Using Rain Water

[Gav_B_UK]

Just wondering if using rain water as a source of water for a fish tank is acceptable. The rain would be collected from a 'felt' roof on a shed in to a container such as a plastic bin. It would probably take a while between each complete collection, so it may be in the bin for a while...but would probably be used often enough during wet times to do one of the water changes each month.

I am asking this as my mains water has a PH of 8 which is proving hard to find fish that I like and can keep happily in such high PH. I would imagine rain water is a lower. Could I probably mix to get the desired PH?

 

[Joanna69]

Just wondering if using rain water as a source of water for a fish tank is acceptable. The rain would be collected from a 'felt' roof on a shed in to a container such as a plastic bin. It would probably take a while between each complete collection, so it may be in the bin for a while...but would probably be used often enough during wet times to do one of the water changes each month.

I am asking this as my mains water has a PH of 8 which is proving hard to find fish that I like and can keep happily in such high PH. I would imagine rain water is a lower. Could I probably mix to get the desired PH?

Hello

I looked into this too and yes you can, but beware as there can be problems with it. Firstily airborne contaminants in the rainwater - acid rain. Apparently you can avoid these by only collecting water in heavy rain about 30 minutes in once the air has been 'cleaned' by the rain. There's also a problem with contaminants getting in via the guttering and waterbutt - paint, leaves, feathers, dead birds, insects etc etc. According to my reference book ("Tropical Fishlopaedia by Mary Bailey and Peter Burgess) you should at the very least strain your rainwater immediately during or shortly after collection to remove debis and only store it in a non-toxic container AND filter it over carbon before use.

Hope that helps

 

[Taridan]

For worries about acid rain I would think a simple PH test would either solve or confirm any worries on that part of it... and yeah, I would definately recomend using a very fine strainer / carbon stuff to help clean the water just a bit.

 

[cableguy42]

Using rain water is fine i've been using it for a long time now and never had any problems.When your water butt water is in your tank your filters will make it safe for your fish to live in.When taking water out of your butt put a fish net under the tap and that will collect any debris floating around inside.ITS VERY SAFE as i was told to do all of this by my local acquatics who use's the same method.You should have no trouble with nitrates aswell because theres no nitrates in rain water.

 

[andywg]

Rain water is great for south american species of fish and others that like soft acidic water.

It's not so great for keeping lake cichlids, but it is likely to be free of nitrate and phosphate (and chlorine).

 

[nmonks]

I use rainwater without any problems and lots of benefits. The "acid rain" risk is virtually zero unless you live near a factory spewing out sulphur dioxide or something. Think about how much rainwater falls into garden ponds, and yet you don't see dead fish everywhere. Straining out detritus from the gutters is a good idea, and certainly you should buffer the rainwater with a certain amount of tap water because pure rainwater is far too soft for fish or plants.

I wrote a little computer program (called Soft Water Ware) that allows you to quickly figure out the proportions of tap water to rain water (or RO water) you need to get a certain hardness. You can download it here (go to the Aquarium Software link). The program is free, and runs on Macs and Windows PCs.

Cheers,

Neale

 

[Joanna69]

Woo, now I'm getting exciting about using rainwater and kissing my PH8 goodbye. Given I've just started my fishless cycle, I reckon I can start over again, drain out the water I've used and start again with what's in my waterbutt. The only problem is drought. ha ha, I know its been not very doughtlike recently, but say if by mid-August my waterbut is empty and my fishtank needs a water change. What then!!

[EDIT: Just done a PH test from my waterbutt. Its reading about 6.8! Yay, so much better than crappy 8 from my tap. I'm defintely going to use rainwater if all goes to plan]