# Using rainwater in your tanks for breeding



## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

Hello,

I have setup 2 rain barrels and have been using rainwater to do water changes on a cory tank to try inducing them to spawn.

Does anyone else use rainwater?

If so have you found it to help with breeding?

Thanks


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## teemee (Aug 29, 2009)

*rainwater*

I also use rainwater from rain barrel in my tanks.
It has definitely improved plant growth in my tank.
whether or not it has induced spawning, I can't tell you, though.
Haven't noticed any detrimental side effects...



TBemba said:


> Hello,
> 
> I have setup 2 rain barrels and have been using rainwater to do water changes on a cory tank to try inducing them to spawn.
> 
> ...


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

I'm scared of rainwater...I use RO to be safe =)


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

While I haven't used any recently, I wouldn't hesitate. I would probably charcoal filter it first, and would try to collect later in a rain rather than at first. With all the chemicals (including a myriad of drugs) in our tap water, I wouldn't be surprised if rainwater was cleaner. Rain water cisterns are being promoted as a source of water for home use (again) and will become more common in the future.


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Rain water via tarps or off the roof? If off the roof would the charcoal filter (Brita?) work well for making the water drink safe and fish safe?


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

I personally won't drink any water that runs down from the roof. Do you know how much bird poop is in your roof? Also, there is probably some decay leaves from last fall in the eavestrough. Then there is the fact that the water just run it's course through your tar shingles. You never know what kind of things leeches from the shingles.
Then there is the fact that some racoons and cats would poop on your roof the mark their territory. 
Short term, you fish will be fine, but not sure about the long term though ...
Also, just because we roll into the next millenia doesn't mean acid rain didn't exist. Althought I have to admit that it might actually be a good thing to trigger breeding. But there are lots of other methods. Peat moss, black alder, oak leaves and almond leaves have been known to produce the same effect without the worry of polution.

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## TBemba (Jan 11, 2010)

The rain barrels have lids with holes to prevent any big partials falling into the barrel. It also has a hose at the bottom to fill the water change buckets. I was pretty impressed with how clean the water was. Having said that I am not sure I would be willing to drink it.  

I have been doing rainwater water changes for a month and no issues so far. But no breeding either. I have started to feed with live food and just picked up Almond leaves and added them to the tank. I have talked to alot of people that have used and continue to use rainwater for their tanks and have had success. I think this was the only alternative people had before RO. 

I am collecting it right off the roof, but I live down south and not in the big city so the water I collect maybe cleaner?


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## AquaNeko (Jul 26, 2009)

Zebrapl3co said:


> I personally won't drink any water that runs down from the roof. Do you know how much bird poop is in your roof? Also, there is probably some decay leaves from last fall in the eavestrough. Then there is the fact that the water just run it's course through your tar shingles. You never know what kind of things leeches from the shingles.
> Then there is the fact that some racoons and cats would poop on your roof the mark their territory.
> Short term, you fish will be fine, but not sure about the long term though ...
> Also, just because we roll into the next millenia doesn't mean acid rain didn't exist. Althought I have to admit that it might actually be a good thing to trigger breeding. But there are lots of other methods. Peat moss, black alder, oak leaves and almond leaves have been known to produce the same effect without the worry of polution.


Hmm.. what if you built a distiller?  Tehn that water would be pure without any chems/runoffs/etc I would think unless the stream process carries it to the distilled water??


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

It would be simple enough to make a sunlight distiller for small quantities of distilled water. Glass jugs inside a hot box, with the vapour running through something cooler.


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

I live in downtown Toronto, and would be wary of using water that came off my roof for my tanks. I've collected snow on occasion, and it's amazing how much soot or powdered car tires or whatever shows up when you run the water through a coffee filter to clean it. Add a roof load of similar... especially if you have a new roof that hasn't had all the soluble stuff from the tar leached out of it...

I've wondered whether Purigen or some other resin that picks up organics would be a good way to clean the filtered snow or rain, but I haven't had enough need of mineral-free water to get into experimenting. Charcoal is the same principle, but it varies a lot in the amount it can adsorb, you have no way of telling when it's 'full', and it can't be recharged at home.


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

It stands to reason that snow would be somewhat dirty as snowflakes form around dust particles. How dirty would also vary with where you are. If I was collecting rain water I would wait until after the initial rinse. 
Since our tap water contains just about every chemical and drug known to man, I do wonder if rain water wouldn't be cleaner.


