I don't have a GH & KH test kit at the moment, but even if boiling tap water would drop very hard water to soft, it would mean boiling every drop of water that ever goes in a tank. That may be doable with very small tanks but it's not practical with anything larger.
My shrimp tank holds around 23 litres. My kettle holds 1.7 litres. That would mean to fill the tank I would need to boil a kettle 14 times, allowing the water to cool to around 25 deg C before adding to the tank. Then water changes would mean boiling 7 kettlefuls of water in advance for every water change and storing it somewhere until it was cool enough. Not to mention that boiling would drive the oxygen out of the water so an air stone would need to be run in the new water before adding it to the tank.
I haven't worked out how much electricity for boiling 7 kettles of water would cost - and it'll be even more after 1 April - compared to the cost of buying RO water. Anyone with a smart meter want to do that calculation? (I don't even know where our in-home display is
)
My shrimp tank holds around 23 litres. My kettle holds 1.7 litres. That would mean to fill the tank I would need to boil a kettle 14 times, allowing the water to cool to around 25 deg C before adding to the tank. Then water changes would mean boiling 7 kettlefuls of water in advance for every water change and storing it somewhere until it was cool enough. Not to mention that boiling would drive the oxygen out of the water so an air stone would need to be run in the new water before adding it to the tank.
I haven't worked out how much electricity for boiling 7 kettles of water would cost - and it'll be even more after 1 April - compared to the cost of buying RO water. Anyone with a smart meter want to do that calculation? (I don't even know where our in-home display is
)
