# Household Water Softener and Neos



## siulongluiy (Jan 30, 2015)

Good afternoon fellow shrimp lovers!

Anyone have any experience in building a colony of neos with a water softener in their house in ALL their water sources?

Are there specific treatments that you use to counter the soft water or do you use it as regular tap water?

Any insight is appreciated!


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## Splak (May 1, 2013)

I used to work for a water softening company, I can tell you, do NOT use it for shrimp. Without getting into details a lot, its not ideal for them. Where you're main water tank is, you may have a bypass valve that should allow you to collect water before the softener, if possible this would be the ideal route to go.


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## siulongluiy (Jan 30, 2015)

Splak said:


> I used to work for a water softening company, I can tell you, do NOT use it for shrimp. Without getting into details a lot, its not ideal for them. Where you're main water tank is, you may have a bypass valve that should allow you to collect water before the softener, if possible this would be the ideal route to go.


Thanks!!!

I'm not certain but from my understanding it'll be ridiculously hard for me to get regular water as my HWT is stupid large...

Is there a way to "unsoften" the water?!

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## TOtrees (Sep 21, 2017)

I think one of the main issues with a water softener is they leave trace amounts of salt in the water. Repetitive dilution/replacement is the only way to get that out, and that assumes new water is salt-free. 
By hwt do you mean hot water tank? 
You need to find where the municipal water supply comes into your house, and see if there is a tap between there and the softener. Often, outside taps are like that (although that’s of limited help in winter).


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## siulongluiy (Jan 30, 2015)

Thanks again! I'm actually in Stouffville also! 

I've read in various forums that Salty Shrimp will be able to help turn soft water back into harder water. Anyone have experience with that?!?


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## TOtrees (Sep 21, 2017)

In this context, _soft _water and _softened _water are not the same thing. 
Soft water refers to water that is generally low in pH, gH and kH. More specifically, it would typically lack calcium and/or magnesium, therefore have low gH (gH being what we generalize and measure as hardness). 
Softened water is water that has been run through a water softener, usually to reduce hardness. But softened water is not the same as naturally soft water. As I've read it, the issue here (in terms of aquarium keeping) is that softened water can have residual salt from the softener (not much, but enough that some folks claim they can even taste it). 
Your Salty Shrimp product will add minerals, and thus raise hardness of soft water, such as water produced through reverse osmosis. Seachem Equilibrium is another common/popular product that does the same thing. 
But it won't remove any salt that is present. 
Also, typically, softened water still usually has enough hardness that remineralizing isn't necessary. My parents are also in Stouffville, and have a softener, and I've tested the hardness of their water, and it's still pretty high. I think that's because the softener only removes some of the minerals (elements) that contribute to hardness.
Is there no way you can just get water from your house before the softener? Maybe even add a bypass tap? I have neos in a couple of tanks that are straight Stouffville tap water, not softened. They do fine, and breed regularly. 
Two other options are a) add a RO unit, or b) buy RO water (Water Depot by the Mac's Milk has it, you pay around 2.75 for a 5 gallon jug).


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## siulongluiy (Jan 30, 2015)

Thank you for your thorough explanation! Greatly appreciated =)

With that said - maybe I should go and get a tester to see how soft the water actually is - maybe i'm just overthinking it and all is fine...
I definitely don't taste any salt in my water...i have drank from the tap at times but mainly through the fridge filter (is there another filter here to make the water fit for the shrimp?) Water to me tastes sweet and i'm picky as hell with my water =P

I don't see the bypass and apparently even the kitchen water goes through the softener still. If anything, i think the only water is from the tap outside but winter is coming =|

If i do buy RO water - i will have to remineralize it then correct?


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## siulongluiy (Jan 30, 2015)

Another thing to add to the many questions that i have =P

Will a planted tank make any difference? It is being house with the same water and they seem to be fine =)


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## TOtrees (Sep 21, 2017)

If u buy RO, yes u need to remineralize. 
Not sure what u mean about a planted tank. I don’t think plants would change/improve things. 
I have to be honest, I’m sort of at the limit of my ability to guide you further in this. You have a couple of options ahead of you, which we’ve discussed already, but I can’t really tell you which one is right for you, or will or won’t work.
Hopefully, others are reading along and may chime in with more information or details.


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## siulongluiy (Jan 30, 2015)

TOtrees said:


> If u buy RO, yes u need to remineralize.
> Not sure what u mean about a planted tank. I don't think plants would change/improve things.
> I have to be honest, I'm sort of at the limit of my ability to guide you further in this. You have a couple of options ahead of you, which we've discussed already, but I can't really tell you which one is right for you, or will or won't work.
> Hopefully, others are reading along and may chime in with more information or details.


Thank you very much on your insight! I will have to keep researching!!!


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