Female Betta in community tank

[James7]

That’s not bad, I thought that they were in the region of £200!

I guess the question is how do you calculate it!

 

[Essjay]

I have seen the API softener pillow, but it has very mixed reviews

These pillows are ion exchange resins which are recharged with common salt. Ths means that they exchange the hardness minerals with sodium. This is not good as no fresh water fish have evolved in water with a lot of sodium in it. I would not use one.

As for calculating how much RO to use, you know the GH or your tap water, and the GH you want to end up with. We know your GH is 14 dH and if you wanted dH 7 that would mean half tap and half RO premixed before putting it in the tank. One quarter RO and three quarters tap would give 10.5 dH.
Then either start with a mix of slightly less RO than you intend at the first water change, then increase to the % you want at the next (just so you don't go all the way at the first water change); or if the mix you want to use doesn't contain a large amount of RO, start with the mix you intend using.

 

[James7]

Thanks essjay, you have been very helpful once again, I was a little skeptical about the pillow and how it works! I will definitely be looking into going down the RO route. Just need to see if it is best to buy a filter or buy the water from LFS.