# Water Softener for Hard Well Water



## Malcolm Little (Aug 27, 2009)

Good morning, folks:

I would like to start keep fish again, but I have very hard well water a water softener complete with pelletized salt.

I've done some checking around online, and the water chemistry seems to be that I'll have salt in the water in some quantity, but not necessarily sufficient in range for brackish fish. And I'll still have hard water.

For me, it seems very reasonable to expect to only be able to keep salt tolerant, hard water species such as live bearers and possibly kribs.

What do other folks do in my circumstance? Having well water feels like a road block to returning to my favorite hobby/pets.


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## Fishin Pole (Feb 17, 2009)

you could always add an R/O setup to your existing water line......Its rather expensive but it will allow you to go any direction you want with the species of fish you would like to keep


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## Malcolm Little (Aug 27, 2009)

To be honest, I don't know what that means.

Does that mean I would have RO water for my whole house? I've heard of folks doing this to go to salt water.

Would this benefit my whole house?

With RO water, would I think have to add in chemicals or products to get my PH up? 

Could I not just buy RO water for my tanks instead of the expensive system?


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## Fishin Pole (Feb 17, 2009)

what i would do is have an R/O setup at whatever faucet your gonna use for your water changes with a bypass valve so its not filtering all your home water all the time......You would need to add some of your well water to give your tank water some mineral content.......You could add dolomite or limestone to raise the Ph .......It would be trial and error till you find the correct amount of each till you come up with the perfect ratio......You could buy R/O water for your tank, but depending on the size and amount of water you will need for water changes, buying a system makes more sense to me......


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## Mikaila31 (Dec 18, 2008)

Malcolm Little said:


> Good morning, folks:
> 
> I would like to start keep fish again, but I have very hard well water a water softener complete with pelletized salt.
> 
> ...


I also live with hard well water and use a softener w/ the salt pellets. The amount of salt it adds to the water is very small. I only keep freshwater fish and have not had any problems with it. Tetras, rainbows, rams, shrimp, and my caecilians don't seem to mind.


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## Malcolm Little (Aug 27, 2009)

Rams, too?

That's impressive.


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## MoneyMitch (Aug 3, 2009)

i use a water softener as well however, your outside faucet (the one that the hose connects to) is not connected to the softener system, at least mine is not. my ph is mid 7s and i plan to just use the hose water for top offs. hope thjis helps. money


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## Angel079 (Feb 14, 2007)

I'd suggest, measure your hardness & ph from that well first and go from there. That way you know exactly what levels your dealing with and it may really not be all that bad. Where we lived before, we had hard water however I just used peat in my tanks and everybody incl Tetra's was just fine.


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## Malcolm Little (Aug 27, 2009)

The concern for me for an outdoor tank is that I live in a location that's extremely cold in winter. Taking well water and even adding it at room temperature might be problematic.

I'm OK sticking with livebearers and cichlids; I'm more worried that the water would hurt something like convicts or shellies or something like that if I could get up and running.

Can I assume that something like an african dwarf frog would be out?


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## Angel079 (Feb 14, 2007)

What size tank are you looking at?
Reason I'm asking, when I used the well water, I just filled it into buckets for the water exchanges and let it sit in the house for a while then did my water exchange (get it adjusted to the indoor temp during the winter)


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## Malcolm Little (Aug 27, 2009)

Something like a 20 g. 

I meant to say outside tap above: an outside tank in my neck of the woods is folly.

If my house is wood heated, I'd have room temperatures of something like 68 F for room temperature at best. I'd be 5-10 degrees off the heat of the tank, no?


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## Angel079 (Feb 14, 2007)

Personally with a 20g tank, I'd do prop around 2 buckets water each weekend, so those I'd just get from the well and let it 'heat' up a lil inside and call it even. 
Even when I'm using tap water, honestly I don't sit there and measure if the water is EXACTLY the same temp then what's in the tank, sure I make sure its not ice freaking cold, but that's about it.


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## Twistersmom (Dec 9, 2008)

I know noting about well water or water softeners, so I will not comment about that.

If you do go with outside water, you could buy an extra heater to warm up the water or boil some water to add to the cold water. Just some thoughts.


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## Angel079 (Feb 14, 2007)

Twistersmom said:


> boil some water to add to the cold water. Just some thoughts.


Just for safety reason, as I met pretty creative folks in forums before: Pls don't poor the boiling hot water in your tank/ on the fish ;-)


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## Twistersmom (Dec 9, 2008)

Angel079 said:


> Just for safety reason, as I met pretty creative folks in forums before: Pls don't poor the boiling hot water in your tank/ on the fish ;-)


 Thanks Angel, maybe I should have stated that better!


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## Malcolm Little (Aug 27, 2009)

So as luck would have it, I found a 10 G used for a great price.

I'm holding out for a fully aquatic fish tank for something bigger, and I'm thinking about fire belly newts, terrestial hermit crabs, aquatic red clawed crabs, or aquatic African dwarf frogs for this one. The brackish red clawed crabs seem the best match with my water. Are the amphibians out with even trace salt?


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## Mikaila31 (Dec 18, 2008)

IMO test your tap waters KH, GH, and PH. The water softener is fine. I run high tech planted tank that requires 50% weekly water changes. These are done direct from the tap using both hot and cold water to match aquarium temp. I don't condition the water with anything and the water does not bypass the softener. I've raised german blue rams from 1/8" fry to adults who spawned(then ate the eggs). I've kept African dwarf frogs and have had my two caecilians for 2 years now. Along with a range of tetras and some gouramis.


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