Water Softening Pillows... Do They Work?

[Echinoderm]

My water is a little bit too hard and I'm wondering if the pillows actually worth getting.

Are there any other useful techniques to softening water other than expensive RO systems?

 

[Bignose]

They could only work for a short time. Water is "softened" by exchanging the magnesium and calcium ions with other ions, typically potassium and sodium. There will only be so much potassium and sodium that is available on a single pillow, and unless you have a means of recharging it, the exchange ability of any one pillow will be used up very quickly.

I would suspect that it is not worth the money.

 

[Echinoderm]

They could only work for a short time. Water is "softened" by exchanging the magnesium and calcium ions with other ions, typically potassium and sodium. There will only be so much potassium and sodium that is available on a single pillow, and unless you have a means of recharging it, the exchange ability of any one pillow will be used up very quickly.

I would suspect that it is not worth the money.

I bought one but I havn't opened it yet. I can still return.

The directions say to take it out and immerse it in salty water (aquarium salt) every 2 weeks or something. I'm not sure how much it will soften the water.

Is there any harm that this can do to the tank?

 

[Bignose]

Soaking it in salt water is the recharging I was taking about above. Salt water is largely sodium ions, so the pillow will release magnesium and calcium ions and then take up sodium when in the salt water -- a sodium rich environment. Then, when you place it in your hard water, there will be more calcium and magnesium than sodium, and the exchange will happen the other way.

Again, I think that it is a question of scale. I doubt that a very large difference can be made. It will be very impractical for a large tank. And considering you should be doing regular water changes, you will be constantly putting more magnesium and calcium back in anyway.

I think that the best idea is to go with fish that will be fine with harder water. There are plenty out there, and the vast majority will be fine in harder water.

 

[Echinoderm]

Soaking it in salt water is the recharging I was taking about above. Salt water is largely sodium ions, so the pillow will release magnesium and calcium ions and then take up sodium when in the salt water -- a sodium rich environment. Then, when you place it in your hard water, there will be more calcium and magnesium than sodium, and the exchange will happen the other way.

Again, I think that it is a question of scale. I doubt that a very large difference can be made. It will be very impractical for a large tank. And considering you should be doing regular water changes, you will be constantly putting more magnesium and calcium back in anyway.

I think that the best idea is to go with fish that will be fine with harder water. There are plenty out there, and the vast majority will be fine in harder water.

I already have a plan to get puffer fish, but in actuallity, the water isn't that hard. The total hardness is about 80-100ppm. Right now, I have some plants and a log in the tank, so that may help a little. If the pillow helps just a little bit... Also, it's only 15USG.

But thanks for the info

 

[MoneyMitch]

My water is a little bit too hard and I'm wondering if the pillows actually worth getting.

Are there any other useful techniques to softening water other than expensive RO systems?

Use Peat in your filter, it will leech tannins in your water though and needs replaced every month or so. but if you buy a big enough bad of this you will be good for atleast a year.

you do know that by using those pillows or peat or whatever route you go, when ever you mess with the gh or kh of the water (which is what your doing) your ph will also flux hope you know what your getting into here.

 

[merlinblack]

My water is a little bit too hard and I'm wondering if the pillows actually worth getting.

Are there any other useful techniques to softening water other than expensive RO systems?

Use Peat in your filter, it will leech tannins in your water though and needs replaced every month or so. but if you buy a big enough bad of this you will be good for atleast a year.

you do know that by using those pillows or peat or whatever route you go, when ever you mess with the gh or kh of the water (which is what your doing) your ph will also flux hope you know what your getting into here.

Water softening pillows just exchange the calcium & magnesium ions for other ions such as sodium which I think is just as bad.
I have an RO unit but I've heard a possible cheaper alternative mentioned online. Someone said they put a cheap pond liner on his shed roof and collected the rain water from the fall pipe into a drum. You would have to be careful what the surface was that you collected it from and have clean guteer & drum to collect it in but sounds like a good idea to me. The water would need some calcium & magnesium ions adding back to it, either by adding a product such as RO right or just mixing with tap water.

 

[OldMan47]

A rain butt is indeed a way to collect almost pure water. Mine measures about 10 ppm of TDS when I collect rain water off my roof. My RO, with no DI, only puts our 20 ppm water. If your intent is to remove the mineral content of the water, the pillow will do nothing to help. Instead it will substitute sodium ions for calcium and magnesium ions as Bignose said. Another way to think of it is to remember that calcium and magnesium carry two charges, so you are actually releasing two sodium ions, with a single charge, each for each ion of calcium or magnesium that you remove. It is a reason that I have never used a softener for "soft water" fish. Most of them really do better in low mineral content water and the softener does not accomplish that at all. I find it works much better to use RO or rain water to adjust the mineral content of my water while holding the relative ratio of GH and KH constant and holding the pH almost constant.