Hard Or Soft Water For Fishless Cycle

[macphyter]

Hi everone, I'm preparing a new 20 gal aquarium for a fishless cycle.  I've got particuarly hard water where I live, but I also have a water softener.  I can pull water from a tap before it goes through the softener, so I was wondering which is better for my new aquarium, the straight hard water, or the soft water after it goes through the softener?
 

 

[george4593]

Depends what fish your going to have

 

[Zante]

Either will be fine, it depends on what fish you want to keep.
 
Is your water softener an ion exchange one?
In that case it's not the best way of softening water for an aquarium.

 

[macphyter]

Is your water softener an ion exchange one?
In that case it's not the best way of softening water for an aquarium.

My water softener has the polymer beads that absorb the minerals from the water.  I'm not sure if this is ion exchange or not.  The polymer beads get flushed with salt water every other day, but there's no salt left in the water supply after the flush.  I was thinking of measuring the PH for the hard/soft and see if there's any difference.
 
These will be freshwater fish, but I haven't really decided specifically what I'll put in yet.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

For cycling harder is usually better. However, it is not necessary or advised, in most cases, to bother changing one's water params unless absolutely necessary.
 
Your softener is an ion exchange system taking out hardness ions and replacing them with sodium. You do not want to use this water for a tank in most cases. Take your water pre- softener. If you wish to lower your pH and/or hardness, I would suggest using a mix of your tap and RO water.