Anyone using water softened tapwater in their reef?

[tang daddy]

It's not a debate of which water is better but the answer was posted a few threads back the water softener is probably not good to use on reef tanks, so what I was saying is why go half and half, either you use Ro or don't....

[Nano]

Originally Posted by Beverly

Still not getting into any aspect of the great RO vs. tapwater debate. Find another thread for that, guys

Yup, thought of that - the outdoor taps will not be plumbed into the water softener.

I just got my RO yesterday, I think the unit is about $129~ I personally havent hooked up yet, but its on the honey do list for the weekend, I can't wait to see how things change from using a mix of tap and RO, to straight RO
personally, I would get the RO unit then you dont need to mix with tap water thus reversing the effects of RO.
hows the tank doing BTW Bev?

[Madmak]

I used untreated well water with the cheapest salt 20 years ago and things lived and died.

Today I use a whole home Kinetico de-chlorinator and softener, a Vertex RO/DI, and high end salt and things still live and die.

IMO the most important thing is to know what you're working with.

[bignose]

Compare the cost of the RO(DI?) to store bought. It's probably cheaper to run RO and you can keep the dirty water for whatever. I live in Edmonton and I've never compared the price and I don't keep my dirty RO/DI water lol. But it's worth thinking about.

[Megalodon]

Originally Posted by bignose

Compare the cost of the RO(DI?) to store bought. It's probably cheaper to run RO and you can keep the dirty water for whatever.

It is, for sure! Don't buy the expensive hobby-brand either (sans DI), as you can get an RO unit for drinking water for relatively cheap, then just add on the DI cartridge.