# Water Softener Effect on Shrimp?



## Symplicity (Oct 14, 2011)

Hey All,
Our new home has very hard water and we needed to get a Water Softener. As a bundle deal I also got a RO system installed.

My question is, does the softener have any side-affects on the water in terms of shrimp health?

I know RO water must be bumped in TDS to replace lost minerals, but does the softener add stuff that needs ex. Seachem Prime to remove?


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Most water softener salts are sodium chloride, using the sodium cation to replace calcium and magnesium cations to make the water soft.

TDS will actually rise due to the replacement of each +2 cation with two sodium cations.

Most water softeners come with a bypass, so when doing water changes, it would be better to bypass the water softener.


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## Dman (May 1, 2012)

I have a water softner aswell and I bypass it when I do water changes, I find The minerals that are in the water I want to stay in them. And by it being softened I'm sure lots is removed... But don't be under the assumption that there's salt going in it, I belive the salt just cleans the filter and is removed. If you do find any ferther information about it please do post


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Dman said:


> I have a water softner aswell and I bypass it when I do water changes, I find The minerals that are in the water I want to stay in them. And by it being softened I'm sure lots is removed... But don't be under the assumption that there's salt going in it, I belive the salt just cleans the filter and is removed. If you do find any ferther information about it please do post


Most water softeners work by ion exchange. A resin binds sodium cations which are exchanged for magnesium and calcium cations when water passes through the resin.

When the resin's supply of sodium cations are depleted, the resin is recharged by passing over a concentrated sodium chloride solution.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_softener#Ion-exchange_resin_devices

Hope this helps,


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