Hey Guys,

I know some of you collect rain water and use it for topping up after water changes...

What's the benefit of this? Other then saving on water bills?

Natures water! no chemicals etc, no need to use conditioner.

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Dom

If you knew the amount of rubbish that is in rainwater you would be shocked. Please don't use the rain water it has so many contaminants it.
The extract below was taken from a google search

"Rainwater washing off of roofs has been studied to determine the load of contaminants picked up from roofing material. Some rainwater collection systems, intended for drinking water, discard a first "flush" of water off the roof in order to make sure that organic material such as bird droppings do not contaminate collection tanks. The water is then treated for drinking.

But the contaminants that you could be worried about are the heavy metals and polyaromatic hydrocarbons from asphalt shingles and other contaminants that may deposit onto roofs from air. It appears that contaminants that rainwater washes off of shingles may be a significant source of surface water contamination. The contaminants that are washing off of roofs include zinc, lead, chromium, arsenic, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons. It is similar to what you might collect off of a parking lot.

It is possible to find data on the amount (concentrations) of chemicals in rainwater from asphalt roofs. However, I was not able to find information on whether or not the levels were high enough to ac***ulate in garden plants intended for consumption."

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http://www.gardenworksgb.co.uk

Also another point of view from another forum
"Rainwater is rather a question mark depending on where you are located and also how you collect it. There could be acid rain, especially in industrialised regions. If you collect it dripping from a roof gutter, there could be toxic metals leaching from roofing material, rusty pipes and also high organic content from decayed leaves, dead insects & even perhaps dead birds. Don't use it without doing tests on the water parameters and perhaps running through an activated carbon filter first. It would be best if you could rig up something to collect the rainwater directly falling from the sky. If there is a need to change the pH slightly, there are more natural ways to do so without using chemicals."

The PH of rainwater is generally around the 5-6 mark, which is too soft for MOST fish.
The best thing for filtering tap water is in the link below-

https://lsh507.securepod.com/gardenw...products_id=41

__________________
http://www.gardenworksgb.co.uk

i wouldnt use rain water,chances are high on it being contaminated, would you collect it to drink?

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WHO'S YA DADDY