# softened water?



## mousey (Mar 28, 2011)

My friend has a water softener. When she had guppy fry they grew really quickly so that they had reached full growth in a month.
Her goldfish were bought really tiny and now are the size of baseballs in 2 years.
I on the other hand use tap water that is relatively hard. My guppy fry take 6 months to maturity and my 4 year old goldfish are only the size of ping pong balls. I have 2 fish in a 20 gallon and do weekly water changes. She has 5 goldfish in a 20 gallon and does weekly water changes.
She feeds flake food. I feed sinking pellets, shrimp pellets, and green beans.
I am wondering if the softened water causes the fish to grow faster.
We were laughing that perhaps there are fertilizers and growth hormones in her local water supply as she lives near to the Holland marsh.
Thoughts anyone?


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## bob123 (Dec 31, 2009)

From what I have experienced the faster they grow the sooner they die, are the guppies the same strain also are the goldfish the same type? Food could be a factor but not sure if softer water is the reason for rapid growth. Is the water temperature the same?


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## mousey (Mar 28, 2011)

Yes, the guppies were all from the same batch and the goldfish are the same.


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## bluegularis (May 12, 2010)

*temp*

One thing you do not mention is what is the temperature.

Guppies grow really fast at higher temperatures and they also burn out much quicker.

Guppies prefer harder water and some salt, water softeners replace calcium ions with sodium ions, so this is putting more salt in the water.

Food can be another factor , if your friend feeds 5x per day and you only 1 x this could also be a factor. High protein foods put on body weight much quicker.

Thanks


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## Pruss (Nov 25, 2014)

mousey said:


> My friend has a water softener. When she had guppy fry they grew really quickly so that they had reached full growth in a month.
> Her goldfish were bought really tiny and now are the size of baseballs in 2 years.
> I on the other hand use tap water that is relatively hard. My guppy fry take 6 months to maturity and my 4 year old goldfish are only the size of ping pong balls. I have 2 fish in a 20 gallon and do weekly water changes. She has 5 goldfish in a 20 gallon and does weekly water changes.
> She feeds flake food. I feed sinking pellets, shrimp pellets, and green beans.
> ...


There are too many variables to consider to lay the rapid growth of your friend's fish versus the relative slow growth of yours simply at the feet of soft or hard water.

How are your filtration systems different?
How are you each treating water you add to your tanks during water changes?
What is the mean temperature of your tanks?
What are you feeding your fish, in what volume and how often?

Honestly, even if you and your friend had exactly the same tank, tank location, water quality/chemistry/temperature and feeding regimen (types of food, volume of food provided, and frequency of feeding), you'd still be battling genetics to determine how quickly the fish matured.

If the Holland Marsh is affecting your friend's water supply, I'd hate to wonder what the Pickering Nuke plant is doing to mine! 

-- Pat


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

That's a bit odd. Fish often don't do so well in softened water, because the calcium and magnesium are removed and replaced with sodium instead.. not much like many bodies of water you'd find fish living in. 

I recall when I was in high school and began keeping fish, my Dad, who was putting in a water softener, kindly left the utility sink tap off the softened water system so I'd have a convenient indoor source of unsoftened water for my fish and turtles.


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## Darkside (Sep 14, 2009)

Fishfur said:


> That's a bit odd. Fish often don't do so well in softened water, because the calcium and magnesium are removed and replaced with sodium instead.. not much like many bodies of water you'd find fish living in.
> 
> I recall when I was in high school and began keeping fish, my Dad, who was putting in a water softener, kindly left the utility sink tap off the softened water system so I'd have a convenient indoor source of unsoftened water for my fish and turtles.


I've used softened water on and off my entire life and I have many fish over 10 years in age. There is too much voodoo surrounding the use of softened water for aquaria, including how the ion exchange resin actually works. That said, if you can avoid softened water you may as well... just to be cautious.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

I've read about a couple other people who've used softened water and the fish have been fine too.. clearly it's not as simple as my Dad made it sound all those years ago.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

I know a few people keeping fish in softened water, including rift lake cichlids, without issue. While the calcium may be removed, as I understand it, the TDS can actually be higher then before softening. That may be the reason it has less effect (or none) on what are considered hard water species.


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

Always something new to learn about fish keeping isn't there ?


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## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

I always avoided it, but also did not see too much diferrence while using it.


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