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Re: Lowering pH when adding hard water nutrients to soft water
Do some of the filter media and/or water additives available add to this
problem? I know that AP makes a water softener pillow which reduces GH, but I
think it exchanges sodium ions for calcium and magnesium ions. Doesn't seem
like it would necessarily be desirable over the long term for this reason. ??
AP also makes a product called Nitra-sorb, which removes ammonia, nitrite or
nitrate during filtration. This gets recharged in a salt solution, so I guess
it exchanges sodium ions as well.
I've been using Seachem's Purigen in a lightly planted tank. This product
gets recharged in bleach, i.e. sodium hypochlorite. Same problem?
Anybody know?
Sylvia
> Salt concentrations will tend to rise over time to the point where the
> amount of salts you remove during one water change is equal to the amount
> you add to the tank with water changes, or between changes with top up,
> fertilizing, feeding, medication and so on. In my house, the older the
> tank, the higher the salt content.
>
> I don't keep or breed fish that are sensitive to salt content, so I don't
> worry about this buildup. If I were breeding sensitive fish in tanks that
> I kept running for years -- or in tanks where I added a lot of dissolved
> salts -- then I'd seriously consider doing the occasional very large water
> change. That would help offset the increase in salt content over time.
> Just using RO for top-up doesn't do the whole job, because it doesn't
> offset the salt that comes from sources other than water changes.