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Re: Potassium supplementation when using Potassium Chloride in a water softener

> Date: Sun, 11 Mar 2001 21:43:10 -0600
> From: "Mixalis Thalassinos" <mixalis420 at home_com>
> 
> I have a 55 gal, moderately planted tank that is at the end of a fishless
> cycle. I'm about to put together a PMDD formulation. Any water that comes
> from my taps has been routed through a water softener, which is unfortunate,
> but there's nothing I can do about it since I live in a rental property. I
> use potassium chloride pellets in the softener instead of sodium chloride.
> In formulating a PMDD recipe, should I leave out potassium?


Are you sure the kitchen cold water tap is routed through the water
softener?  To do so should be a violation of local plumbing codes. 
There should also be at least one outside tap that bypasses the water
softener, but if not, this is probably not a code violation.

My 10 gallon tank has brackish water right now to help fight an ich
outbreak.  It has several small sword plants, some java ferns, duckweed,
and a clump of "giant" hygro.  The plants almost seem to like the salt. 
I would not worry about sodium levels from softened water in a planted
aquarium.  I would be more concerned about the calcium, magnesium,
boron, iron, etc. that are removed by the softener.

The amount of sodium or potasium added to your softened water will be
dependant on the amount of calcium and magnesium removed from the water
-- it is an ion exchange process. You need to find out how much hardness
your local water contains from your utility company. Somebody here
(Chuck?) a month or two ago did some calculations to determine how much
potasium you would gain based on your water analysis.  Maybe you can
find it in the archives?

Best regards,
Bob
--
"I have seen the future and it is just like the present, only longer."
 --Kehlog Albran