Rainwater tank water used for aquariums.

[Bluewatertexas]

Hey Guys I'm in Sydney. Not that I think location matters for this topic but... I am moving into my new place soon and am upgrading to a 9x3x3. Was just wondering if there is any reason to not use the rainwater tank water to fill and maintain my tank?
Any ideas/pros/cons much appreciated


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[Ryan144]

what's it made of?

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[deeda]

I think the answer to the question regarding the use of rainwater will be dependent on the species fish you are keeping AND the pH, hardness and alkalinity of the source water. Some members on MFK from your country need to buffer the water to maintain stable pH for their particular fish. Hopefully one of them will give some good suggestions.

What are your current source water parameters? Do you know what the new place's water parameters are?

 

[bobkyaw]

Well, I wouldn't recommend using rain water alone. It doesn't have minerals that your fish require and it won't provide stable water source.

 

[Bluewatertexas]

I will obviously be testing the water before I use it but was hoping someone could let me know if they do or have tried using it and if so successfully before i even get started will be keeping Americans. Festae Texas jags and pbass..
Thanks for help so far


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[ElectricBlueSeanBurch]

There are people who use rainwater here. I would be scared to use it, to many unknowns...

 

[David R]

I'm on rainwater here, our whole house is supplied by water collected off the roof and stored in a big plastic tank.

As for using it for your aquarium, the main consideration is the complete lack of mineral hardness. Depending on the fish you keep this could be a huge benefit, or something you need to remidy by dosing. For the South American fish I keep, the low mineral content is ideal. I use a bit of crushed shell in the substrate to help buffer the water against the large amount of driftwood in the tank, which keeps the pH stable around 7 and the TDS around 50-60ppm. If you are keeping fish from hard water areas liek central american or rift lake cichlids you will need to add minerals (calcium, epsom salts etc) to raise the KH/GH and TDS to a more suitable level.

The only other concern is the quality of the water coming off your roof. If your area has clean air and you keep the tank/gutters fairly clean you shouldn't have any problems.

 

[bobkyaw]

I'm on rainwater here, our whole house is supplied by water collected off the roof and stored in a big plastic tank.

As for using it for your aquarium, the main consideration is the complete lack of mineral hardness. Depending on the fish you keep this could be a huge benefit, or something you need to remidy by dosing. For the South American fish I keep, the low mineral content is ideal. I use a bit of crushed shell in the substrate to help buffer the water against the large amount of driftwood in the tank, which keeps the pH stable around 7 and the TDS around 50-60ppm. If you are keeping fish from hard water areas liek central american or rift lake cichlids you will need to add minerals (calcium, epsom salts etc) to raise the KH/GH and TDS to a more suitable level.

The only other concern is the quality of the water coming off your roof. If your area has clean air and you keep the tank/gutters fairly clean you shouldn't have any problems.

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