Useing Rain Water In An Aquarium ?

[mark2109111]

As many of you know hurricane Irena is about to hit new England. And my question is , is it safe to bucket the rain water and use it in my discus tank. I have read that pure rain water is better for your fish than R/O water but is this true ? Just wanted your take on this idea.

 

[QuantumOptician]

I am not claiming to be an expert on this, but my concerns would be the potential acidity of the water from certain pollutants in the air (e.g. sulfur). Also, the water will not be as clean as one would think. Yes, the evaporation process leads to "pure" water, but once it falls back down through the atmosphere it picks up all sorts of aerosol pollutants that may not be good for the tank. (Also important to note that the actual reason rain falls is due to the droplet of super-cooled water freezes to a 'freezing' nuclei, aka an aerosol, which then plummets to the ground). Not sure of the necessary requirements of cichlids, but some of my science background knowledge.