Can I use a water softener?

[lanceafer]

Can I use a water softener for a reef tank? I’m new to the hobby and cant find anywhere if it’s ok to use just a water softener or not. I am getting the tank from a friend who dose not have the time to care for it anymore and she cant bear to see it neglected any longer. It is a well established tank (about 7 years I believe) there are lots of coral and a few fish. I am trying to get everything set to move it over, but before I do i want to make sure I have all Ill need. I will be getting all she owns and that’s a LOT of stuff so i have been giving myself a crash course. I had a 20 gal tank a few years back but when a sea cucumber, or pineapple or whatever it was called died (damn you LFS employee) It killed everything in the tank and I gave up for a while. We had always used tap water and added chemicals to get rid of the bad stuff. But the more I read the more I think I need to get some sort of purifier. Money is not a huge problem and I’m willing to do what it takes, I just cant find anywhere if its ok to use a softener or if I need a RO/DI unit. Thanks for your help.

 

[cannonman]

get an RO unit. What size tank?

 

[lanceafer]

It is either a 55 or 65 she cant remember and a 20 gal refugum (sorry I cant spell that). By the way thanks for the fast response. It was like 20 seconds.....literally!

 

[cannonman]

Yeah, I wouldn't use the tap water, it may work for a while but you'll probably end up with problems... get an RO unit asap. All those water conditioners are okay... I would use them sometimes for freshwater but not so much for the marine, if you're going to get into it you might as well start off on the right foot and do it right, buy the RO unit.

 

[lanceafer]

That’s what I was thinking. She has every other thing I have ever seen. She wanted to keep the RO unit though because she has a fresh water tank as well. So I figured I might as well do it right the first time and not have to back track.

 

[turningtim]

Does the water softener service the house? I have very high mineral content in my well water so I use a softener for the whole house. I do take the house water and put it through a RO unit. The softener will save the RO membrain from unusual ware though.
Stand alone its not enough but using one before the RO doesn't hurt.
HTH
Tim

 

[jdecter]

Ro/DI units on ---- are under 100.00 and will be all you need to do to your tap water to make it perfect for reefing, well that and add salt but I digress.

 

[lanceafer]

I had planed to put it after the softener like you said TurningTim. But I was kind of hoping you guys would tell me I could same $100-200 on an RO unit......oh well

 

[ecooper]

Folks,
I don't understand why a water softener (purifier) is bad to use for water. I have a house unit from RainSoft that is designed to take everything out of the water (except for a trace amount of salt that actually cleans the other two tanks). I'm just not sure why it would be bad when used with the water treatment for aquariums.
Eric

 

[fbm]

Water softeners do just that, soften water. Removes hard minerals from the water. Does nothing to get rid of the phospates, nitrates, and toxins. That is why you need an RO unit as well. But with a softener it will prolong the life of your membrane substantailly

 

[fender]

Originally Posted by fbm
Water softeners do just that, soften water. Removes hard minerals from the water. Does nothing to get rid of the phospates, nitrates, and toxins. That is why you need an RO unit as well. But with a softener it will prolong the life of your membrane substantailly
x2

 

[1knight164]

Originally Posted by ecooper
Folks,
I don't understand why a water softener (purifier) is bad to use for water. I have a house unit from RainSoft that is designed to take everything out of the water (except for a trace amount of salt that actually cleans the other two tanks). I'm just not sure why it would be bad when used with the water treatment for aquariums.
Eric
I'm not a chemist, but from what I know, water softeners take out all the minerals that causes hardness and replaces them with salt through ion exchange. That's why you have to keep adding salt into your bin. Very unsafe to drink hence the RO system to filter out the salt. What you get is water with no beneficial minerals that you would get from normal tap water. Not the ideal drinking water, but won't hurt you. As mentioned before, these units won't filter out harmful chemicals like phosphate, nitrite, nitrate, ammonia, etc. A whole house filter is often added that uses carbon among other things to filter these chemicals out. These days, water softeners that use pottasium are being used intead of the salt units. You can drink the water without an RO system. Are either safe for your tank? Don't know. But if the water already contains salt from the water softener, mixing according to instructions would result in very high salinity. Again. I'm no expert. Had a water softener and RO system before, but never used it in my tanks. Best bet is to have the water tested by a lab. You may want to check your local water company or pool supply store. Anyway, I know this post is late. Just started. Hope it helps. And if i'm wrong, please correct me.

 

[fbm]

There is very little salt in softened water. Can you taste it? Nope, can you see it with a refractometer, I can't. I don't think it will hurt you at all.

 

[michaeltx]

wont hurt you but might the tank it uses a different type of salt than marine salt and even the softener distributor here sells RO units to with the softners when people have a tank of any kind. He has a reef tank and said he wouldnt put straight softened water in his tank for several reasons. one the salt and 2 he sad the salt may not be pure and have other trace stuff in it that may not be removed.
Mike

 

[1knight164]

Originally Posted by fbm
There is very little salt in softened water. Can you taste it? Nope, can you see it with a refractometer, I can't. I don't think it will hurt you at all.
Let me rephrase. "Not safe for people on low sodium diets". Can't taste the salt, can't measure with refractometer. Sodium ions are exchanged with calcium and magnesium ions that cause hardness (and hard water damage to appliances and plumbing). Again, way beyond my understanding as to how. Just know what MichaelTX mentioned. But the fact that softeners won't filter out phosphates, nitrites, nitrates, ammonia, chlorine, bacteria, etc. you might as well use tap water. I wouldn't use it without RO.

 

[stanlalee]

my home water passes thru a water softener in the garage before going to my R.0. unit and fossets. wont hurt anything but from what I understand it mostly just removes calcium and magnesium to a lesser extent but just about everything else is left in the water.

 

[maeistero]

i had a long discussion on my plumbing problems throughout the house with a regional plumber super. he also runs my local reef club.
the problem with softeners is that they do strip all your trace minerals. most of us in our area will mix some straight tap water into our saltwater to even things up. if you go to your courthouse area in your town you can get a free report, test your brand of salt and even it up to what you want.
in our house we were previously using the cheapest salt in the yellow or blue bags which was causing a huge mold and rust problem in the bathrooms. there are additives tapwater that take care of that in your water as well as FLOURIDE for your teeth. you'll notice your soap in the shower foams up much more and feels better, but the finish on your dishes goes away quicker. your clothes will also fade and thin faster. use the expensive stuff it's ten bucks here, white bag. read all those bags and you'll see. your water will rock your world.
the tradeoff depends strictly on where you live and that report. that will tell you whether to do a full house or split it. my solution after all this is having mine turned way down. a really good plumber will have a chart that you can decide how much you like soft water or not. i plan on splitting into two lines, basement (fish and parlor type game room) and then upstairs (drinking/shower)

 

[ecooper]

Folks,
Thanks for all the feedback on my additional question. We love our water softener (drinking, shower, lack of build-up, etc.). We have a great system (after all of the comparing) that has three tanks (one just for salt - I'll look for the good salt). I probably should have the wather checked to be sure, but it is supposed to take just about everything out - one of the tanks has the carbon, too. We do have the RO in the kitchen with a drinking tap. I'll just keep monitoring. Thanks!
Eric

 

[hatessushi]

agree! water softener + RO unit is what I have, works great although the PH is a bit lower with the softener then without the softener since I did a comparison test.

 

[dragonzim]

I"ve got well water with a water softener. I use that for all my house water needs, drinking, showering, laundry. After the softener I have my RO/DI unit hooked up strictly for water for my tank. The softener does not leave any detectable level of salt in the water. Neither a hydrometer or a refractometer measure any salt at all.