Home water softeners and saltwater aquariums??

[pjoziasse]

If you have a water softener that uses salt, it displaces calcium ions naturally occuring in the water with sodium ions taken from the salt. The sodium helps the water feel "softer", but is not beneficial for human health (high blood pressure), so in most installations the water softener is plumbed to supply water to the water heater, showers, laundry, and bathrooms, but not to the kitchen sink (the cold water tap is usually assumed to be the source of water for human consumption) or to the outside taps (waste of soft water). Check if that is the case in your new home. If not, you might want to have the plumbing redone.
If you have an RO/DI unit, connect the source to an unsoftened water line, either before the water softener take-off, or from the cold water kitchen sink line.