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Rain water is going to be soft and could also be acidic. If using rain water one will probably need to add some minerals to help harden the water up a bit, first on the list will be a bit of limestone to provide calcium and buffering. Depending on the type of lime used, extra magnesium might be needed too. Most fish like a certain amount of hardness and the bacteria needs a certain pH range to work well. If a system is started with minimal buffering material added and is using rain water, it is highly likely that the pH will drop as the system starts to cycle up and the process may halt and ammonia spike causing all sorts of problems.
Zero power, what was the pH of your system you were having problems with? Did you add any lime or shell grit? Rain water may be great but you do have to provide it with some buffering to make it work.
ph of 6 1/2.. I didnt add anything to it... Our tap water is so harsh here .. ph of over 9
TCLynx said:Rain water is going to be soft and could also be acidic. If using rain water one will probably need to add some minerals to help harden the water up a bit, first on the list will be a bit of limestone to provide calcium and buffering. Depending on the type of lime used, extra magnesium might be needed too. Most fish like a certain amount of hardness and the bacteria needs a certain pH range to work well. If a system is started with minimal buffering material added and is using rain water, it is highly likely that the pH will drop as the system starts to cycle up and the process may halt and ammonia spike causing all sorts of problems.
Zero power, what was the pH of your system you were having problems with? Did you add any lime or shell grit? Rain water may be great but you do have to provide it with some buffering to make it work.
I collect rain water but haven't used it on my system yet, after doing some research and talking to some people I realized that before using the water it must be filtered properly.
My friend's fish also died after using rainwater directly. At this moment I'm working on a sand bio filter that can be built cheaply. This is what I'm doing: http://www.slowsandfilter.org/illustrations.html.
In the mean time I just use tap water and let it sit for at least 24 hrs before putting in system
thats an interesting diagram of the sand filter.. I may try to make one... thank you
Giorgio said:I collect rain water but haven't used it on my system yet, after doing some research and talking to some people I realized that before using the water it must be filtered properly.
My friend's fish also died after using rainwater directly. At this moment I'm working on a sand bio filter that can be built cheaply. This is what I'm doing: http://www.slowsandfilter.org/illustrations.html.
In the mean time I just use tap water and let it sit for at least 24 hrs before putting in system
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