well water or not

[Tammy]

Ok i've just started up A saltwater tank. I've been reading everything I run across. But I have A problem with which water I should be using. Some say RO, some say tab water, I have a well with a water softener on it so the water is filtered, not city water with all those additives. Which of them is better? I hope to have fish as well as some coral, live rock etc.
Any advice would be great thanks so much

 

[Bearfan]

Well water is going to be very dependent on region. Some areas are high in Limestone which can be negative, and some areas (especially around lakes) have so much natural filtration from sandstone and sand layers. Without testing it, there is no real guideline. Check your PH, KH and GH. If they are reasonable, then go for it. I use my local water, which is slightly basic, and hard as a rock, but I use water softening pillows and just buy fish and plants that can deal with the PH being about 7.2-7.3.

 

[reefrunner69]

If you want to do a reef, you really need to test your well water, I would also recommend against using water softened water, some salts used are not 100% safe to use for aquariums and you might find yourself replacing dead animals. IMO, the best bet is RO/DI water, this is very pure water (the salt mix will add what is necessary for your tank inhabitants) and you are not running any risks.

 

[Tammy]

been testing like crazy, everything is coming up good so far. Tank has been up with just water only 10 days tho. So i know its goin to take time for it to cycle and all that. Put some additive in that a friend gave me thats suppose to make it cycle some what faster don't even remember what its called now, but it says you can add fish in 72 hours, so I've just added 2 damsels. Keeping fingers crossed.
Thanks

 

[Tammy]

never even thought about what they might put in the salt softeners, dang.
Something else to think about too. So no more fish til i see how these little guys r going to do. I hate losing fish, Had fresh water tanks for years never had any troubles with them but salt water fish r so different.
thanks for the advice

 

[scapes]

Does anyone know what kind of softener salt is least harmful to use?

 

[reefrunner69]

Make sure it is 100% salt

 

[ReefLady]

We have a drilled artesian well, and a whole-house softener (and pH neutralizer). I strongly suggest you find a local water testing business, or possibly a college/university - which can run a full battery of tests on your tap water. You especially want to look for heavy metals.

Do you have a TDS meter, or have a LFS you can borrow one from? Even after the softener/neutralizer, our TDS reading is in the high 200's. After the RO/DI it is 0.

We once failed to change the sediment & carbon block filters on our RO/DI when needed, and ruined the RO membrane. Basically, tap water (post softener/neutralizer) was added to the tank for topoff. It took us 4 long months to battle the cyano that resulted. IMO, well water is just as bad, if not worse, than municipal water.

HTH,