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## Byronicle (Apr 18, 2009)

I was just about to make a thread about this...

well I read about this guy in waterloo/kitchener that uses rainwater that would induce spawning in his apistos the next day

then again i just read about how rainwater is not that great because of the pollutants it collects

so I guess its really 50/50 or where about you are from, because i know whenever i go to waterloo, the air does feel i guess fresher than it does downtown for sure. i live in markham and the air is alright, i want to experiment with this on smaller tanks first with something really sensitive like some cheapy cherry shrimps


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## Byronicle (Apr 18, 2009)

thing is if your tank is well planted, i am sure they would take in a lot of the pollutants. i collect a lot of wood and rocks from my backyard and i haven't noticed anything coocoo.

i mean people are so concern about conserving the swamps and marshes that our plants come in because they act as natural filters in taking out those nasty compounds

and like amano said, "healthy plants make a healthy tank"

but if you have no plants than i would definitely not try it lol


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## Joeee (Apr 3, 2010)

Byronicle said:


> thing is if your tank is well planted, i am sure they would take in a lot of the pollutants. i collect a lot of wood and rocks from my backyard and i haven't noticed anything coocoo.


The only problem I see with doing that though, is that once the plants die they will release toxins those toxins back into the water. If you do this on more than one occasion, then these toxins accumulate.


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## Byronicle (Apr 18, 2009)

Joeee said:


> The only problem I see with doing that though, is that once the plants die they will release toxins those toxins back into the water. If you do this on more than one occasion, then these toxins accumulate.


wouldn't they use the toxins as food? and wouldn't the plants break down these toxins into different compounds? much like when we eat things, it chemically breaks down in our stomachs and the nutrients are used


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

Byronicle said:


> wouldn't they use the toxins as food? and wouldn't the plants break down these toxins into different compounds? much like when we eat things, it chemically breaks down in our stomachs and the nutrients are used


It's the bacteria and other microbes that do all the weird chemistry breaking down recalcitrant chemicals. The plants take up any inorganic nutrients that result. Mud and plant roots and the biofilm that forms on wet surfaces form a very complex ecology that accomplishes amazing feats of chemistry. Walstad's book touches on these matters.


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## Byronicle (Apr 18, 2009)

bae said:


> It's the bacteria and other microbes that do all the weird chemistry breaking down recalcitrant chemicals. The plants take up any inorganic nutrients that result. Mud and plant roots and the biofilm that forms on wet surfaces form a very complex ecology that accomplishes amazing feats of chemistry. Walstad's book touches on these matters.


I really need to get Walstad's book. thanks for clarifying though


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## characinfan (Dec 24, 2008)

Rainwater is great for freshwater tanks, but for finicky marine species, R/O is probably better.

FYI I kept my entire freshwater tank in rainwater/melted snow for 8 years and it was fine (and my fish are now real geezers at 18 years old). As for birds pooping on roofs, etc. -- so long as it's not concentrated, it's no more dangerous to fish than fish poop. (As long as you collect from a roof that does not house a pigeon colony, you should be OK).  Leaves in the eavestroughs add natural tannins and are not dangerous, though they might make the water a little too acidic for rift lake fish.

Roof water is also generally clean -- certainly cleaner than the polluted streams a lot of fish live in now, and, as others have said, free from chlorine and fluoride. If you want, you can filter the water through a cheesecloth to get rid of debris. If you're really concerned about contaminants from the rooftop getting into water you collect, throw out the first bit of water collected after a storm (the bit that rinses accumulated stuff from the roof) and keep the rest. One thing to keep in mind when you are disgusted by sooty snow is that whatever gunk is accumulating in the snow is the same stuff we breathe in every day, and is getting into the fish tank through the air. So chill! A little rain water won't hurt your fish, and if it encourages them to breed, give it a try!

Good luck!

PS -- Byronicle, Bae is right. If you've ever wondered why plants don't need to go to the bathroom (!), it's because, in general, they're quite efficient at taking in only what they need, and excluding the rest. Plants *will* take up excess nitrogen and phosphorus in relatively large quantities, though, making them helpful in the breakdown of the harmful acid rain constituents nitric acid and phosphoric acid.


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