Water softening pillow

[xaznkewlguyx]

I've searched the forum with little results.. Thinking about using the water softening pillow from doc fishwell.

Anyone have any experience with the water softening pillows at all?

Lets discuss the pro's and con's!

 

[iloveoscars702]

hmm never herd of it. i'll have to look it up

 

[xaznkewlguyx]

forgot about this thread.. but looks like not alot of people have experience with it..

hmmmmmm......

 

[iloveoscars702]

^ lol true.

 

[FishNCash]

I used one made by API. Rich sells them for a good price. They'll need recharging though. $5 if you want mine.

 

[xaznkewlguyx]

I used one made by API. Rich sells them for a good price. They'll need recharging though. $5 if you want mine.

I was going to grab the API one but my co-worker told me the doc fishwell has been around longer so I tried that one..

So far my water chemistry did not change. I'm using the pillow softner inside a sponge filter while aging my water. Its been 2 days and theres no change in hardness, the effects are supposed to stop after 48hrs. I wasn't sure if I was supposed to recharge straight out of the package so that may be why.

I will recharge it and try again with the next barrel of water.

If still nothing, I think I will go the peatmoss route.

 

[FishNCash]

You don't need to recharge straight out of the box. How many gallons are you treating? I think the instructions say there is a limit how many gallons one bag can treat. I used this when I had angels and it worked great. When new, it turned my water into a tanin color.

 

[xaznkewlguyx]

You don't need to recharge straight out of the box. How many gallons are you treating? I think the instructions say there is a limit how many gallons one bag can treat. I used this when I had angels and it worked great. When new, it turned my water into a tanin color.

Right now i'm using the ex-large pillow to treat a 55g barrell but no difference. I spoke to my boss and he says tap water might be too hard so he recommended me recharging twice during the aging of my water since the effects only last 48hrs. I think I will try this to see if it works..

So far i am not pleased with the water softening pillow though!

 

[HarleyK]

Howdy,

water softening pillows are basically ion exchange resins. The emphasis lies on "exchange". They reduce hardness, but introduce other ions that, while they do not contribute to hardness, still contribute to osmolarity.

Bottom line: I'd rather try an r/o unit or peat ...

HarleyK

 

[Noto]

+1

In fact, the water softening pillow may actually make things worse for the fish. It is not hardness (calcium and magnesium ion concentration) itself that "soft water" fish dislike but total dissolved solids (TDS- total ion concentration), of which hardness is a component. Water softening pillows lower hardness but actually raise TDS; they replace each calcium or magnesium ion with two sodium ions, so your water is gaining salinity faster than it's losing hardness.