Use water softner water in freshwater, planted tank?

[yvonne]

I have a 65 gallon freshwater, planted tank. My water source is very hard, uncontrollably high PH water. Tank has black algae. Question in this post is:

Would using the water from my water softner help or hurt my situation?

Also, generally, is it wise to use water from a water softner in a freshwater, planted tank?

 

[Guest]

You can use the water. But make sure you are using KCL in the softener instead of salt. This way your softened water will be high in potassium instead of sodium. And it's better for you too. I doubt it will help the situation. If the algae you have is BBA then it is normally caused by low or fluctuation CO2 levels or nutrient levels that are out of whack.

 

[justDIY]

when you say uncontrollably high, what you mean? Is your PH high, or does it flucuate wildley?

Does your water softener take normal recharge salt, or the potassium recharge salt?

Are you wanting to grow certain softwater loving plants? Which species do you have in mind?

Do you know what your GH and KH levels are?

Sorry to answer your question with more questions!

I try to avoid chemicals whenever possible. I don't even run carbon in my filters unless it is a new tank or a nursery tank.

A water softener works by a process called Ion Exchange. Calcium is a light metal, and is found in bicarbonate and carbonate forms that make up "hard water", also magnesium is also found in bi/carbonate forms. A water softener works by replacing Calcium and Magnesium "ions" with Sodium or Potassium "ions". Sodium and Potassium are two HIGHLY reactive metals, so they quickly displace calcium and magnesium. With the calcium and magnesium removed, the water is now "soft".

However, because you can't take without giving, the water is loaded with sodium or potassium compounds. Neither metal is particlarly useful to plants or fish - Sodium much less so than Potassium.

So, long story short, in my opinion is it is bad to use "softened" water in an aquarium

If you want to soften your water, you will need a Reverse Osmosis unit, or you can try mixing portions of distilled water with portions of tap water, to achieve the hardness you desire.

 

[Guest]

Neither metal is particlarly useful to plants or fish - Sodium much less so than Potassium.

Hmm.... I have to disagree here. Potassium is very important to plants. It's one of the big three nutrients. Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorus.

I would agree though that using softened water is a very last choice.

 

[yvonne]

Hi. Thanx for your response. I'll attempt to answer your questions:

I mean both really High PH and wildly fluctuating. According to the local fish store in the same county that I get my water, the PH is out of control and no one has ever been able to control it. I tried emptying full bottles of PH down and never got it to even a readable level. I had to drain my tank and start over.

I'm guessing my tank has normal recharge salt. Is it possible to buy potassium recharge salt and put it in a tank that takes normal?

Do not know what GH and KH levels are or what those initials stand for. 8O

 

[justDIY]

GH and KH are measures of "general hardness" GH and "carbonate hardness" KH

you can get a test kit at most pet stores, and your water company may be able to tell you as well.

actually, it sounds like your water might be very soft, and the high PH is just a side effect of the testing methods. hard water does not have wild PH swings, as the hardness helps to prevent sudden ph changes.

 

[yvonne]

If you want to soften your water, you will need a Reverse Osmosis unit, or you can try mixing portions of distilled water with portions of tap water, to achieve the hardness you desire.

Do you mean that I should use the reverse osmosis unit after the water softener (like a smaller 2.5 gallon one)? Or do I have to completely forget the water softener and use a large reverse osmosis unit?

 

[justDIY]

I think it would be easier on the RO unit giving it water that has not been softened, so it can remove calcium and magnesium rather than sodium from the water. But I'm not 100% sure on this - it would be prudent to contact the manufactorer of the RO/DI unit and ask them.

As far as the size of the unit, their capacity is measured in Gallons Per Day or GPD. The smallest unit I've seen is 50 GPD, meaning in 24 hours, the unit can produce 50 gallons of water.

The size of the unit is best set to match your needs for fish tanks, and perhaps cooking and drinking. You can get an inexpenisve 100 gpd unit, and use big plastic water barrels (sams club - fairly cheap) or plastic trash cans (really cheap) to store up the water and then extract water with a pump or spigot whenever you need some, for the fish or for your family.

A note about RO water ... it is very pure, depending on the RO/DI unit you get, so pure that it may not even contain dissolved oxygen. While it is probably OK to consume very pure water as a human, fish require dissolved oxygen to breath and other minerals in the water to avoid problems with osmotic pressure. RO water is also unstable and even the smallest contaminate will send the chemistry all over the map. It's adviseable to mix RO water with either a conditioner like RO-Right or ordinary tap water before using it in a freshwater fish tank.

Hope This Helps!