soften tank?

8 posts

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


LDSCHMIDT296713
 
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Jul 20, 2008 2:54 am

soften tank?

by LDSCHMIDT296713

How do you soften you tank?


jweb1369
 
Posts: 547
Joined: Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:55 am

by jweb1369

I think you can only do it chemically with additives.


miami754
 
Posts: 373
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:18 am

by miami754

You can soften it using a mixture of tap water and r/o water. Don't use pure r/o water for a freshwater tank, but you can mix it until you get the right parameters.


gumbii
 
Posts: 1695
Joined: Tue Dec 04, 2007 3:31 am

by gumbii

peat...? or a water softener pillow...?

driftwood...


LDSCHMIDT296713
 
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Jul 20, 2008 2:54 am

by LDSCHMIDT296713

will driftwood work? Thats what I heard, but never knew if it would work or not.


miami754
 
Posts: 373
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:18 am

by miami754

I think driftwood only lowers pH and kH (carbonate hardness). It does not impact gH (general hardness) significantly and gH is what people are talking about when they say a fish prefers "hard" or "soft" water.

The best and recommended way to do it is to mix r/o water with tap water. R/O water has a gH of zero so you just mix it with enough tap water to get the gH you want. I think peat lowers gH as well, but I need to look it up.


LDSCHMIDT296713
 
Posts: 14
Joined: Sun Jul 20, 2008 2:54 am

by LDSCHMIDT296713

R/O...what is that?, Thanks for the help!


miami754
 
Posts: 373
Joined: Sat Feb 23, 2008 9:18 am

by miami754

reverse osmosis - I believe you can buy it at places like Wal-Mart.

soften tank?

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