General Aquaria Discussion • Rainwater

[BillD]

I would get two GE type cannister filters, one for sediment and one for carbon cartriges, and run the water through them before use. I picked some up for $5 at HD, but the better one with remote sensor is only about $20, and cartridges are $18 for 2 carbon, and around $10 or $12 for 2 sediments. With the small amount of water you will use, since you won't use straight rainwater for all your changes, they should last quite a long time.
Living in the country is no guarantee of clean rain. Polluted air moves huge distances. A big part of the pollution in LA, has been tracked from China. The first few minutes are probably the dirtiest until the rain has a chance to clean the debris out of the air.

[Barbie]

If you do decide to keep rain water, let the first 10 minutes or so of the rain be bypassed somehow, then flip the valve and store the water. I used to put a rubbermaid tote under my gutter downspout after about 10 minutes (yes, my neighbors already know I'm crazy, being out in the rain with a tote was nothing even unusual for them) and the water that I collected was totally clear and free of sediment. Water running that fast shouldn't be absorbing much in the way of anything, IME. I would then siphon the water in the tote with my python down the stairs to a waiting 44 gallon trash can. It worked great until the day there was a huge downpour and I got busy and forgot that I was siphoning. For some reason, you can't put 75 gallons or so of water in a 44 gallon can very well. Well you can, it just doesn't stay in there! I stimulated my first two Hypancistrus sp. L260 spawns using rain water with no ill effects. That was 4 years ago now and I still have the same breeders pumping out fry, so obviously there wasn't too much damage .

Barbie