some guy from around my city who is known for very good fishadvice told me to use rainwater instead of tap for the oscars. as ' in the amazone it also rains alot and due to that the water is soft there.' now i'm wondering, did anyone ever used rainwater? i filter it trough 2 nylon socks before i get it into the tank. it gives a nice colour, is very bright, doesnt smell or anything, its just very cold

my question, does it hurt to use rainwater?
(no i dont know the exact GH and KH of my water. will check tormorrow

Unless you have a smaller aquarium it's going to be very difficult to collect an efficient amount of rain water. Rain water can sometimes be just as polluted as tap water or worse. Yes the Eco system can filter out a lot of contaminants, however the rain can still be polluted with gases from factories and may even be slightly acidic. In my humble opinion collecting rain water is not efficient nor superior to tap water, thus not worth the hassle. Sometimes people who do this allow the water to collect into large tubs using a funnel system. Never use gutters, they will bring debris into the water. Never let the water sit for long periods of time. Insects could lay eggs(mosquitoes)and vegetation could make it's way into the water source. With vegetation may come parasites. If anyone decides to do this, take proper precaution and test the water. More power to you.

I have never come across anyone who uses rainwater in their aquarium. Don't suppose it would hurt, after all, people keep fish in ponds and when the rain falls very heavily, I suppose several hundred gallons could enter it.

If you live somewhere where it rains a lot then there would be no problem collecting it in a water butt attached to your downpipes. However, you would then have to heat sufficiently before adding it to your aquarium, I think that'll been more trouble than it's worth when it easier just to attach a hose pipe to your tap.

i have 2 80 liter baskets wich i use to clean out tanks and so on. they are getting the water of the carport now that would just go to the sewers. one night of rain and both are full. as soon as one is full i get 'm up with my dad, get 80 liters out of the tank and pump those 80 in.
to code: i tested it with all the tests i have at home.
kh, gh no3 no2 nh4+ ph
all where superb.
cant see the contaminants or heavy metal fractions in them but now i can do like 80 liter ever day. instead of 200 twice a week.
i live in the center of a city,tho no factory's in like 50 km range. My neighbours are like 80-85 and they even drink the water since they moved in.
besides... its free gotta count for something!

i had lived and grew up in a place where water system is unknown to man. the
people used to collect rain water on the onset of rainy season to lessen the
burden of getting water from a distant artisan well.. we never collect water
in the first rain but used it in general cleaning of the roof, cistern, and
jars available. and the next onset of rain, we feast and dance with it for
the joy it brings: planting season, more potable water, and the start of
greenery along side.

with that... i believe it is safe to use rain water unless you are surrounded
by pollutants factory in your place.

Sounds like a good time Paul. I did a lot of farming, but we had huge ponds to provide irrigation, without the rain the ponds dried quickly, we were fortunate enough to also have a creek near by to run irrigation pipes from. Continue to use a water conditioner with rain water.

so you came from the lowland... we dwell in a highland but not forested,
thus rain come only on the rainy seasons. yeah, those were the days that is
nice to remember

That's right Paul, I was right in a valley. We were known as the great valley. Right in Central Pennsylvania.

A possible problem with using rain water is one of consistancy. Unless you are very unlucky, it doesnt rain all the time, also your tap water is very likely to different Ph etc to rain water. So you could find your tank parameters varying a lot which isnt good for your oscars

i live in belgium. it's quite the opposite of paul's story, we run away from the water ><.
and no, we dont have factories in the neighborhood. tho the idea of using something like a waterconditioner doesnt sound to bad. the money i save from tapwater is way more then a bottle of conditioner

fristeh wrote:

in that case you have totally rinse out environment, thus, the rain water must be good
and free of toxin. in our place, on the 3rd rain falls, we drank the water right away
whatever is collected in a collecting sheet, not in a roof down spout.

we collect it from the carport, there is nothing on it. and if something gets on it, it only stays there for max 2 days