Rainwater for my reef? Its FREE! Bad Idea?

lowbudget

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#23
back on topic. i dont think its a problem cause dave o2manyfish has a out door sump fuge and everything rain water gets in it. his tank is awesome but his water volume is like over 1000 gallons.
 

jcgalliano

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#24
I would say bad idea especially if you don't have appropriate test kits


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Zoarder

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#25
back on topic. i dont think its a problem cause dave o2manyfish has a out door sump fuge and everything rain water gets in it. his tank is awesome but his water volume is like over 1000 gallons.
I would have to disagree with that statement, rain water floats on top of saltwater which can be skimmed off. :p
 

cymaster007

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#26
Cylix [MENTION=3241]cymaster007[/MENTION] used to have an outdoor system and I think remember him saying some rain water got into his system and then his tank got infected with a brown algae of some sort. Maybe Cylix or other reefers with outdoor systems can chime in
My outdoor tank had a large algae bloom when rainwater got in it. It had something in it that fueled the bloom- I did not test for metals or anything else in it (I was not letting it in intentionally. The system was approx 500g of water volume w/ a good skimmer and very small bioload.

I would not recommend it in California. I would consider using it maybe if it was rainwater from the fiji islands or something....
 

lowbudget

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#28
My outdoor tank had a large algae bloom when rainwater got in it. It had something in it that fueled the bloom- I did not test for metals or anything else in it (I was not letting it in intentionally. The system was approx 500g of water volume w/ a good skimmer and very small bioload.

I would not recommend it in California. I would consider using it maybe if it was rainwater from the fiji islands or something....
you need to change your location mr no tax state
 

zigginit

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#29
every wonder why LA area sky is brown........


I think unless you plan on doing this large scale all the time then a small experiment in your reef tank is not worth it. or set up a new tank just to see what happens with 100% rain water mixed into salt water. put a crab and one fish and some crappy zoa.
 
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#34
I wouldn't risk it. U invest a lot of money on ur tank and u try to save $10 by using rain water and crash ur tank. Not worth it. Just my 2 cents.
 
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#35
I wouldn't risk it. U invest a lot of money on ur tank and u try to save $10 by using rain water and crash ur tank. Not worth it. Just my 2 cents.
soo true

but i look at all this water falling from the sky. then I look at all the waste water coming from by RODI unit. I feel like im stranded at sea, surrounded by water and not allowed to drink any of it.

besides, all this rain water collects in the reservoir 5 miles from my house, gets pump up the hill and through some membranes, so I use it anyway. just trying to save some steps if possible
 

zigginit

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#36
soo true

but i look at all this water falling from the sky. then I look at all the waste water coming from by RODI unit. I feel like im stranded at sea, surrounded by water and not allowed to drink any of it.

besides, all this rain water collects in the reservoir 5 miles from my house, gets pump up the hill and through some membranes, so I use it anyway. just trying to save some steps if possible
haha that's kinda true. didn't look at it like that.
 

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