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Post by merryfield on Mar 13, 2019 15:08:58 GMT -5
I have well water and a softener. I understand that using softened water for an aquarium is not recommended because of the sodium content. I’m able to access water before it goes to the softener. However, coming directly from the well, the water temperature is very cold. Too cold to add to an aquarium for water changes. I suppose I could put it into 5 gallon containers to warm up to room temp, but I worry about leaching from the plastic. Or am I being overly concerned about the plastic? Please advise. Thank you
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Post by Carl on Mar 14, 2019 8:37:24 GMT -5
Most plastic is safe. I've used rubbermaid containers for decades to store RO and saltwater for aquariums.
What I do recommend is washing the container in a brine/salt solution before the first use (& use a container that will only be used for this purpose)
Carl
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Mar 15, 2019 11:08:17 GMT -5
If your doing 10-20% water changes, cold water shouldn't be a real problem.
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Post by kagome on Mar 15, 2019 20:17:13 GMT -5
And it's not just the salt content.
The softener puts the water in a state where you can't get minerals to dissolve in it again. So it strips the minerals out, but then if you try to add them back in, like with Wonder Shells or Seachem Replenish, they won't dissolve in the water. (Holy run on sentences, Batman!)
Fish need minerals in the water to replace the ones their bodies metabolize. (BTW, I learned all that from Carl)
So water softener water is bad all the way around.
Fish are actually less stressed by the temperature going down suddenly than going up.
Usually, the big problem with plastics outgassing into water is plastics containing BPA when they get heated. Like a water bottle left out in the sun. I have also used Rubbermaid containers or paint buckets (empty ones from Home Depot that were never used for paint) to hold water with no noticeable trouble.
I also have a buddy who uses a Rubbermaid trash can as a sump (an idea he stole from one of Carl's videos). He's had the thing running with lights and macro-algae and biomedia for a couple of years. I'll ask him if I can share pictures some time.
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Post by Carl on Mar 16, 2019 10:11:24 GMT -5
And it's not just the salt content. The softener puts the water in a state where you can't get minerals to dissolve in it again. So it strips the minerals out, but then if you try to add them back in, like with Wonder Shells or Seachem Replenish, they won't dissolve in the water. (Holy run on sentences, Batman!) Fish need minerals in the water to replace the ones their bodies metabolize. (BTW, I learned all that from Carl) So water softener water is bad all the way around. Fish are actually less stressed by the temperature going down suddenly than going up. Usually, the big problem with plastics outgassing into water is plastics containing BPA when they get heated. Like a water bottle left out in the sun. I have also used Rubbermaid containers or paint buckets (empty ones from Home Depot that were never used for paint) to hold water with no noticeable trouble. I also have a buddy who uses a Rubbermaid trash can as a sump (an idea he stole from one of Carl's videos). He's had the thing running with lights and macro-algae and biomedia for a couple of years. I'll ask him if I can share pictures some time. So well stated! Time to start the blog asap! With Wonder Shells, you can literally see the shell just "slough off" and not disolve Carl
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Post by merryfield on Mar 25, 2019 19:34:05 GMT -5
Hi Carl, devonjohnsgard, and kagome! Thank you for the advice about water temp and storing water! I just bought two 6-gallon food grade containers to store my well water in. No BPA. By Ozark Trail. Made in Canada. Got them at Walmart in the sporting goods area. About $14 a piece. Very nice. Streamline. Janis Attachments:
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Post by devonjohnsgard on Mar 26, 2019 10:23:22 GMT -5
Very cool!
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Post by kagome on Mar 26, 2019 13:45:23 GMT -5
Oh hey! I used those for storing drinking water after hurricanes. You never know when we'll be under a boil order for a week or so after a storm. I've still got mine. Those things are really tough. After Hurricane Ivan, we would tote them up to the Red Cross station and they would fill them up for us (we were under a boil order and had no power for 3 weeks!).
I can definitely tell you that they're great. Mine are older, so they probably do have BPA, but beggars can't be choosers after a natural disaster. But, they've been kicked around, gone camping and generally abused for well over a decade and I have had no issues with leaks. My hurricane supplies are currently buried or I'd take a quick pic for you.
Hoping that you'll be using these for years, too.
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