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I had been looking at ways to lower my pH, and after posting on here, decided that an RO system was the best way for me to go. While I've been looking around and trying to decide whether or not to spend the money, I've come across this article on the PFK website:

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/show_article.php?article_id=479

Now I quite like the idea of using rainwater. Cheaper and more environmetally friendly than an RO unit, but I was wondering if anyone here had ever used rainwater? Is there anything that I should be wary of?

I'm planning to mix it with my tap water to bring the pH down, not to add 100% tap water to my tanks. Obviously, I will set up some kind of filter to prevent insects, dead vegetation etc getting in to the water. And I can test it before I add any to my tank. Any other thoughts?

The only real caution is where you live. As in do you live near any kind of factory that emmits gasses into the air, like smoke stacks and such. The thing is, the droplets of rainwater will pick up all things floating in the air as it drops. This could be poisonous to some fish. I have used rainwater on many occassions, and still do, without any problems. But, I do know several of my friends that have tried using it, and lost many fish in their ventures. It turns out most of the time that they live near a factory, and are probably poisoning their fish when using it. Since they have stopped using it, their fish loss has subsided.

My suggestion if you are not sure, is to try it with a single or a few fish in just one tank and see how it goes over the next few months. Then continue from there.

The other worry, which should not be a problem if you are going to mix it with the tap water, is the pureness of the rainwater. If you ever use pure rainwater, you should add some trace and micro elements to the water prior to using it in the tank. The thing is, the water is so pure, that it can go into drastic ph swings. Since you are not using it pure, I will not get into the technical things about it.

HTH.....

_____________________________________________________________

There is always a bigger fish...

Depending on you location city or country and the method of collecting the rain water (roof type)
There is likely to be more polutants in the rain water some tests have been done in Aust especially in the built up areas and it is not even recommended to drink.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

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Keith

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Thanks for the answers.

In reply, to my knowledge there are no factories / smoke stacks etc. nearby which could pollute the rainfall.

I live in the South East of England, and as per the article, I believe that we export our pollution to out unfortunate neighbours in Scandinavia. Whilst it probably doesn't reassure them, at least I should have relatively clean water.

As I rent in a block of flats, I share your concerns about the run off water from our roof, as I have no control over that (or finances to alter it). My plan is to set up a water butt to collect rainwater directly. Essentially a barrel with a big funnel on top. I know that is going to be a far less efficient method of collecting water but I don't need huge quantities (I haven't got numerous huge tanks). Probably not best to start planning in mid June either

I might see if I can get any information from the Environment Agency or something on the state of the rainwater here.

I was thinking about trying it but not with this latest rain storm. We were actually under an air stagnation warning. Never heard of it before but it means there was so little air movement and rain for the past week or 2 that even small amounts of pollution or dust were causing issues. None of it was being carried away. Even in the smaller towns where pollution isn't normally a problem the air kinda smelled and was stale. Lucky it rained today but I'm not using that in my tanks. There's no telling what was hanging around in the air despite the fact I'm pretty far out in the country and there aren't any large cities in this state anyway.