Soft water

[pnyklr3]

I guess my main question is: Will my water softener tank (brine tank that I add solar salt to that "softens" the water) change the hardness of my tank water? I ask because I let my brine tank run low on salt, so the water from the tap is what we call "hard water" (i.e. the soap can't make any suds). I also just realized that the faucet I get my fish tank water from is not connected to the water softener. I wasn't sure if this is the kind of softness I test my fish tank for.

I'm not sure if any of you have this problem, because this is the first place I've ever lived that has hard water and water softeners. PEOPLE IN THE MIDWEST HELP ME OUT HERE!

Also: Is there any correlation to pH and water softness?

 

[CFC]

Soft water is water that is low in mineral content and so has a low KH (carbonate hardness) and a low GH (general hardness), in general terms water that is soft is also acidic though this is not always the case.
Water from comercial water softeners is not recomended for use in aquariums as the salts used in the ion exchange can be poisonous (i think i remembered that right ).
Hard water should not affect your fish keeping unless you wish to keep delicate wild caught fish which originate from soft/acidic waters. Most tropical fish sold in the average lfs will be acclimatised to your local tapwater.

 

[pnyklr3]

Thank you very much! I wasn't sure if those two were the same things, and now I'm really glad I've been using the unsoftened water!