Well Water / Water Softner?

VirgoWolf

VirgoWolf

Superstar Fish
#1
Feb 16, 2006
1,933
4
0
Michigan
#1
Hello, I have been MIA for a long time, but HI! To anyone who remembers me! LOL :D

Now on to my question... I looked it up online, but got mixed answers and I know some of you guys are much more knowledgeable than some random answer somewhere.

We're waiting for the final answer on a house we put an offer on (it's a short sale) but it's looking good. We're used to City water here, but the house has a well and water softener. I am wondering what effect that will have on my tanks? I am mostly worried about my SA tank (220gal with Oscars, Acaras, a GT, and a L001 Plec) since I took down the rest of my tanks (big jump from the 17 I had) but I do plan on setting up a 20L for my kids and I'm thinking just little colorful community fish there, probably guppies and/or platties mostly.

I'm worried about the change, what affect it will have on my fish, and how difficult it is going to be to transition them to the big change (I haven't done testing on the water there yet, not sure how different the PH/KH/GH levels and such are, but that will be the first thing I do once we get the word! *twirlysmi

Thanks in advance for the help! :D
 

xarumitzu

xarumitzu

Large Fish
#2
Jun 27, 2009
131
0
0
Kalamazoo, MI
#2
You may want to wait for a SuperFish to answer this, but I figured I'd share my experience with you. My home uses a community well for its water, and we also have a water softener. My 30G tank has never had any issues with the water. I spend most of my time in an apartment near my university which uses city water and no softener. I brought the fish I have in my 10G from home and kept on doing what I usually do and never had a problem. Good luck with your move!
 

PlecoCollector

PlecoCollector

Superstar Fish
#3
Aug 21, 2005
1,430
0
0
34
Clinton, NY
#3
FINALLY A USERNAME I RECOGNIZE! Lots of new, nice people around but I missed some of the old crew! :D

I'll be honest, I'm not 100% sure about water softener, though I know that well water shouldn't make a huge difference so long as you treat it. It will be a lot easier to figure out something once you can compare the different water parameters.

Just a thought on a potential method of adjusting the fish: I would say use distilled water when you first move them (a least it's more neutral) and gradually ease them in to the new water with gradual water changes. On a different note, I've moved my fish from Florida to North Carolina and then from one city in NC to another, never checked the water ahead of time, and experienced no difficulties. However, I did not move them onto well water.
 

VirgoWolf

VirgoWolf

Superstar Fish
#4
Feb 16, 2006
1,933
4
0
Michigan
#4
Hey PC! I know it's been forever for me and I was so shocked to see virtually no one I recognized! LOL

Yeah, luckily we're not in any real rush to move, my brother will be renting this house when we move, and he wants to do some things to the house before he moves in, so I can take a couple days at least to acclimate them to the new water slowly by just bringing buckets of water over when we come for another load of boxes! :)

I'm mostly worried about the softener, some of the things I found on my search said you should never use water softener water in a tank, some said it's fine, so I'm not sure...
 

xarumitzu

xarumitzu

Large Fish
#5
Jun 27, 2009
131
0
0
Kalamazoo, MI
#5
VirgoWolf said:
Hey PC! I know it's been forever for me and I was so shocked to see virtually no one I recognized! LOL

Yeah, luckily we're not in any real rush to move, my brother will be renting this house when we move, and he wants to do some things to the house before he moves in, so I can take a couple days at least to acclimate them to the new water slowly by just bringing buckets of water over when we come for another load of boxes! :)

I'm mostly worried about the softener, some of the things I found on my search said you should never use water softener water in a tank, some said it's fine, so I'm not sure...
Click to expand...
I'm not 100% sure about your house, but the water softener uaually doesn't treat every tap. In my house for example, our laundry room sink, kitchen sink, and outdoor taps are all not softened. You may want to try and find the taps yours doesn't soften and take your tank water from those.
 

Lotus

Lotus

Ultimate Fish
Moderator
#8
Aug 26, 2003
15,115
13
38
Southern California
home.earthlink.net
#8
Good to see you!

