Hi Folks, and a much overdone question

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Astevens4

Aquarium Advice Newbie
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Jan 2, 2018
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Ok, not a new aquarist by any stretch. Currently have 4 community tanks of between 2 and 4 feet, however just acquired a large 6fter for the reception area at my company and am seeking the wisdom of the sages as even the mighty google can’t help!



Now i live in an EXTREMELY hard water area, and have always had dreadful problems with scale buildup at the high water mark, inside pumps, and around heaters.



Less of an issue with this big tank visually, as i’ll be running a big sump, so no evaporatiion point, or visible equipment scaling in the big tank, but the scale definately affects lifespan of equipment.



Which brings me to my question - we have a massive Brita quell industrial softener which runs our coffee machines etc, and while it wont bring the underlying water hardness down, (due to co2 exchange) do you think it will take some of the scale out of the water and help prolong the equipment life? Quantity isnt really an issue as its rated at 1000 litres an hour, so we’re not talking a jug filter here! I just dont know enough about the chemistry involved in these things. Have read dozens of posts about them, but none specifically about the scaling issue.



Thanks in advance



Tony
 
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For the water softener, is it softened with salt? If it is that is a poor selection for water for a fish tank.

[Hey I am not a chemist or scientist so for the nitty gritty details, will need to review articles on the subject...]

When the water softener uses salt pellets, it removes calcium and magnesium which are necessary in reasonable amounts to buffer water and the health of the fish for osmotic regulation, and replaces it with sodium chloride, not needed as a regular additive for most tropical fish.
 
Thanks for the reply!

No, not a salt based one, but rather a canister based Brita Quell, which is physical filtration, ion exchange, then carbon.

Ion exchange is sodium for calcium, which is what (i was hoping anyway) would help reduce my scaling issues.

Given that i'm running some fairly expensive gear in it the more i can protect it the better!
 
I just came off a saltwater tank conversion recently. We used RO/DI water to mix our saltwater. The RO/DI will strip your water down so pure that it is not drinkable. The only catch is that you will have to re-mineralize the water.

If you are running expensive equipment you might want to give this some thought.

I am currently cycling a 300 gallon system and I am using my RO/DI to filter my water. I remove the DI canisters and use the RO. I am also using a sump setup.

To re-mineralize my water I set up a dosing pump thru my aquarium contoller to dose Kent Cichlid essentials once per week. (I will be keeping cichlids) If you don't have an aquarium controller you can set up the dosing pump on a timer.

Just food for thought. :)
 
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