Rain Water in Reef Tanks

[Dragon52]

Ok, so I was thinking the other day about how some people use well water in their tanks & was wondering if anyone has used rainwater. If so what do you treat it with?

 

[cloak]

How big is your tank? How much rain do you really need to sustain it year after year? A RO/DI unit or even tap water might be a better option. GL.

 

[ZoWhat]

According to many University studies:

"Natural Acidity of Rainwater. Pure water has a pH of 7.0 (neutral); however, natural, unpolluted rainwater actually has a pH of about 5.6 (acidic)."

 

[fish farmer]

I would be concerned about airborne pollutants, either dust, smoke, pollen, pesticides, bugs.

Then how it would be collected, runoff from a rooftop, metal or shingle?

I collect rainwater for my gardens. I get all sorts of stuff in it, small particules of asphalt from one rooftop, pieces of plantlife, etc, etc. I have a coarse screen on my rainbarrels to keep out big stuff and mosquitos. I would think you would need really good filtration and it would be much easier to RO/DI tap or well water, JMO.

 

[Dragon52]

How big is your tank? How much rain do you really need to sustain it year after year? A RO/DI unit or even tap water might be a better option. GL.

I'm not looking at using it, it was more of a does anyone use it type question & what could be used to treat it for use in an aquarium