Rain water vs Tap water

[BigBurgassio]

I noticed someone mentioned using rain water on another thread, does it have benefits over tap water for aquariums ?

 

[GaryE]

It depends on what the water is, and what the fish are.

I have lived with tap that was over 350ppm and had a pH of 8, then moved to 140ppm and 7.4, followed by 95ppm and pH 7, and now 65-80ppm and a pH around 6.8. Every house I've lived in and turned on the tap, I've gotten different water.

When I kept Malawi andTtanganyikan Cichlids, or North/Central American livebearers, I loved the harder water, as did they. in the first house, at 350ppm, I could only keep hardwater livebearers.

Now I have central/west African rainforest killies, Cichlids, tetras and barbs, and South American fish. They thrive in softer water. I don't need to collect rain, and since I am right on the Atlantic coast, the rain sometimes has a little salt in it anyway. That would defeat the purpose.

In the house with 140ppm tap, I used a lot of rainwater and snow melt, but just for breeding rainforest fish. I would bring down the hardness so the eggs would develop.

So, if you have hard, mineral filled water, and want to keep rainforest species, rain can be useful. As soon as you need it though, it stops raining for a few weeks.

It all depends on your water chemistry from the tap.

 

[Magnum Man]

it's just generally more neutral than a lot of tap waters ( the ground water in my area is extremely hard & alkaline )... depending on your area though, your tap water may be fine, & the rain may not be neutral ( acid rain ) rain can pick up pollutants on it's way to the ground, both factory / auto pollution, or natural... in the US this year, many areas are seeing the effects of Canadian wildfires

 

[BigBurgassio]

it's just generally more neutral than a lot of tap waters ( the ground water in my area is extremely hard & alkaline )... depending on your area though, your tap water may be fine, & the rain may not be neutral ( acid rain ) rain can pick up pollutants on it's way to the ground, both factory / auto pollution, or natural... in the US this year, many areas are seeing the effects of Canadian wildfires

My tap water is listed as moderately soft, would that be similar to rain water ?

 

[BigBurgassio]

Hi, This is some of my water info from Scottish water

 

[Magnum Man]

you are a ways away from Ukraine, but if you were down wind of fires & or bombing, it could effect your rainwater... here, some of the Canadian wildfires, are effecting parts of the US, that are 1000's of miles from the actual fires...

BTW... I couldn't open the water attachment... may be a US thing??? maybe someone from the UK can offer that advice...

 

[Essjay]

The table shows that all the parameters they've measured are well below the maximum allowed levels. Much better water than some areas of the UK.



'Lerwick Shetland' supply zone has hardness 66.35 ppm and 3.72 dH. That's soft, verging on very soft as far as fish keeping is concerned. It's in the 'Water hardness data 2022' pdf here

Water Quality - Scottish Water

Water Quality

www.scottishwater.co.uk

 

[BigBurgassio]

The table shows that all the parameters they've measured are well below the maximum allowed levels. Much better water than some areas of the UK.



'Lerwick Shetland' supply zone has hardness 66.35 ppm and 3.72 dH. That's soft, verging on very soft as far as fish keeping is concerned. It's in the 'Water hardness data 2022' pdf here

Water Quality - Scottish Water

Water Quality

www.scottishwater.co.uk

Thanks for the feedback, is there anything I can do with that water softness ? Of course there will be a wide range of fish I shouldn't keep due to that water softness.

 

[Magnum Man]

I think there are more soft water fish, than hard water actually... some Rainbows & Africans cichlids, & most of the live bearers like harder water, but just about everything else would be fine... & there are additives you can add to the water, or adding something like crushed coral, or limestone can raise you Kh if you think you need it...

 

[Byron]

Agree, there are literally thousands of soft water fish species. Consider yourself very fortunate, we have members who would love this water.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Depending on a few variables, rain water is often close to pure water. So what can it hold?

Dissolved gasses like H2O or CO2.
Lower pH due it becoming acidic.*
Pollution it collects on the way towards the ground.
Pollution added unintentionally during the process used to collect it.

But assuming most or all of the above are not a big deal, then it is close to RO and is usually used as such.

* What is Acid Rain?

Acid rain, or acid deposition, is a broad term that includes any form of precipitation with acidic components, such as sulfuric or nitric acid that fall to the ground from the atmosphere in wet or dry forms. This can include rain, snow, fog, hail or even dust that is acidic.

edited to add the word not, to make it read not a big deal.

 

[BigBurgassio]

Agree, there are literally thousands of soft water fish species. Consider yourself very fortunate, we have members who would love this water.

That's good news to hear my water is so favorable for many different fish