Water Changes with a Water Softener connected to the Hot Water Tank..

[Quickstrike]

I recently bought a ~180 gallon tank and just realized something.. the faucet that I will use to fill the tank isn't directly plumbed into the houses water softener.. that means, if I use strictly cold water, it should be hard/untouched tap water.. but if I mix in some hot water, there will be some softened water added to the stream.
That is because all the water heaters supply of water is routed through a water softener before being heated.

Now, when I first fill the tank, it shouldn't be an issue. I could just use the cold tap water, and plug in the filters and heaters and slowly bring the water up to temperature. But what happens when it comes time to do 25-50% [or even more] water changes every week?

Is this going to add too much sodium to the tanks water?

Is it best to find some large water container that I can fill up with cold water and manually heat up with water heaters over a duration of time?

My old house / aquarium situation never had a water softener, so I never had to worry about this. I could just add tap water directly into the tank via a Python Gravel Cleaner.


Thanks for your help,
-Quickstrike

 

[smitty03281964]

I don't think you are going to have a sodium issue. But if you are going to stay at this why not install a bypass line.

 

[xraycer]

I don't think you are going to have a sodium issue. But if you are going to stay at this why not install a bypass line.

Can't bypass because I'm sure the water has to be softened before it gets heated.

To the OP, pretty strange that only the hot water is softened and not the cold. Don't understand the reason for this.

My house right now has a whole-house softener, due to trace arsenic(gross alpha) in my well water, and I've been using this water for the past 4 years. I do about 50% w/c every 3-4days. All of my fish right now are at least 2 years old and doesn't appear to have any ill effect from the excess sodium......time will tell. There have also been numerous breeding during this period.

I'm not recommend using softened water, but this is just based upon my own personal experience. That said, if it wasn't so inconvenient to use unsoftened water, I wouldn't be using it.

 

[fishnatics]

I also have a whole house water softener and my Africans breed well in it. No effects that I can see.

 

[Allan01230]

I have just hot water softner as well I mix hot and cold water for my water changes. Been doing this for 10 years without any ill effects to my fish, In fact had my filament barbs breed many times over the years. Have a couple of babies that are healthy adults.

 

[Quickstrike]

Can't bypass because I'm sure the water has to be softened before it gets heated.

To the OP, pretty strange that only the hot water is softened and not the cold. Don't understand the reason for this.

I wanted all the hot water to be softened so that the hot water tank would last longer.

The Cold water is softened in around ~90% of the house. Just not the outside faucets, the garages utility sink and one of the basement sinks that I use for my plumbed in coffee machine.

Sodium Softened water tastes nasty, so I have my coffee filtered through a 3-phase filtration system that doesn't use sodium to lower the water hardness. This would be the tap that I would use for the aquarium. I have the coffee filtration setup configured with a bypass valve, so the aquarium will get strictly tap water when cold, or slightly softened water when warm/hot.

Sounds like I might take the lazy route and give them slightly softened water. City Tap Cold / Blended with Softened Hot Water. And I guess it would be wisest to do that right from the first fill, eh?
Because that might shock the fish if they had 100% hard cold tap water naturally heated by the tanks heaters and then at the first water change I introduce some sodium for the first time by doing a partial water change.


Thanks for all your help.

 

[xraycer]

Sodium Softened water tastes nasty,

hmm......interesting. Although we drink from a point-of-use R/O unit, I use the softened water for showers and brushing teeth and have never tasted anything noticeably offensive.

 

[Quickstrike]

hmm......interesting. Although we drink from a point-of-use R/O unit, I use the softened water for showers and brushing teeth and have never tasted anything noticeably offensive.

Well, I guess short encounters like the above mentioned 'brushing teeth' is tolerable. But if you are drinking cups of it - ie. Coffee - you will certainly notice the offputting taste.

The Coffee Water Filter actually still softens the water, just with Hydrogen Ion exchange instead of Sodium Ion exchange.. amazing the difference that makes. From salty drink, to coffee shop quality brew [with the right beans].