Who Does And Who Doesn't

[gunman]

I didn't use to but I do now, I dipped my water with tetra strips which indicates chlorine, even after a week it was showing traces, now i show no traces. I'm sure someone will be along with the arguement 'strips aren't accurate', but my findings are good enough for me .

 

[razer121]

Always use it without fail fish seem to flick everything if i dont!

 

[Mo1959]

Always use it too. I can actually smell the chlorine if I turn my tap on hard!!!

 

[the biffster]

Is rain water suitable for using? Without the need to add anything to it?

James.

i would ask WD i would say yes but
up will have to mix it with tap water
and watch your pH

 

[Mr Spoon]

I only use it for large water changes over 25%

 

[fishy55599]

i dont atm coz the tank is very mature.
But i will wen i get a bigger tank as it will be new, so it better for the fish then.
And i will use it in my matured tanks also as im gonna get a pair of musk turtles, which are £50 for both. I defenetally wouldnt risk it with them.

 

[fluttermoth]

I voted yes. Dechlorinator is so cheap (if you buy a pond one that's concentrated) it seems silly to risk the fish (and my bacteria colonies!) for the sake of a few pence.

I do use rainwater, as I'm on a water meter, and with five tanks on the go, that's a lot of water I get through! I do worry about pH drops, so I tend to do one or two WCs with rainwater and then one with tap. If I'm doing a rainwater WC, I just use a bit of dechlor in the hot tap water I use to take the chill off.

 

[Tropicoll]

Is rain water suitable for using? Without the need to add anything to it?

James.

It may well have no chlorine/chloramine but you don't know what else is in the rainwater. Think about the industrial pollutants collected in clouds from factories, offices, cars etc. I would (and do) stick to the known quantities of tap water.

I voted yes to dechlor too by the way. Currently use Tetra (I think - yellow bottle) but will get some PRIME for when this bottle runs out. only got 54 litre and 44 litre tank so adding dechlor takes literally seconds.

 

[Monty-2010]

Seachem Prime!

 

[james_fish]

Is rain water suitable for using? Without the need to add anything to it?

James.

It may well have no chlorine/chloramine but you don't know what else is in the rainwater. Think about the industrial pollutants collected in clouds from factories, offices, cars etc. I would (and do) stick to the known quantities of tap water.

I voted yes to dechlor too by the way. Currently use Tetra (I think - yellow bottle) but will get some PRIME for when this bottle runs out. only got 54 litre and 44 litre tank so adding dechlor takes literally seconds.

Yes that was considered. My area's rainwater contains pollutants from the industrial scene in Ireland.

James.

 

[Mikaila31]

I use it.

Leaving unconditioned water to stand will remove chlorine but what about heavy metals? Wouldn't risk it.

James.

Well not all water conditions remove heavy metals anyway. Also if you have plants they could use those heavy metals. I run densely planted tanks half of which get EI fertilizing. Heavy metals are not all bad. There are considerable amounts in the fertilizers I add to the tank. Because when it comes down to it a lot heavy metals are important trace minerals for plants and fish. Iron is probably the most important heavy metal. Deficiencies in iron can be crippling to plants, fish, and humans. I've dealt personally with it before, being anemic is no fun at all. Low iron=thin blood=inefficient oxygen transport= things like just standing up can make your vision swim and flicker so badly its almost borderline passing out. Iron overdoses can be worse, but iron is also very insoluble. Other heavy metals like lead are bad for you and the majority of heavy metals that are bad for our fish are bad for us. So luckily there are pretty strict regulations on these materials in public drinking water in the US. For those of use with wells its up to us to pay for lab testing to make sure the water is safe. Things like lead are limited at very low quantities. In the US lead can only be present at 0.015 PPM max, otherwise your water company is required to notify you. My well contains traces of copper, iron, and lead which is pretty common for this region. My trace fertilizers add other heavy metals like zinc and maganese as well. I've never had a problem keeping fish or inverts.

 

[hughessomefish]

I use declorinator because every time I add water I want it to be the best it can be going in, cause I know when I do a water change it wont be, also it keeps and harmful nastys at bay.

I also use a ph powder that I put in with the decloinator and it neutralizes the ph rather instantly to around 7.

I live in a medium size town but there aren't really any bad heavy metals, Plus we have a well, not city water.

 

[Mikaila31]

I also use a ph powder that I put in with the decloinator and it neutralizes the ph rather instantly to around 7.

IMO chemical buffers are probably the worst thing you can add to your water. If the target is to increase KH or GH then thats fine, but to mess with pH you need to mess with a number of different things which comes with a number of different consequences. There is nothing good about a pH of neutral 7 its just a number that means you have near equal -OH and H3O+. Changing pH by chemical means always does more harm then good.

 

[Haveagojoe]

Is there a reason why you shouldn't ?

 

[-Craig-]

I do sometimes, most of the time no.