Water Butt Rainwater

[Harlequins]

Hi there

I was wondering whether i can use the rain water from my water butt when doing partial changes?,due to being on a water meter!

And do i need to add aquasafe?,i know there's probably no clorine in it but wasn't sure on any other minerals?

 

[AdAndrews]

Hi there

I was wondering whether i can use the rain water from my water butt when doing partial changes?,due to being on a water meter!

And do i need to add aquasafe?,i know there's probably no clorine in it but wasn't sure on any other minerals?

check that it doesnt contain any ammonia, nitrite or heavy nitrate, it should be fine, as long as you filter it first, it should be pretty cloudy, so you need to get most of the small particles out.. but also it should be soft and more acidic than your tap water so be careful and monitor ph levels

 

[Harlequins]

Ok thanks,

I will go and test the water in my butt
My tap water ph is 8.5,and this is the same in my tanks.

 

[AdAndrews]

Ok thanks,

I will go and test the water in my butt
My tap water ph is 8.5,and this is the same in my tanks.

####! 8.5, probably putting serious strain on the neons, they prefer soft water and acidic ph, 8.5 is higher than some people would use on a malawi tank! do you have rocks in your tank? if they are the wrong type they could buffer and increase the ph...

 

[Geoff1991]

Rainwater could contain harmful chemicals and possibly parasites... Especially if you live in a city. I could be wrong though...

 

[Harlequins]

Ok thanks,

I will go and test the water in my butt
My tap water ph is 8.5,and this is the same in my tanks.

####! 8.5, probably putting serious strain on the neons, they prefer soft water and acidic ph, 8.5 is higher than some people would use on a malawi tank! do you have rocks in your tank? if they are the wrong type they could buffer and increase the ph...

I have no rocks in the tank,is it best to try to lower the ph(lfs wasn't phased by this when i told them my ph),or try to take the neons back? i've had them about 4 weeks

 

[AdAndrews]

Ok thanks,

I will go and test the water in my butt
My tap water ph is 8.5,and this is the same in my tanks.

####! 8.5, probably putting serious strain on the neons, they prefer soft water and acidic ph, 8.5 is higher than some people would use on a malawi tank! do you have rocks in your tank? if they are the wrong type they could buffer and increase the ph...

I have no rocks in the tank,is it best to try to lower the ph(lfs wasn't phased by this when i told them my ph),or try to take the neons back? i've had them about 4 weeks

you may want to wait and get some more opinions off here first. im no expert

 

[waterdrop]

A good trick with roof water that OM47 has mentioned is to wait for a gully-washer and then wait a number of minutes for the roof to be washed off and then redirect one of your spouts into a container. That way the water will usually be quite free of dust, dirt and other debris.

Whether or not to alter basic water chemistry is usually a long complicated topic done on an individual basis. If at all possible its preferable to plan and maintain a tank around the water chemistry that your tap water has given you. (Note that tap water contains Calcium and other trace chemicals that are needed by both fish and plants and so is an important aspect of an aquarium.) Most tank raised trops can be pretty hardy with a wide range of conditions as long as they are kept steady, but I agree with Ad that those tetras may a bit at the edge of their limits. I guess unless you see visible signs of stress it'd be interesting to record how long they live.

Methods of lowering KH/pH do involve the mixing of RO or rainwater with the hard tap water, but the danger, as with any basic altering, is that maintaining a steady altered environment for years is very hard stuff, usually there is a slip-up or inevitable failure at some point.

~~waterdrop~~