water softened

[xander]

I have hard water in my area. There is a mechanical softener hooked up to the plumbing. Tests show that it does soften the water. I have read that it is only replaced with sodium ions. Does that mean that I am giving my fish salty water? Should I not use the softened water? My KH is higher than my GH in my South American tank. I thought this was not possible so I looked into the water softener thing. They say that to the fish it makes no difference(magnesium and calcium - sodium). http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-chem.html#altering
I am getting the feeling that I should not use it. No fish have died from this yet but my Ph is at 7.5 to 8.0 and my GH reads about 4 and my KH reads about 5. Doesn't seem right does it? I have some Pristella tetras in there. I believe they prefer hard water. But my Uaru and catfish might not. I have a banjo cat, a bristlenose and L001. I am tempted to let it get hard but want to lower the pH. What shall I do?

 

[captainGregor]

If you have a mechanical softener, then it probably has a bypass valve. If you are concerned, you can just use a bypass valve whenever you are doing your water changes. Softener does not add "salty" water. The ion exchange process just replaces calcium and magnesium with sodium ions. So only sodium is added to the water (Na), not salt (NaCl)

I just installed a softener on Sunday, and now my tap water's Ph is 6.8 vs 7.0 before and GH is 17 ppm vs 126 before. I have some rocks in the tank that raise Ph a little to provide buffer. I am myself wondering whether to use or not to use my softened water. Please share your thoughts guys.