The use of rain water..

Hi there..i have seen a few threads about using rain water for the aquarium but still no clear indication how to use it ...
If i'm collecting the rain in buckets and not out of a gutter....I have read that it enhances breeding with some fish..

Keen to here what the experts can tell us.

 

I stand to be corrected on this.. From my understanding and reading, you can use rainwater for your tank if you are in an area that is free from polutants. I.e. factories, power stations, etc. otherwise best to avoid it.

I dont think it is about rain water, but more on the drop in temperature that fish start to breed. a sudden temp change in nature normally happens when there is a big downpour, aka change in season, etc. which will cause a lot of fish to spawn.

 

Hi I have to agree with @Chongkie on this one. As nice as rain water sounds, with all the pollution going around I would not put in to my tanks

 

I used rainwater in my tanks for about a year. IMO it is way easier to just use tap water and treat it to ensure that it is safe. I didnt see any differences between the tap water and rainwater in terms of plant and fish health.

 

Thanks to all of you..i will maybe experiment a bit with a small tank..just for the interest sake of it.

 

Rainwater is obviously very soft and contains virtually no trace elements, salts etc that living organisms need... Also. it collects trillions of spores, fungusses, lead and other heavy metals, algae spores, bacteria etc on the way down. Then it hits the roof full of bird and rat and many other species' poop... (Obviously if it has bee raining for a few days it should be better). Not worth the risk IMHO... Gauteng's tap water is (most times) of world class standard, better than some other countries where you cannot even drink the tap water...

 

To get some the ideas of members that are no longer active on TASA

google

site:tropicalaquarium.co.za rain water

 

I only use rain water and have no problems with algae , my fish spawn regularly and my plants grow well . I cannot believe for a second that tap water with chlorine, floride, chloromine and loads of other chemicals in even if treated is better than the natural thing . I don't have to treat or filter the rain water , a bit of dirt or a few leaves are no worse than the natural waste that ends up in the waters in the fishes natural environment and in summer I get an insane amount of mosquito larvea and live blood worm during every water change and my fish go crazy for it . It also gives you a blank canvas to work with most of the fish I keep are happy with the water just the way it is but if I need to harden the water for rift valley fish I simply add aragonite and Kalkwasser to the tank and if I need to use it for Amazonian fish I simply add some peat to the filter and drop the PH as the water is already soft .

One thing that we often take for granted is that most of the books and magazines that for years have been saying don't use rain water because of air pollution ect are written in Europe and the USA, you cannot compare the amount of air pollution in a major European town to the pollution in most South African town , unless you live in the heart of an industrial area .