Snow!

[Castellop123]

Thanks...

 

[jayjay]

Why not just use tap water?

 

[mlawson]

Why not just use tap water?

Because rainwater is softer and more acidic then most tapwater creating an ideal environment for
the majority of freshwater fish. It also contains zero nitrates, chlorines and other metals.

Snows water chemistry does not alter from rainwater, it could work, but try to pick up as little
dirt and grass you can. Filter through activated carbon to be on the safe side.

 

[newtotropical]

i might try rain water then! Its not like we dont get enough!!

 

[chishnfips]

even if you could you would need a tonne of snow to make up the amount of water you need lol, oh and make sure its not yellow lol

 

[jayjay]

Also it can be polluted by gases, thus making it acidic and not too great. Also if it's running through gutters etc. it can pick up stuff, thus needing to be filtered first. Most fish easy adapt to tap water. I've never looked into nitrate readings however so will not comment.

Just don't use yellow snow

EDIT - I was beaten to my above comment and a quick search found this.

Rainwater should contain no nitrate as it should have the same values as distilled water, however clouds can pick up contaminants from air pollution so there could possibly be some nitrate as well as other nasties present.

and this

I tested some snow and it is 5

 

[Castellop123]

p

 

[newtotropical]

mmmmmmmmmm dont think ill bother!!!

 

[Castellop123]

o9i

 

[mlawson]

You do know how snow is formed, don't you? In layman's terms, the dust/tiny floating particles collects humidity in the air, then it freezes up due to low temperature. So basically, at the center of each snow, there's a dust/particle. Melted snow isn't as pure as you think

The dut particles which form snow are literally insignificant and will not affect the water chemistry.
Infact rain droplets have just as much dust particles in them as snow does.

I would be more worried about pollutants than anything else, activated carbon should take care of that.

 

[andywg]

Why not just use tap water?

Because rainwater is softer and more acidic then most tapwater creating an ideal environment for
the majority of freshwater fish.

I think there are a large number of Old World Cichlids, and other fish that inhabit the same waters, that would disagree softwater is an ideal environment. And this inlcudes a fairly sizeable number of fish species.

Soft, acidic water is ideal for South American fish, but the waters of the world contain many different types of water. Trying to use snow or rainwater in an Mbuna tank would not be the wisest thing, but would be ideal on an amazonian biotope.

The simple fact is that most tap water is around pH7.0 to 7.6 and most fish can happily live in this. Far more important than the pH value is the stability of the pH.

 

[Castellop123]

...

 

[pica_nuttalli]

have you considered investing in a reverse osmosis system? rainwater isn't exactly the "purest of the pure" anymore...

 

[Fate2006]

Filtering snow through active carbon is the same thing as using tap water... Just dechlrinate the tap water and you're fine, like fishkiller said, snow is dust/a particle frozen over by the snow, so your water still has the same kind of particles and dirt that any other type of water would. Tap water is actually safer for you fish because it's less acidic, remember not all fish enjoy acidic waters...

 

[tophat665]

Filtering snow through active carbon is the same thing as using tap water... Just dechlrinate the tap water and you're fine, like fishkiller said, snow is dust/a particle frozen over by the snow, so your water still has the same kind of particles and dirt that any other type of water would. Tap water is actually safer for you fish because it's less acidic, remember not all fish enjoy acidic waters...

Actually, no. Tap water generally is sourced from ground water, which has a mineral profile related to the geology from whence it comes. Rainwater has a mineral profile related to air - none to minimal.