softener

Has anyone tried these? Are they useful if the fish you keep are soft-water fish (mostly new world cichlids, cats, characins, plus SE Asian stuff)? Jeremy wants discus and also wants some sort of water filtration for the showers in the house because the hard water bothers his skin. I'm...

Has anyone ever tried these? I was thinking of getting a couple for my 29 gallon - one to put in the filter and one to place in a bucket to prep water for changes. They seem like an affordable alternative to an RO unit when dealing with smaller tanks.