Reducing GH with Water Softener

[John Sprinkle TBT]

I cannot begin to tell you how much a change using a water softener has made to my koi. Henry has seen some of the results after just a couple of months. For two years I have fought yellowing of the skin and very poor growth from my koi. I had beautifully clear water and great water parameters but my water was very hard in the neighborhood of 420 ppm. After switching to a water softener the shiro on my koi have improved dramatically to the point you would not recognize the same koi. The growth rate is the most amazing part. My koi have essentially doubled in size over the last four months. It is completely amazing. Now I know that they will eventually level off and grow at a normal rate but still I had know idea that GH had this much effect on koi growth.

One thing I would recommend is installing a holding tank for your softened water. I have found that by pumping the softened water into a holding tank a slowly letting it trickle into the pond in a continuous stream has also give me a huge boost in the stability of the pond. I am currently changing about 10% of my water a day. It has made a tremendous difference.

John

[MCA]

John,

You have dropped the pond GH from ~400ppm to ?


Interesting article in latest Koi Nations from Mike Snaden talking about just how soft the mud pond water can be in Niigata.

[John Sprinkle TBT]

I slowly lowered mine to 60 ppm. One of the reasons that I like the constant trickle is because I keep the water very soft. I like the stability that it provides. The incoming water is blended at about 30 ppm. The pond is stabilized at 60-70 ppm. I know this is low and my stocking density is very high now. However I am moving several of my koi off to new homes. I believe that one reason the water jumps to 60 PPM is because of all the scale that has built up in the plumbing and on the pond walls from 4 years of very hard water. I watch the PH like a hawk because I am afraid of a Ph crash. So far everything seems to be very very stable.
John

[John Sprinkle TBT]

One other note. I put in a RO that produced 6000 gallons a day. My first power bill jumped by over 800$ a month. I currently use 2 bags of salt a week for the pond softener they cost me 10.99 each. You do the math. It did not take long for me to make up my mind as to the most cost effective way to soften the water.

I now have a 6000 gallon a day RO for my 2 Ice Machines and the water from the fridge.
John

[JasPR]

It is true, koi do best in moderately hard to soft water with a neutral to slightly alkaline pH. The only issue then is concern of a pH cash in a closed system. Koi put out acids and carbon dioxide and biofilters put out acids and widdle away at the alkaline reserve, which can be unforgiving in a closed system.
The remedies to these concerns are easy however. Just don't over stock and make sure you do your water changes regularly and/or create a semi-open system like John has.

The fish's genetics can be purchased. But that genetics can only be fully realized and preserved over time IF you provide the type of environment that encouages full genetic expression.

It's really that simple. JR

[MCA]

I presented water quality at a seminar this weekend. One of the many topics was GH levels. Amazing how many folks are trying to keep koi in liquid rock (GH >300). Yes, they will survive.....but thrive?

I guess we are lucky to have soft water here in GA.

[koiczar]

Yes, Mike, you're very lucky! Our Gh out of the tap is 300+/- and Kh is between 140-160. My Ph is stable at 8.2-8.3. So, last May, I too added a softener unit back onto the whole house. Got tired of replacing faucet filters every 9-12 months to say nothing of what it does to micro sprinklers in the garden. I have connected the soft water line up to the existing mains water line to the pond to regulate the Gh better as the soft water produced is at 25ppm. I haven't tested it lately ( I know, shame on me) but at last test, the Gh was at 140-150. I still want it lower, say around 100, and will work on that as the temps begin to rise. BTW, my pond is a converted pool with plastered walls. It will be interesting to see if I can reduce the Gh that low or not.

I will agree, also, that the skin quality on my fish was noticeably better within a month after kicking it on. Even my Maruyama kohaku lost it's single scale shimi and no other shimi have shown up since!

Mike

[farne230]

They will be hear tomorrow morning to install the softener and charcoal tank. I thought I would list some water perameters before we start:

Tap water is: KH 214.8ppm, GH 304.3ppm, PH 7.55, ORP 220mv.

Pond Water: KH 125.3ppm, GH 214.8ppm, PH 8.49, DO 9.2, ORP 188mv.

Bob

[Auntiesue]

From my reading and personal experience with my softener, as long as your GH doesn't drop below 40 or 50ppm your PH will not skyrocket. My KH basically has remained unchanged which keeps my ph stable at 7.8.

I also noticed a great change in skin quality and growth after we installed or softener. The whites have really improved and the luster of the skin is right where I want it. Very happy with my decision to do this. I refer to it as the "poor man's alternative to RO". Actually I think it's a better alternative. At least you haven't striped out everything good in the water that the fish need.

[MCA]

Wxcellent point about RO Sue. If someone does start with RO water, they indeed do need to put back some level of minerals, macro and micro nutrients. For example, koi...just like us....need to replace eletrolytes they loss in urine. If we truly remove everything but H2O, koi metabolic functions...will start to dysfunction.

In Feb issue of KOI, Craig Balwin's food article and Rupert Bridge's water quality article (part 3 of the seies) both have some interesting info about minerial and nutrient levels in food and in the water column. That issue is a good read for most hobbists.