It would probably be better to use straight well water for the fish, if you can. Water softeners work by replacing calcium ions with sodium ions, so you get a higher salt content in the water. It would probably be OK for sturdier fish, like guppies, or those that don't mind salt in the water.
 

VirgoWolf

VirgoWolf

Superstar Fish
#9
Feb 16, 2006
1,933
4
0
Michigan
#9
Thanks Lotus! Nice to see your still around! :) I'll have to see how the softener is hooked up, hopefully the kitchen sink isn't hooked up to the softener. I'd really love to get another BGK eventually, so that's my main worry with the salt factor, but I don't think the big guys and the little livebarers I am considering would be too bothered by it. Still seems like I want to avoid the softened water if possible either way. Thanks! :)
 

R

rugrat

Medium Fish
#10
Sep 19, 2009
51
0
0
north jersey
#10
I use softened water for my tank and never thought twice about it. However our hose water is not softened, and you can also bypass the system easily but you'd have to wait for the pipes to clear out. Easier to go outside to the hose spigot (but that's COLD, however unless you empty the hot water tank, it's still going to be softened water)

So does softened water count as brackish? haha. Just a thought.
 

Matt Nace

Matt Nace

Superstar Fish
#15
Oct 22, 2002
1,470
1
38
Pennsylvania
#15
No negative results I have found using softened water

I also had to decide if softened water was going to work for me.I also was very concerned and did a lot of research on it..finding not too much out there I trusted. I did read up on the salt content of the water and found it was not that great of a concentration.

It will be a year in May since I began using the water softner and using that water in my 3 tanks. I am happy to say the fish are healthy and perfectly normal. I keep African cichlids and central Amercian cichlids. All the fish were brought from the store and acclimated like I always have. The fish breed constantly and are beautiful.

I have a thread on this site that has some salinity numbers on it comparing the water to brackish..which was not even close in salinity. Forget if it was useful information or not.

Hope that helps.
 

exhumed07

exhumed07

Superstar Fish
#16
Apr 30, 2006
1,774
0
36
Illinois
#16
I run a water softener as well but very little of the softened water makes it to my tanks. I bypassed the water softener for my cold water but the hot water is softened. I ran seperat lines for my fish lol. but anyway I run the water straight into my tanks and my fish thrive in it. I know some people treat their water with salt to prevent illnesses so I just take this small amount af salt and call it good.
 

VirgoWolf

VirgoWolf

Superstar Fish
#17
Feb 16, 2006
1,933
4
0
Michigan
#17
Ugh, this is driving me insane!!! LOL FYI people NEVER do a short sale!! LOL We put in an offer on this house in early Feb. and STILL have yet to close on it! LOL We have 2 closing dates behind us now and the next set for next week, but now there's a new issue, blah, just annoying! I at least want to know what we'll be dealing with, but I can't even figure out what all the soft water is hooked up to until we get a hold of the previous owners, which is proving difficult... My brother is fairly annoyed at the idea that my 220gal tank will be sitting in his living room until we are able to figure this all out and find enough people to help at the same time to get this thing moved! LOL

And to top it all off, my dad now has me a little worried about putting this tank and my (solid oak) entertainment center along the same wall (on the 2nd story of a house built in the 50's) because of the weight load... here we have it over a crawl space, but we built a support structure in the crawl, but now there is a crack in the concrete where the support posts sit that my dad swears was caused by the weight of the tank, but my husband is sure was there previous to the support system being put into place...

Lotus, you've got some big tanks, right? What is your thought on the weight issue?
 

VirgoWolf

VirgoWolf

Superstar Fish
#19
Feb 16, 2006
1,933
4
0
Michigan
#19
Ugh... I've been researching and it's looking like putting this tank on that floor is begging for a disaster... :( I don't know what to do... I'm going to see if I can get my uncle out and have him take a look at it and see if there is any way to brace it to bear the weight load...
 

You must log in or register to reply here.