How Do I Soften My Water?

[AshleySpatula]

thats it, how do i do it?

 

[Matty P]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=210597

 

[*Fishkies*]

API Water softner Pillow's

Here is a product that is a water softner. I personally have not used it.

 

[AshleySpatula]

use commercial water softners? at another house i lived in we had a water softner but it did all the water in the house, i cant afford that.
could i use all R/O water?
is there a 'commercial water softner' that i can just add to the water like the dechlor?

 

[fishlette]

add wood to your tank. this will lower your hardness

 

[Tolak]

Hardness is actually dissolved minerals in the water. You can't add something to remove them, they have to be filtered out, that is basically what a ro unit does. Using straight ro is a bad idea, as hardness stabilizes pH. You will start out with a pH of 7.0, as a little waste accumilates the pH usually dives, sometimes severely. Many aquarists will mix 75% ro with 25% tap to get softer water with lower pH. This leaves enough hardness to stabilize the pH.

 

[Musho3210]

or 50 50 or 75 (tap) 25 (ro), it depends on how soft you want it to be.

 

[AshleySpatula]

well i wanted to soften my water because i believe tap is hard water most everywhere in AZ. i wanted to get a pair of german rams and i read that they do better in soft water. is it really needed to soften? or is it just a thing for spawning?

 

[Tolak]

I would try tap water first, I've had good results breeding with a variety of nw cichlids with my tap water, which is hard with a higher pH.

 

[Ilya]

Laundry detergent .