Nitrates and Fish-less Cycle, Water Softener

[Koppriecht]

Hello

My fish-less cycle is 4 weeks old and I think it is complete. I have been adding ammonia, around 4 ppm, each night and the next night it reads: 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites. The nitrate reading however is at +160. I won't be getting fish until next weekend possibly so should I do a pwc now or wait? I know I should do a 90% water change before I get fish but not sure if I should do a pwc now.

Also, I am hearing conflicting advice about softener water for aquariums. One lfs uses water softener water for their tanks and the fish seem fine. Any thoughts?

 

[Masha]

I don't think it matters exactly when you do that water change, as long as the nitrates are low when you put the fish in the water. So you could wait to do the change till just before adding the fish, if you wanted to. Having high nitrates until then won't hurt anything, as you don't have any fish in your tank yet, do you?

I don't know about softeners - I think that would depend on what your water quality is like where you live, whether you need to do that.

 

[Caliban07]

What softeners replace elements that make tap water hard like calcium and magnesium and replace them with sodium ions. It's done at a rate of 3-1 so for every 1 magnesium ion removed 3 sodium ions are added.

This is great for protecting appliances and incoming pipe work from limescale build up but not such a good idea for a fish tank. I would stay well clear if softened water.

What is worrying you about your source water?

I don't think it matters when you replace the water.


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[Caliban07]

Sorry for predictive text errors.


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[Koppriecht]

My house is already set up with a water softner so I would have to bypass it somehow to use unsoftened water. Is it worth it? I live in Wisconsin so using the outside tap isn't always an option.


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[Mama Karoti]

I have softened water, and I have to tote hard water for my aquarium from my spigot outside. Ohio, so a little better than WI, but not a lot.


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[Masha]

I don't have this problem myself, but I was intrigued to find out more about it - this is a really great article on the pros and cons. Seems more cons than pros, from a quick read through!

The Soft Water Aquarium: Risks and Benefits

The bottom line seems to be this:

"Contrary to their name, domestic water softeners do not make soft water usable in aquaria. What they do is produce water that doesn't contain the temporary hardness that furs up pipes. They do this by replacing the temporary hardness minerals with other types of minerals, typically sodium salts. Water from a domestic water softener is not really suitable for use in any aquarium, let alone a soft water aquarium. "