I was just wondering how useful rain water is. I have a rain barrel which has had rainwater that has been sitting for well over six months. To me this seems like a perfect source of soft aged water. However I live in Scarborough so I don't know what the quality of the water would be like. As an aside note my gutters are full of debris and now have plants growing out of them so would that help purify the water like a tiny linear swamp.
Rainwater
- Thread starter TarzanSmith
- Start date
I use rain water, and find it sometimes helps trigger spawning.
I use 2 rain barrels, the first catches debris, where it settles out, and the second is used in tanks.
The overflow goes straight to my pond.
I use 2 rain barrels, the first catches debris, where it settles out, and the second is used in tanks.
The overflow goes straight to my pond.
nice ^ may I copy it? 
BTW, for the rainwater and stuff, do you put some water conditioner on it? or leave it as it is?
BTW, for the rainwater and stuff, do you put some water conditioner on it? or leave it as it is?
We use rainwater for everything as we live out of the city, we have a 5000g tank that collects water off the roof, which is then fed to the entire house. Luckily I keep South American fish, not rift lake cichlids! It is similar to RO water in many ways, my tap water has a TDS of about 007ppm (RO is zero), so you'll need to be careful that the pH doesn't crash if you're using wood in your tanks. I find a bit of beach sand works well to buffer the water without increasing the hardness too much. I've got no idea what the air quality is like in Toronto though (seemed ok when I was there 11 years ago!), but I think it should be ok to use the water unless there is a lot of pollution/smog around.
rain water are usually pure water unless the air where you live is heavily polluted then the rain might pick up chemical when they drop down.
Don't do it. It may be good for other places but please don't do it. I live in Scarborough too and the rain water has a 2+ ammonia.
I don't add conditioners, but I also don't use it in tanks if it sits too long, it starts to turn green with free floating algae after a while. When I do use it, it is usually mixed with warm tap water, because 10 months out of the year, it is 10' to 20'F colder than most of my tanks.
yes, copy.
yes, copy.
nice ^ may I copy it?