Softened water

[hyperman]

I have had my community tank set up for 6 months now. I recently lost a newly purchased molly and the lsf tested my water before replacing it. The said ammonia, nitrites and nitrates were perfect. However the high ph was 8.4 and they said the water was hard. They said it would be OK to add the water that comes from our home water softner. I have seen posts where people do this but wanted a fresh opinion. Any problems with doing this? They also suggested 25% pwc for the next few weeks. Is it necessary for me to do this and also to lower the ph? Will that be too much stress on the fish? We do seem to lose a fish every few weeks. The tank is 29 gallons and we have 2-platy's, 2 mollies, 2 swordtails, 2 gold guppies, and 2 catfish.

 

[Matt68005]

I would do half of each water

 

[phin]

Home water softener uses salt, very similar to a water softener pillow. Your home water softener is exchanging magnesium & calcium ions for sodium ions. Depending on how hard you water is to begin with, the softened water may have a good amount of sodium in it. RODI water costs about 50 cents/gallon. You can get "purified" (RODI) water a gallon at a time from the supermarket for 69 cents. IMO, better than using your home water softener. But then again, it really might not make a difference.

 

[hyperman]

Any advice from anyone?

 

[aqua_chem]

It depends on what species of 'catfish' you have, but...

Live bearers in general are the king of hard water tanks. I would even say that they prefer it. Mollies can even live in brackish conditions, possibly in salt water as well (although there is some debate on that point).