbing, during the softener install, so you can just access "unfiltered" tap water whenever you need it.
I have a fish keeper friend in town that also uses a water softener, for the same reason I do [arsenic], and he keeps plenty of Africans and they breed constantly
Don't know the answer, but just be aware that there are a lot of fish keepers who add salt to there water as a sort of disinfectant.
