Looking for advice on collecting rain water for fish breeding

[bryanisag]

I don't have gutters on my house and I put a trash can on wheels that I use for water changes under the valley eve of my roof and filled up a whole 30 gallon barrel over night. Is this water okay to put straight into my aquarium?

It's not as clear as I would have expected. My roof is "clean"  (no leaves or dirt built up) so I don't expect too many contaminants except the odd bird poo.

Anyone else collecting rain water and want to share their techniques? 

[Fish Folk]

Lots of factors come to mind here. We live very close to our water table, so after a rain, we just draw water from our sump. It has filtered down through the ground dirt already. about 7.0 ph. Soft.

Most earnest breeders just buy an RO system for water changes. Our tap water breeds most fish, I've found. What species are you trying to breed? If breeding is the goal, there may be a better work around than rainwater.

I like your idea! If you wanted to, you could add a sort of filter apparatus that the rainwater would have to trickle through to clear out that dirt. I'll bet it will clear up after a while if you don't stick it in the sunlight. Sediments fall within 24 hrs for sure.

[nabokovfan87]

I would use a tarp or something and make a rain catch. I am sure Les Stroud (survivorman) or Cody Lundin has a guide somewhere, but that's what I would do.  Store it in something where you can keep it from being contaminated and go that route to avoid bird contamination as best you can.

Definitely an interesting question!

[gardenman]

You'll want to test the water. Most rainwater these days is pretty acidic. If mosquito spraying is done in your area or crop dusters fly nearby, there's some risk of chemical contamination also. Bird poop is much like fish poop and will cause an ammonia spike if left in the water, so filtering the water before using it is wise. If the water tests okay and you're comfortable with it, go for it.  I've used raw rainwater before with no trouble, but not all rainwater is the same. Just as not all tap water is the same.

[Hobbit]

I’d be a little worried that some roof materials may have leeched into that water. I don’t know much about roofs, but we just got ours replaced and shingles are weird things.

[bryanisag]

Great advice everyone. My rain water tested 0,0,0,0,low, 0. Which I expected. I'm trying to breed corydoras juli (false). It's going to be about a week before I want to use the rainwater. What percent would you change? They are going to be in a 10 gallon aquarium with sand substrate a single coop planter and a nano sponge filter.

Other than heavy feedings are there any more tips?

I also want to breed psedomogil luminates and am getting nervous that both fish species might be getting too old to breed. The Corry's are around 2 years old and the rainbow fish are 6 months old but I heard they don't live long

 

 

 

[Twigflinger]

What’s the TDS?

[bryanisag]

I don't have a tds meter...