Soften water with chlorhydric acid

[miguelangel]

Hi everyone! I'd like to start with apistrogrammas in my aquarium, I have a 180L tank. I live in Lima, Peru, but water in my city is very hard. TDS has a reading of 440ppm. Has anyone tried to soften water with chlorhydric acid? I know that I could use a RO system but I prefer to avoid it because of water waste.

 

[gerald]

HCl will lower pH but it won't soften the water. Also, TDS is not a measure of hardness. You might have high TDS and low hardness, depending on which dissolved ions are present. Ca+ and Mg+ are the ions that create hardness.

 

[Mike Wise]

Please if you do use HCl to lower pH, DON'T add it directly to the aquarium. Mix it in a separate container first. As Gerald wrote HCl will lower pH, but not lower hardness. It will also increase your electrical conductivity.