Rainwater as automated waterchange

[KingofAliens]

I live in Suriname which is a part of the Amazon.
I always think about if I could use rain water to do automated water changes every time it rains(which is a lot)
So I would let all the rain water go in a 1000+ gallon plastic water tank which would then flow through a water filter(in case of any dirt/residu got in the tank)through a 1/2 inch pipe to the tank and install an overflow on the tank/sump so all the excess water can go out of the tank.
With the incoming pipe be at 1/2 inch there would be less water disturbance and the overflow at 1 inch there would be never a chance of overflowing your house.
So if it rains like 1 hour and the. tank is filled within 30 minutes the big tank would overflow by itself cause that much water can't flow through a 1/2 inch pipe and after the rains stops the water will eventually drain into the fishtank wich on its turn will i. . overflow through a 1 inch pipe out of the tank.

 

[qguy]

If your in a populated city with lots of vehicles and factories, Acid Rain might be an issue, else it would be perfect. Add a valve at the input to control the flow into the tank, just in case

 

[BrookKeeper]

mosquitoes and other insects may breed in your storage tank. I have a rain barrel that I use to water the garden, but it smells pretty funky and I wouldn't put it in my fish tanks. This is just my experience, I am sure you could design something to stay clean and fresh.

 

[dallen2233]

I see multiple issues with this. The first being, you don't know whats in that rain water. I wouldn't use it unless I pass it through a RO system first. The second is that you say it can be filled in 30 mins. I'm not sure what temperature your rain is down their, but where I'm at rain is way colder than my tank. For some thing that can do a full change in 30 mins that could be a hell of a temperature swing. Whats the longest you've gone without rain? Would you have another method available to a water change?

 

[KingofAliens]

The rain temp is cold but I would only do it to my peacock bass which are a local fish so if they can bear it in the wild why not in my tank??
Ofcourse I would filter the water first before it goes to my tank.

 

[Drstrangelove]

The rain temp is cold but I would only do it to my peacock bass which are a local fish so if they can bear it in the wild why not in my tank??

The water in the wild that the peacock bass is in has a temp of probably 80+ degrees. Even a 200 mile long river could easily be made up of tens or billions of gallons of water. Even if the rain water is 56F and the river is 80F, it's highly improbable that the rain will cause the river temperature to drop to 56F.

 

[mudbuttjones]

To get an adequate amount of rain water I'd assume you'd have to run the gutters from your roof into the barrel otherwise a barrel just sitting in the yard would only get a couple inches per rainfall.

My concern is perhaps chemicals from the roof? I know contact time is short, but most composite roofs are basically asphalt based in the shingles and flashing. That's how they repel water. I don't know if this would be an issue.