changing the water

[Annie]

Hi,

I bought two new buckets yesterday ready for my first water change this
weekend. How long should I stand the water before adding it to the tank?
My water comes out after being through a water softener. I am not 100%
certain how much (if any) chlorine or other greeblies are left in the water.
We don't have reverse osmosis on yet but are considering it further down the
track.

The biggest problem with our regular tap water and the reason we got the
softener is our water is extremely hard and contains a LOT of calcium and
chlorine. Calcium staining is a huge problem for us which is why we first
filled our tank with the softened water from the outset. The tank is two
weeks old and so far, no fish have carked it.

We were also instructed to add water conditioner (blue crystals) to our tank
on initial set up. I don't exactly know what this does. Do I need to add
softener to the new water?

I am visiting our LFS this arvo to buy a proper water testing kit but their
info isn't always reliable. Only problem with that though, they are the
only FS within 1600km!

Thanks

[Dick]

On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 06:07:11 GMT, "Annie" > wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I bought two new buckets yesterday ready for my first water change this
>weekend. How long should I stand the water before adding it to the tank?
>My water comes out after being through a water softener. I am not 100%
>certain how much (if any) chlorine or other greeblies are left in the water.
>We don't have reverse osmosis on yet but are considering it further down the
>track.
>
>The biggest problem with our regular tap water and the reason we got the
>softener is our water is extremely hard and contains a LOT of calcium and
>chlorine. Calcium staining is a huge problem for us which is why we first
>filled our tank with the softened water from the outset. The tank is two
>weeks old and so far, no fish have carked it.
>
>We were also instructed to add water conditioner (blue crystals) to our tank
>on initial set up. I don't exactly know what this does. Do I need to add
>softener to the new water?
>
>I am visiting our LFS this arvo to buy a proper water testing kit but their
>info isn't always reliable. Only problem with that though, they are the
>only FS within 1600km!
>
>Thanks
>
No advice on water problem, I am surprised you are using a commercial
water softner for your water problem. Don't they use salt? Lots of
it? I assume you did your research before getting the softner.

I hope someone has suggestions about the mineral deposits. I keep
wiping, but never getting it all. It doesn't bother the fish, but the
deposits on the tank, filter, heater are ugly to look at. The glass
and the plastic tank covers are always getting more frosted.

As for getting supplies, I have no LFS within 200 miles. Everything I
buy is over the internet: fish, plants, food, medicines, etc. No need
to limit your choices to the one local fish store.

Good luck, I will read with interest other responses and hopefully an
update from you.

[jonboy]

Dick: What is your mortality rate with live fish being shipped? Also, how
do they package live fish? I thought about doing it but fish are so
temperamental that I just figured it wasn't a good idea. Who did you buy
from?

Thanks

"Dick" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 06:07:11 GMT, "Annie" > wrote:
>
> >Hi,
> >
> >I bought two new buckets yesterday ready for my first water change this
> >weekend. How long should I stand the water before adding it to the tank?
> >My water comes out after being through a water softener. I am not 100%
> >certain how much (if any) chlorine or other greeblies are left in the
water.
> >We don't have reverse osmosis on yet but are considering it further down
the
> >track.
> >
> >The biggest problem with our regular tap water and the reason we got the
> >softener is our water is extremely hard and contains a LOT of calcium and
> >chlorine. Calcium staining is a huge problem for us which is why we
first
> >filled our tank with the softened water from the outset. The tank is two
> >weeks old and so far, no fish have carked it.
> >
> >We were also instructed to add water conditioner (blue crystals) to our
tank
> >on initial set up. I don't exactly know what this does. Do I need to
add
> >softener to the new water?
> >
> >I am visiting our LFS this arvo to buy a proper water testing kit but
their
> >info isn't always reliable. Only problem with that though, they are the
> >only FS within 1600km!
> >
> >Thanks
> >
> No advice on water problem, I am surprised you are using a commercial
> water softner for your water problem. Don't they use salt? Lots of
> it? I assume you did your research before getting the softner.
>
> I hope someone has suggestions about the mineral deposits. I keep
> wiping, but never getting it all. It doesn't bother the fish, but the
> deposits on the tank, filter, heater are ugly to look at. The glass
> and the plastic tank covers are always getting more frosted.
>
> As for getting supplies, I have no LFS within 200 miles. Everything I
> buy is over the internet: fish, plants, food, medicines, etc. No need
> to limit your choices to the one local fish store.
>
> Good luck, I will read with interest other responses and hopefully an
> update from you.
>
>

[Annie]

"Dick" > wrote in message
...
> On Fri, 05 Mar 2004 06:07:11 GMT, "Annie" > wrote:
>
> >Hi,
> >
> >I bought two new buckets yesterday ready for my first water change this
> >weekend. How long should I stand the water before adding it to the tank?
> >My water comes out after being through a water softener. I am not 100%
> >certain how much (if any) chlorine or other greeblies are left in the
water.
> >We don't have reverse osmosis on yet but are considering it further down
the
> >track.
> >
> >The biggest problem with our regular tap water and the reason we got the
> >softener is our water is extremely hard and contains a LOT of calcium and
> >chlorine. Calcium staining is a huge problem for us which is why we
first
> >filled our tank with the softened water from the outset. The tank is two
> >weeks old and so far, no fish have carked it.
> >
> >We were also instructed to add water conditioner (blue crystals) to our
tank
> >on initial set up. I don't exactly know what this does. Do I need to
add
> >softener to the new water?
> >
> >I am visiting our LFS this arvo to buy a proper water testing kit but
their
> >info isn't always reliable. Only problem with that though, they are the
> >only FS within 1600km!
> >
> >Thanks
> >
> No advice on water problem, I am surprised you are using a commercial
> water softner for your water problem. Don't they use salt? Lots of
> it? I assume you did your research before getting the softner.
>
> I hope someone has suggestions about the mineral deposits. I keep
> wiping, but never getting it all. It doesn't bother the fish, but the
> deposits on the tank, filter, heater are ugly to look at. The glass
> and the plastic tank covers are always getting more frosted.
> Good luck, I will read with interest other responses and hopefully an
> update from you.
>
Dick,

Water softeners only use salt to regenerate not to produce clean soft water.
I had been told many many times that softened water contained salt but
honestly, the water does not taste one bit salty and the installer explained
the process of how the whole thing works and it's a HUGE misdemeaner that
there is salt in the water. Basically, hard water comes in to the big tank
which is filled full of this silica stuff which filters out most of the
greeblies such as calcium (which is the number 1 reason we bought it).
After a certain amount of bad water has been filtered (so many thousand
litres - about every 3 - 5 days depending on our water usage), the system
regenerates by syphoning salty water from a brine tank through the big tank
to clean all the greeblies that are stuck to the silica off and it then
rinses the salt out -- it uses something like 300litres for this process.

We have lived in this house for about 12 years and the calcium stains in our
bathroom and kitchen were horrendous. We got a new kitchen a couple of
months ago and the new bathroom is coming either this year or next.

Annie