I'm Doing The Research And I'm Confusing Myself Now!

[Jozlyn]

Ok, I've worked out so far tap water is no good and that I need to use RO water, I'm sort of fine with that.

But can I use my tank water (rain water) that we collect for our drinking and cooking needs?

 

[Jozlyn]

Bump

 

[SkiFletch]

Well, there are two dangers to using rainwater. First, airborne pollutants causing things like acid rain. I'm not sure what part of australia that is, but if you're in a generally rainwater pollutant free zone, I wouldnt be suprised if simple carbon filtration wasn't enough to protect it.

More importantly though, what is the tank made out of, and are there any brass or copper fittings on the tank. Leeching copper in the water would of course be bad for inverts...

You could buy a small "booster pump" otherwise known as a gear pump, to provide enough pressure to push the water through an RO unit. You could plumb the waste line back into the tank (as the waste is safe for eating/drinking/etc) and just use the RO discharge for your tank. That would be by far and away the safest option.

 

[Jozlyn]

Well, there are two dangers to using rainwater. First, airborne pollutants causing things like acid rain. I'm not sure what part of australia that is, but if you're in a generally rainwater pollutant free zone, I wouldnt be suprised if simple carbon filtration wasn't enough to protect it.

More importantly though, what is the tank made out of, and are there any brass or copper fittings on the tank. Leeching copper in the water would of course be bad for inverts...

You could buy a small "booster pump" otherwise known as a gear pump, to provide enough pressure to push the water through an RO unit. You could plumb the waste line back into the tank (as the waste is safe for eating/drinking/etc) and just use the RO discharge for your tank. That would be by far and away the safest option.

LoL I'm sorry but I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about in your last paragraph!

As for acid rain, we don't have that around here, in fact until recently we hadn't had any decent rain in a VERY long time.

The tank will be glass, as for the rest I don't have anything yet, but my knowledge of FW fish already tells me how dangerous copper is and it wont be going anywhere near this tank!

Why do I still need an RO unit if I'm using rain water?

 

[n3ont3tra]

until recently we hadn't had any decent rain in a VERY long time.
Why do I still need an RO unit if I'm using rain water?

Won't you run out of water?

 

[AK77]

Hi Jozlyn,

I think Ski was refering to the rainwater tank, as opposed to your aquarium.

What is the rainwater tank made from?
Are there any copper/brass fittings on that which could potentially leech copper into the water?
How is the rainwater collected? (IE does it run off a roof down a drainpipe into the rainwater tank?)
If it does run off a roof, what are the roofing tiles made of?

 

[SkiFletch]

Lol, yeah thats what I meant

 

[steelhealr]

Rain water is not pure..it collect pollutants on the way down, whatever it hits. If you use a collecting system, it will most likely pickup heavy metals or other things that may lead to algae blooms, etc. RO/DI water..or..distilled..is the safest, best way to fill your tank and the BEST way to make your marine keeping as trouble free as possible.

SH

 

[AK77]

I do agree with Steel.

It is always best to err on the side of caution. Rainwater will dissolve any pollutants from the air as it falls and whatever it lands on. If you have factories or industrial plants nearby, you can guarantee the crap they are chucking out will get dissolved into the water. If your rainwater is collected from your roof via guttering into a water butt, then its possible that your roof is covered with bird poop too, as well as a vast array of airborne contaminents which settles on the roof too.

At the risk of introducing harmful chemicals or bacteria/pathogens into a full stocked aquarium, for the sake of a few bucks.. I'd go with an R/O unit.

 

[Jozlyn]

until recently we hadn't had any decent rain in a VERY long time.
Why do I still need an RO unit if I'm using rain water?

Won't you run out of water?

Luckily enough we've had just enough rain, at the right time that we haven't so far, we do have town water as well that we use for the shower, washing and toilet.

Hi Jozlyn,

I think Ski was refering to the rainwater tank, as opposed to your aquarium.

What is the rainwater tank made from?
Are there any copper/brass fittings on that which could potentially leech copper into the water?
How is the rainwater collected? (IE does it run off a roof down a drainpipe into the rainwater tank?)
If it does run off a roof, what are the roofing tiles made of?

He, he, he, easy to mix up the "tanks"!

The outside water tank's made out of gal' as is the roof and guttering.

There's no copper or brass fittings, they're all plastic.

The water's collected off the roof of the house and a couple of out buildings.

 

[Jozlyn]

I do agree with Steel.

It is always best to err on the side of caution. Rainwater will dissolve any pollutants from the air as it falls and whatever it lands on. If you have factories or industrial plants nearby, you can guarantee the crap they are chucking out will get dissolved into the water. If your rainwater is collected from your roof via guttering into a water butt, then its possible that your roof is covered with bird poop too, as well as a vast array of airborne contaminents which settles on the roof too.

At the risk of introducing harmful chemicals or bacteria/pathogens into a full stocked aquarium, for the sake of a few bucks.. I'd go with an R/O unit.

We live in the middle of nowhere! No factories or anything anywhere near us, the neareast would easily be 100's of km's from us.

Not a lot of bird poo on the roof, just a little under the tv arials, there's mainly dust.

We're going to put a filter on the kitchen tap (mainly to get rid of the mosquito larvae!), would that be sufficient to make the water safe? Or should I still get one of these RO units?

 

[AK77]

Tap water filters probably won't remove enough impurities to make it suitable for marine use, although it does depend on whats in your tapwater to begin with and the quality of the filter. The gravity filters usually take more out but are much slower. Either way you will still need to get a TDS meter to ascertain the salt levels in either the filtered water, rainwater or if you decide to get an RO machine.

Personally though, I'd go for an RO machine. That way you know the water is free from pollutants and bacteria and will save all the headaches. Just remember to test your RO water every now and then to ensure the filters are functioning properly or if they require flushing/replacing.

 

[Jozlyn]

Tap water filters probably won't remove enough impurities to make it suitable for marine use, although it does depend on whats in your tapwater to begin with and the quality of the filter. The gravity filters usually take more out but are much slower. Either way you will still need to get a TDS meter to ascertain the salt levels in either the filtered water, rainwater or if you decide to get an RO machine.

Personally though, I'd go for an RO machine. That way you know the water is free from pollutants and bacteria and will save all the headaches. Just remember to test your RO water every now and then to ensure the filters are functioning properly or if they require flushing/replacing.

Okey doke, thanks, that decision is now made! On with the research!

 

[SkiFletch]

Before you go gung-ho on purchasing an RO unit, make sure you have enough water pressure to run one. Anything less than 30PSI is going to be painfully slow an ineffective. Hence I suggested using a booster pump if neessary to raise the pressure in the line.

 

[AK77]

How much do the booster pressure units run to these days Ski? I got a 6 stage Aqua-Safe RO unit coming next week. I'll be sorely p!$$ed off if I have to get a pressure unit too.

I figured in the long run it was cheaper to get an RO unit than keep going to my LFS. 15p a litre adds up over time. I've already £26 on water and the tank has only been up and running a few weeks

**edit**

£65. I hope my mains pressure is up to the job.