View Full Version : Using Rainwater.
125gJoe
07-27-2003, 1:37 PM
Does, or has anyone use rainwater for their aquarium?
I beleive the Wetman does, or at least recomends it. Let's let him speak on the matter. I my self wouldn't.
wetmanNY
07-27-2003, 6:33 PM
I can't: I'm in Manhattan, under a flat tarred roof I don't own. I laid out my recommendations for using rainwater at www.skepticalaquarist.com
Am I not being skeptical enough? It's been known to happen...
Has anyone checked out the modern plastic selfcontained barrels with filters in them?
I collect rainwater for garden use - we would not have made it last year without it. My commercial barrels have "screens" but not filters IMHO. Very acid stuff there. This year they are cut out of the drains. I buffered the stuff last year (very sophisticated - a few inches of landscape marble chips in the barrels).
JamisonBWolsh
07-29-2003, 4:33 PM
Rainwater? with our fish? No way! I think its even dirtier than the sink water. I live in the san fernando valley (in the Los angeles area). All the chemicals and smog in the air would pollute the rainwater. I would never risk it. UNLESS you live in an area with no smog and away from any major cities...
Sensei_the_dojo
07-29-2003, 5:47 PM
Rainwater? What's that?!? We've had less than 2 inches of total precipitation so far this year.
JamisonBWolsh
07-29-2003, 6:09 PM
Dojo:
Roswell, Nm? Huh??? Seen any UFO's Recently or been Abducted? :) :D
wetmanNY
07-29-2003, 8:08 PM
Don't get off-topic again Jamison. You might spend your extra energy googling "acid rain" to see what exactly makes you so fearful of precipitation. See if you find anything that won't filter out.
Because the topic here is rainwater, not attitude...
Problems with rainwater;
1) Acid rain (already mentioned).
2) After a long dry, it will clean the roof, bringing in lead (from petrol) and bird droppings.
3) If you live in an industrial area, especialy in a country with poor emissions controls (like the US or India) it may contain a whole lot of toxic substances.
4) Whatever else, it will be inconsistant, dependant on many factors.
wetmanNY
07-31-2003, 12:00 PM
1. Acid rain is a major issue in watersheds that have little lime in the soil: the acids in acid rain are nitric and sulfuric. These acids are also produced in the aquarium. They are part of what eats away at the buffering, which you may be replacing with calcium carbonate.
2. New-fangled rainbarrels have a cock that doesn't allow the barrel to begin filling until a certain volume of the first dirty flush has washed through. Without that, you would surely be adding a lot of dusty and crud!
3. A good point! Toxins from industrial pollution are a major concern in all drinking water. If I were using rainwater, I'd pre-filter it through granular activated carbon, and I'd probably also use a PolyFilter pad. These are minor expenses compared to R/O equipment, though.
4. Seasonal or inadequate rainfall strikes me more as a reason to trap and purify every drop you do get -- rather than as a reason to dismiss it. Of course, nobody's suggesting you get off the city water or well water entirely...
Perhaps you could only spawn softwater fishes during the rainy months. That would be quite natural.
pinballqueen
07-31-2003, 1:47 PM
Wow, the thought of using rainwater here... in a rainforest.... I have a family member or two that still collects rain because it's better than the wellwater for drinking....
My only reason for not using rainwater (seeing as I wouldn't even need to put it under my downspout we get so much) is the time, money, and space involved in purchasing a good rainbarrel (I.E., not a plastic drum from the canning facility), finding a place to put it, and waiting on the rain :D.... Plus, we do, unfortunately, have very acidic water that will rust a tin roof in a week... would be very good for fish that like that sort of thing, but many of the fish I have kept in the past have been thrilled with more alkaline living conditions. (Upon testing our rainwater, we're talking a ph of 6.0 or so... it's vaguely remeniscent of vinegar... that does it! Who's been pouring Coca-Cola in our clouds?)
wetmanNY
07-31-2003, 3:11 PM
pinballqueen, they've been modernizing rainbarrels behind our backs since the days of the real wooden barrel full of mosquito larvae, which was so handy for drowning unwanted kittens and superfluous children...
King County WA maintains a webpage "RainBarrel information and Sources (http://dnr.metrokc.gov/wlr/PI/rainbarrels.htm/) that's a good place to start. I'll bet you can buy a rainbarrel at a garden center within ten miles of Pigeon Forge, pinballqueen. Fancy ones run a bit over a hundred dollars.
YourpH6.0 rain isn't even that acid: all natural rainfall, by the time it's in equilibrium with the acidifying CO2 in the atmosphere, has a pH a little under 6. (5.7 I'm reading). Vinegar is more acidic than Coca-Cola, which runs about pH3.
It's that galvanized tin roof you mentioned, that's leaching tin etc. into the water. Not so good in the aquarium I agree. Charcoal filtration and a polyfilter could fix that...
A lot of trouble maybe-- unless you were spawning blackwater tetras and Apistos.
...and what about shampooing your hair in rainwater?
Rocketman
07-31-2003, 3:39 PM
"I don't trust air I can't see"
- Gene Hackman, in Crimson Tide
Why purchase a barrel to collect rainwater when you can purchase purified water with Flouride already added to it! I mean...it just doesn't make much sense.
Originally posted by RTR
I collect rainwater for garden use - we would not have made it last year without it. My commercial barrels have "screens" but not filters IMHO. Very acid stuff there. This year they are cut out of the drains. I buffered the stuff last year (very sophisticated - a few inches of landscape marble chips in the barrels). Would that water be suitable for keeping Gambusia Affinis (Mosquitoe fish)? Or might the parameters swing wildly?
I don't know Matak, I certainly never tried. I used what little we got in rain plus AC and dehumidifier water for the plants in the yard. The marble chips brought the pH up, and I never checked again.
I'm sure the buffering from the marble took days to come up- I did run a powerhead in the main barrel (two, linked) getting AC and dehumidifier and rain water to circulate and hopefully cut the acidity faster, but I was not very careful about the testing. - to put it mildly.
famman
07-31-2003, 11:37 PM
I tried rainwater in Los Angeles using plastic drop cloths under clear sky. It tested as pure as R/O water but looked yucky. I was never happy with it but my fish never had a problem with it.
good luck
:)
mrkeeg
09-16-2004, 1:05 PM
*hahahahaha* (*giggling at the people who are so very suspicious of evil natural rainwater, and so much more trusting of thier municipal drinking water*)
mrkeeg
09-16-2004, 1:07 PM
Ok ok... back to the topic though, there certainly are reasons and places for not using rainwater, and some precautions to take, as mentioned previously. I let it rain for a while to wash my roof, then collect the water through a bit of poly wool. It is excellent stuff here in Alberta - I cut it with my hard well water and my fish love it.
Keegan