Hard Water

[dsrtlzrd32]

I have a 600 gallon system and in one week I have had to add ~70 gallons due to evaporation. The water around here is kind of hard and we get severe calcium deposit build up on everything. I an even noticing a film building up on my clay rocks too. I was wondering if this will be a problem with the water evaporating and possibly building up a high concentration of deposits left behind in the system.

I thought doing periodic water changes will help solve the problem, but kind of a nuisance. I also saw this dechlorinator http://www.amazon.com/Rainshowr-GG-2010-Garden-Filter-System/dp/B000N4K4H2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1364324228&sr=8-2&keywords=hose+dechlorinator and one of the user comments was that it also removes calcium and magnesium (???). Not sure it is an accurate statement or not, but if it is maybe it would help. Or would it deprive my plants of those nutrients?

Anyone have any ideas if this could be a problem and ideas for solutions. Thanks all. ;)

[badflash]

Set things up so water changes are easy. That will be the least expensive option. Figure out how to cut down on evaportation. Covering the fish tank and setting your max grow bed water height below the top of the gravel.

Filtering minerals out of water is a very pricey thing to do.

[dsrtlzrd32]

Thanks badfalsh, I don't want to filter the minerals if I don't have to. Water changes are easy to do but a nuisance for the fact that you are wasting a lot of water depending on how frequently I will need to do them. Plus, then if I am changing that much water at one time I will need to filter the chlorine out of the water before it goes in so it won't effect the fish (if my thinking is correct). I am going to build a cover for the system to reduce some of the sun during the hot part of the day so that should help.

I have a hard water test kit coming so I can keep track of it but I am probably just worrying unneccessarily. :)

[keith_r]

what are you doing large water changes for?
10% loss through evap is about right, i've topped up with tap water for that much with no issues - i've actually done up to 25% with no problems

[dsrtlzrd32]

Yeah, I have just been adding water for my fill ups now and it is fine. I was just wondering if I would get a buildup of mineral deposits (mainly calcium) in the system over time because our water is hard. Good to hear that my evaporation loss is normal. I was a little concerned. Thanks:)

[Apollo]

Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong...I'm fairly new at all of this.

Before your system finishes cycling...your PH levels are high. When your bio filter finally kicks in, it will bring the PH levels down. At some point you need to add egg shells to your FT to buffer your PH levels back up to a safe level. If egg shells are mainly calcium and calcium is needed to buffer your PH levels back up wouldn't your system naturally remove the calcium build up all by itself? At that point you would need to start treating your low PH level with egg shells.

I know there are many of you guys that can help out and you probably covered this before...once more would be appreciated. Thanks

[David - WI]

You might consider planting some vegetables like soybeans, okra, spinach, broccoli, celery, etc that are naturally high in calcium... they have to get the calcium from somewhere; somewhere might as well be the water in your system.