Rainwater, why or why not?

[albatrozz]

Just wondering if anyone here has used rainwater into their aquarium. I have a rainwater tank in my backyard but am not sure if i should try it out or not. Rainwater is free of all chlorine/chloramines, it is very soft, and has a low pH. Is it suitable for discus or not?

[locksmith999]

hi there i would say yes to rain water for sure if you drop an airstone in the tank and add cycle or prime to it it is 100 times better than tap water low ph should keep the nasties under conrol to
regards locksmithy :D

[albatrozz]

wow thx for quick reply, but why would i need an airstone? O_o

[locksmith999]

just to keep the water moving in the tank so it doesnt stagnate as a precaution and to airate the water for high qaulity h2o lmao :)
regards locksmithy

[albatrozz]

have u used rainwater in your tank before locksmithy?

[scott bowler]

rain water is the best , i would us it there is not to much that beats it , is the tank plastic or iron ?
i use it when it rains . i dont have a tank any more working on it . but if you can get it and have it use it

[albatrozz]

my rainwater tank is made out of plastic, i jst open the tap connected to it and clean clear freshwater flows out... i mean discus in the natural rivers in the amazon pretty much swim and live in rainwater from the sky.... but i tested the pH in my tank and its about 4.5-5 :shock: which is very low considering my tap water's pH which supplies my aquarium with is 7. Guess i'll have to do it slowly over time....

[albatrozz]

o and btw scott, in the first post that locksmith99 posted, he said to add prime to the water, is that really necessary for rainwater? What do u do?

[Matt15]

albatrozz I do 2-3 water changes a week using rain water. I too have a plastic made 5000L tank and its completely full thanks to all the great rain we've been having up here in Qld.
I never add anything to the water. It goes straight from the tank into my aquarium.
It is without a doubt the best form of water for fresh water topicals.

[ILLUSN]

albatrozz
adding prime will lock any stray nasties from your roof (NO2 and urea from bird droppings, excess zinc from guttering etc).

I used raid water extensivly when i kept my tanks at my parents house during a few moves. a 1/2 dose of prime is all thats needed (insurance) and airation and heateing.

you'll have to watch out for ph crashes as the kh and gh of rainwater is 0, a tsp of crushed coral in your canister filter will prevent this.

[boost.puppy]

do you find that having such a low KH makes the PH go hay wire?

what does the crushed coral do?
I have heard that soda Bi carb can also help buffer the water, but do discus like the harder KH levels???

[ILLUSN]

the crushed coral leaches carbonate into the water at a slow steady rate.

I like a super low kh ond gh as it make spawning easier. the crushed coral stops ph crashes.

[boost.puppy]

I think I'll be adding that to my filters ASAP!!!

where's the best place to put it? near the carbon or at the bottom of the external canister filter? does it need to be changed? if so How often???

[ILLUSN]

all you need is a tsp or so in an old stocking, mine is at the top just under the filter wool, over time, you'll see it disolve into a fine powder then just replace it, mine lasts about 8 moths to a year. 6 moths in my co2 plant tanks.

if you feel like dropping by i've got about 12kg of the stuff so your welcome to have as much as you need

[boost.puppy]

sounds great, Mum makes me little Carbon satchels which are made from a very thin material & easy to refill when needed so I'll add some crushed coral to that!!!

what kind of CO2 set-up do you have? and where did you get it from (da riff is my hood too :P )

[ILLUSN]

Mte i run 3 setups on 3 tanks, each use a preassure regulator ( 1 tunze, 1 jbl, 1 milwalkee) all bought 2nd had through the classifides here or on ebay, each reg is attached to a fire extinguisher (3.5kg or a 5kg) also from ebay.

[Matt15]

ILLUSN what would have the best effect:

1.) Crushed coral spread around in the tank bottom?
OR
2.) Crushed coral in a sock in the canister filter?

[boost.puppy]

theres some CO2 set-ups at the LFS here dad was telling me, how much would I expect to pay for one??? I don't want cheap & nasty, I'd like a good quality one which will last a while.

[ILLUSN]

Crushed coral in the base of a tank can leach too much carbonate. 4 tanks ago i had a planted tank which had a 2cm thick layer or crushed coral sand as a "cap" for the substrate. on strait rainwater (ph5.5-5.8) the lowest i could get the tank was 7.9!

all you need is a little, disolving slowly into the water. I prefer the pouch in a canister, if after a couple of days its still too low add somemore, if its too high take some out. on a 330L i used 2-4tsp. ph was dead steady at 6.5 with co2 addition kh=4-5 gh=6-7 (nutrafin test kits).

Boost puppy
good quality CO2 setup is hard to get out of a box, most only ship with a good reg, and too small a CO2 bottle. red sea make an ok kit for around the $400, the bubblecounter is useless as is the reactor, but the needlevalve and reg are great.

budget yourself $200 for a reg ($300 with solonoid), another $200 for a good external reactor, $20 for some co2 tubing, then head off to ASA and get a nice big 6.8kg cylinder for $300ish and your away.

[albatrozz]

dam that tank is 10 out of 10... :shock: what type of sand are u using ILLUSN? The sand really gives a glow.. my gravel is a mixture of orange, brown and white pebbles... kinda makes my tank and discus look my darker if u know what i mean. And what type of ferts do u use on that tank? Ever had problems with algae? How much hrs of light do u give that tank? I would love my plants to be as lush green as that :D

[ILLUSN]

Mate thats an old old old tank of mine from back when i didn't know what i was doing.

the gravel is too big, avg size is 6-8mm, its just polished river gravel, mostly quartz based. the sand as i said above was crushed coral sand, way too rich in carbonate, it kept the ph at 7.8 no matter how much co2 or acid i added. the lights is 2x40w t8 (1xred plant tubes 1xblue white) fertz were jobes sticks in the substare and basicgro by aquasonic for the water column.

no alage, with moderate light, high co2 and a back wall full of wysteria there was no problem, swords grew to tall and thin for my liking. the plants never did well, always deficient in something you can see the yellowing on the older leaves. and the 2 big plecs tore the tank to pices once they went in.

[Matt15]

Crushed coral in the base of a tank can leach too much carbonate. 4 tanks ago i had a planted tank which had a 2cm thick layer or crushed coral sand as a "cap" for the substrate. on strait rainwater (ph5.5-5.8) the lowest i could get the tank was 7.9!

all you need is a little, disolving slowly into the water. I prefer the pouch in a canister, if after a couple of days its still too low add somemore, if its too high take some out. on a 330L i used 2-4tsp. ph was dead steady at 6.5 with co2 addition kh=4-5 gh=6-7 (nutrafin test kits).

I've always had extremely low PH, so i've added one pouch to my canister filter thisafternoon. I'll monitor it daily and see how much difference it makes. Thx for the info mate.......;)

[albatrozz]

Being i dont have crushed coral... isnt it the same as shell grit? doesnt like shell grit make the water pH higher and hardens it so it doesnt crash? im not 100% sure but i think it does.

[ILLUSN]

it does, its a bit more dust then crushed coral and i find it disolves faster, if ever your out west mate give me a yell and i can give you some crushed coral.