Water change with rainwater

[fishnutham]

Howdy,

The pollutants I refer to require more sophisticated chemical analysis (HPLC or GC) than the general hobbyist has access to.

If you want to reduce hardness, read up here:
http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9216

Basically, RO is your best bet.

HarleyK

hi harley ro is great but as i already stated if you remove the ro membrane in the unit the micron and carbon filter should remove the polutants without the wait time of the membrane things are to slow for large water changes as long as there is no chlorine in the rain water if there is it probably wouldnt be enough to matter

 

[stotty]

pure sources of water must never be used alone in the aquarium. They are too pure, and contain none of the essential minerals that fish need, and also have no buffering capacity to stabilise the pH. It can either be mixed with a certain percentage of tapwater (it is possible to produce various hardness levels in this manner), or the commercially available salt mixes can be used to replenish a balanced mix of electrolytes.As i say i use rain water and have for years and never had a problem with it. It falls into all the lakes and rivers round here and the fish seam to like it.

 

[HarleyK]

hi harley ro is great but as i already stated if you remove the ro membrane in the unit the micron and carbon filter should remove the polutants without the wait time of the membrane things are to slow for large water changes as long as there is no chlorine in the rain water if there is it probably wouldnt be enough to matter

Howdy,

That's exactly what I meant with post #4 in this thread. But with the other crap in rain water (pollen, other particulate matter etc.), your carbon filter will clog up so much faster as compared to using tap water for RO, it's not worth it.

Therefore, RO is the best way to go IMO (post #26).

Yes, rain falls into lakes and rivers, but as stated before (#4), it gets diluted, filtered by seeping thru soil, and biodegraded before the bulk of it hits rivers and lakes. And not all fish like it ... to bring just one example, in the 1980s, lots of salmonidae populations crashed in Scandinavian lakes due to polluted, mostly acid rain.

HarleyK