Rainwater for water changes ???

Some will depend on what roof it is running off. I would not want to use the runoff from asphalt roofing. At best, I would not like to deal with the variables of what it contains depending on how long since the last rain. Fresh may be okay but if it has not rained in some time there may be some things washing off the roof which would not be good. Soot, smoke, and bird droppings come to mind.

I use rain water in season, but never the first rain, or even mid season if it quits raining for a while then starts up again. I let the first few rains wash off the roof.

Rain water itself has no minerals, but can pick up CO2 from the air, and certainly anything else in the air, and from the surfaces it flows over.

It is fine to top off a tank with rain water, or do small water changes so the mineral levels do not drop suddenly, or too fast. If you need to do a large water change I would add minerals to the rain water so that it matches the tank water.

PlantedRich said:

... I would not want to use the runoff from asphalt roofing....

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roud:

I have a few hooks on the side of the shed. I attach a blue plastic tarp prior to a rain. The tarp drains into a plastic 55 barrel. Water is stored in 5gal water cooler type jugs. After the rain it all gores back in the shed.

Petty amazing how much rain a 10x12' tarp can catch.

75 gallons per inch of rain on that 10x12' tarp. Of course if you live in Yuma, Arizona, it wouldn't be a very reliable source for weekly water changes. But, if you live in Hilo, Hawaii, you could do daily 50% water changes for most tanks.

Well I built a polycarbonate roof which I store my bikes under and I'm going to get some guttering from work and run that into a water butt , wIth the rain we have been having at the moment , like some 2 months rain in just a few hours I could have a lot in no time at all , my tap water is very hard so I'm hoping this could be a winner for me ?

Rain Water & Water Changes

samjpikey said:

Has anybody used rainwater for water changes , a water butt connected to the house roofline can gather a lot of water fairly quickly ,

I know in thoery rainwater is naturally distilled but practically it is not ie gathering dust chemical etc etc during rainfall but it could be useful .... Maybe ??

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Hello sam...

I believe your plants need a steady source of of nitrates, phosphates and sulfates to be healthy. The plants get them from large and frequent water changes using your tap water. Rain water has none of these, so your plants may not do as well.

Just a thought.

B

But doesn't ro water not contain any minerals .... Ie what you listed above ??? These are dosed via the ei method. ???

I have really hard tap water so possible using rain water could be better ? Maybe ?

BBradbury said:

Hello sam...

I believe your plants need a steady source of of nitrates, phosphates and sulfates to be healthy. The plants get them from large and frequent water changes using your tap water. Rain water has none of these, so your plants may not do as well.

Just a thought.

B

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roud:

Good point!
I was not very accurate in my own program. I typically use my rain water as top -off water vs. w/c

It seems it could be better or worse depending on the weather and timing. Acid rain from power plants and pollution are killing many forests. The problem to me might be the various conditions. I would find it difficult to follow the differing water conditions over time. The first rain after a long dry spell might find lots of oak leafs where a rain later might not find many as they had been flushed out by a downpour the week before.

I find I have so many questions to sort through that I would be reluctant to throw another wild card into the process but then I am new to the planted world and that might not be a problem to more experienced folks.

Here's a pretty thoughtful piece on using rainwater in aquariums. I do it, and know others that do, but I'll acknowledge that you should think through your circumstances before you do it.

http://www.skepticalaquarist.com/water-softening

There is more negative feedback then positive here so I think I will carry on using my tap water :/

Thanks for the info though , always learning

samjpikey, I would use a blend of perhaps 25% tap water to get some minerals and 75% rain water for a soft water tank. That way your tank would have much softer water, but still have some minerals.

You could run a test of different mixes to see what is best.

Rain or tap water (even really hard tap water) does not have nitrate. (I have seen high nitrate in wells in agricultural areas.)
It is rare that tap water has phosphates or potassium. (Especially in amounts needed by the plants)
So you still need to fertilize the plants no matter what water source you use.

Hard tap water usually has calcium, magnesium and some other minerals that plants use in small amounts (trace minerals or micros). By using more rain water you might need to start adding these minerals in a blend of trace minerals such as Seachem Comprehensive, or CSM+B.

samjpikey said:

There is more negative feedback then positive here so I think I will carry on using my tap water :/

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Were do you think all the water that keeps the Earth GREEN comes from, if not the Sky?

I boggles my mind how how civilized humans have lost touch with the natural world. :icon_roll

samjpikey said:

There is more negative feedback then positive here so I think I will carry on using my tap water :/

Thanks for the info though , always learning

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i wouldnt say its negative feed back its just showing what has what and depending on your dosing or wc's then thats really going to depend if it works for you.

i personally love to collect it, ive been tryin to help my bro set one up and when done right its really nice, you can even use a slow sand filter and get ever better rain water thats super filtered! browse youtube heres a start for you http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaCOlRlw3K4 i noticed that my crs loved it when i did topoffs with clean rainwater i actually got to see them finally dance and swim like crazy which never happended befor and have had berried/babies from then on. so id say go for it its really worth it if u can set it up and do it right, key is research and plan way befor u even start.

HypnoticAquatic - Great video, really has me thinking. Thanks for posting it.
Maybe it's just because it's late at night but, I have to think there's a simpler way to do this?

Maybe all gravity feed? 55gl collection barrel, draining through a Sand filter, into a 55gl collection barrel?

Yep, too late.:wink:

thats what i would do or have a large container on top that u can pump to with a shut off so u can fill it and use as needed id say you will need larger than 55 at least so you can always have room for the dry times and not run out. if you even have some decent property you can also run compost piles that can heat the water even in the dead of winter guy had free hot water just from the decomp in the compost then had lines buried that ran to a holding tank for the hot water, there is actually a lot of basic things we can do but dont as were very used to people doing all the work for us but with a little bit of mind power and uncommon sense a lot can be accomplished

I caught some water the other day to test. My rain water had a TDS of 5 and pH 6.2. Not bad for w/cs. Now if I had a yard where I could actually catch water, stupid rain-proofed balcony.

xenxes said:

I caught some water the other day to test. My rain water had a TDS of 5 and pH 6.2. Not bad for w/cs. Now if I had a yard where I could actually catch water, stupid rain-proofed balcony.

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Well, I was going to suggest a small windmill to operate a pump to move that rainwater around, but I guess your balcony might not be suitable for that.:biggrin:

Seriously, I grew up in a small town, no public water system. We collected rainwater off the roof of the house into an underground cistern, and that was our water source. My dad added some hypochlorite to the cistern occasionally to kill the bacteria. Those were the days!!