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hey guys quick question

im upgrading to a new tank (60 gal) and was wondering if i could use my faucet water the only thing that worries me is that my faucet is that my water supply has a water softener and i think i read some where that soft water is bad for turtles something about soft water is missing the minerals that the turtles need!

if so is there anyway i can use my soft water by maybe adding "minerals"?

sorry for the noobie question

Thanks in Advance!

Water softener does remove some minerals and other things. Turtles however do not need the minerals in the water. The issue is PH. Water that is too soft will not maintain a stable PH. It usually drops low.

Chances are you can just use your softened water as-is. If you notice fluctuations in the PH you may need to buffer your water.

You can measure how soft your water is with a TDS meter ($15). You can use a drop based kit ($5) to measure your PH, or if you want to spend some bucks you can get a Pinpoint brand PH digital probe ($90). DO NOT use the dip strips to measure anything. They are not accurate at all.

If you find that you do need to buffer you water (add minerals and salts back in) Kent makes a product called "RO right" and Brightwell makes "Remineraliz"

that helped alot

thank you!!!

We just got a water softner too. I'm on city water that's very hard. I hope to start using it for my tanks as well. The bottled water I use test very low phbut my tanks always test higher. Is that strange?

Do you remember the number for those tests?

steve wrote:Do you remember the number for those tests?

I remember the color.....straight from the bottle it was yellow I think that's like a 4-5 (I'm at work and can't look at my test kit) in my tanks its always blue I think that's 7.4. I have the API master kit. My tank tests reg ph at the top of the scale and high ph at the bottom of that scale.

VeipaCray wrote:Water softener does remove some minerals and other things. Turtles however do not need the minerals in the water. The issue is PH. Water that is too soft will not maintain a stable PH. It usually drops low.

Veipacray does the water softner remove chlorine? I have a new water softner on city water (it's very hard) we also installed a carbon house filter before the softner. I'm very excited to not have to get bottled water anymore but I'm also very cautious about doing a water change with new water. I need to do a large water change soon.