# Water softener?



## MonochromeTyde (Jul 28, 2010)

Ok, so two years ago, I think, I got my first betta. I kept him in a little gallon bowl and I took care of him religiously. I fed him everyday after school and cleaned out his bowl every three days. But after a month or so I came home to find him dead. This really bothered me because I'd taken such good care of this fish. But after discussing it with my dad, we figured it must've been the salt from our water softener. So almost a year ago I got two more bettas, which I keep in five gal. tanks, and I've been using well water cuz I'm really paranoid about using water from the sink now. But sinse winter started, I've been having to run out to the barn to get the water cuz the hose in the backyard froze, which is frustrating. Sooooo after all that, my question is did my last fish die from the sink water, or was it something completely unrelated? It would be nice not having to walk all the way to the barn and back in the snow carrying a five gallon bucket.


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## ChelseaK (Oct 23, 2010)

Did you use any water conditioners or anything or just straight tap water?


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## MonochromeTyde (Jul 28, 2010)

Well, no, I didn't use any conditioner. At the time I had no idea I needed any or what it even was, haha.


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## bettafish15 (Oct 3, 2010)

That could have been why he died, most likely. I'd try using the tap water with conditioner for them, and have a bucket of your well water ready to put him in just in case.


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## MonochromeTyde (Jul 28, 2010)

Alrighty, I'll try that tomorrow when I clean Keahi's tank. Thank you both for your help.


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## kfish (Oct 5, 2010)

We have a water softener and we've never had any problem with our fish. In fact, they seem to outlive their expectancies by years. We've had a clown fish for 7 years. He wasn't a baby when we got him, either; he's actually an ocean catch (it's Nemo!). And one of our tetras has been around for 8 years, another for 6.

I don't think it was your water softener!


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

The home water softeners usually just change one Ion for another that is worse for fish long term health....I would continue to use your well water...it has all the wonderful minerals that the fish need for good health and usually you don't even need a dechlorinater with well water unless you have high levels of heavy metal and even then they may not be problematic to the fish....they will tell you if they are by their erratic behavior...I have well water and have never had any problems...with that said...every ones well water is different.....but if your fish are thriving in your well water...why change and risk it......


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## MonochromeTyde (Jul 28, 2010)

Well dang...this is problematic...but I think I will go ahead and try the sink water. If he starts acting strange in any way, I'll change it back.


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## luvem (Dec 27, 2010)

I have well-water with salt conditioner for hard water only. All the things they check for were fine except for hard water. My fish are doing fine; except for the snails. I finally decided it was the salt that was killing them. I have a 5 gal. and now a 10 gal. and plan to use spring water from Walmart in the smaller one and keep a snail in it. I bought an API test kit that a lot of people were recommending and test the water every 2-3 days. If ammonia or nitrates show up, I do a 25-50% water change; adding a half tsp. of stress coat to the water. Good luck with your reg. water.....too cold to go so far. (If you can, the Spring water at Walmart is only 78 cents a gal.)


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

To be a good keeper of fish you must first be a good keeper of water, to understand water, how it affect the fish and fish health...long term......

More to water than meets the eye....you also have minerals that freshwater fish need that can be missing from filtered water due to the filtration process and unless it is replaced it can affect the fish long term health.....70 cents is not much unless you look at it that you may be spending 2-3 dollars a week along with 50 cents to 1 dollar for the added minerals to the filtered water you just bought that took them out...this will add up in time.......why spend 20 dollars a month when it could cost you only pennies a month by using your well water or city water along with a dechlorinator that overall is better for the fish...not to mention the shock issues you can have with sudden pH changes.....just sayin......


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## ilovebunnies (Oct 11, 2010)

So confused. Is water from the water softener safe or not? That is what we have for our house. We got it because our well water was brown (from the iron). So I'm so confused now because this is the only alternative from buying gallons of water from the store. It's not safe for the fish???


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## luvem (Dec 27, 2010)

Sorry for the confusion.... Everyone here is speaking from there own experiences and there are lots of them.  I have found that _my_ water softener has been safe for _my_ fish (not my snails!  ) The only reason I'm going to get spring water is so that I can keep a snail in my 5 gal. tank. It's already cycled so once I do a 100% change, I will only be replacing 25% of the water every 2-4 days. That's only about a gal a week so _for me_, it's worth it. I do use Stress Zyme and Stress Coat everytime I add/change water. I make sure the water is close to the same temp as what's in the tank.

Anyway, good luck darlin'. Keep us posted!


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