Softening Salt??

[knewby]

I've been told that softening salt can kill your plants. Does it?? I've heard different responses.

[Debbie]

I don't know about killing plants but it is useless for softening the water for discus. What the softening salts do is exchange one salt for another.

[ChloroPhil]

Ditto what Debbie said. :)

[jules]

Don't know about the plants in the tank, but I water my houseplants with water softened by salt all the time and it does not harm them.

[RAWesolowski]

I fill my tanks with straight tap water that has been conditioned by a water softener. No problems for the plants that I can see. In fact I need to thin my crypts and small swords constantly.

[jules]

May I ask what you soften your water with? What brand?
And to what degree are you softening your water? eg- what was the KH/GH initially and what is it now?

thx

[RAWesolowski]

Jules,

I use Cargill's compacted water softener salt. I used to test the KH/GH but I stopped as I have planted tanks without CO2. No danger of crashes or of fry surviving the community.

However, I do have a whole house filter prior to the water softener. Standard cartridge is 20 micron but I use a 5 micron cartridge. Ostensibly it filters anything above 5 microns in size.

It must help as municipal water is 440 - 480 ms, my tap water is 260-275 ms. Remember Jules, softening water has nothing to due with water softness for discus. Softness for discus relates to acidity as well as grains of hardness. I do have RO but rarely use it. RO runs 20 ms and the membranes last very well because of the whole house filter.

[jules]

I am curious as to what concentration of salt you are using as I doubt my freshwater fish could survive in my softened water. ???