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Rainwater

Simmo

Member
Joined
11 Dec 2020
Messages
311
Location
Scotland
Hi All
I’m moving from tap to rainwater sourced from water butts in the garden. I’m trying to make this simple but open to ideas?
The idea I’ve had is to use gravity or a pump to get the water from the butt to, ideally a wheeled container of say 50 litres. I then want to warm that up to 24C quickly so have been looking at portable immersion heaters, you can get a 1500W thing for a few quid online.
Amazon product ASIN B07ZH7TDZW
I’m hoping this will have a thermostat thats controllable enough.
Anyone done something similar got any experience to share? That’d be cool, thanks 👍
Cheers
 
When I use rainwater this time of year I tend to just bring it in a day or two before the water change and it heats up to room temperature which isn't that far off the tank.
If I forget or decide to do an unplanned wc I boil a kettle of water and it's enough to bring it up to a decent temperature, for 50 l you might need a couple, maybe 3, kettles worth to do the same but will likely have enough left over for a nice cuppa after the wc.
 
Thanks, yeah that’s what I’ve done for years with tap water but looking to do it all quickly as I’m impatient and I’d prefer not to have water standing around 😂 if there was somewhere to stash the water container it would be fine...hang on, that gives me an idea, there is a cupboard...😀.
Thinking one of those camping water barrels night work, I’m sick of humping buckets around...the biggest are 50 litres...fill to 45 leave overnight and add boiling to bring it up to temp the next day..stick the pump in and pump it up to the tank.Thanks 👍
 
I just pump it from water butt to container by aquarium, mix with tap and leave overnight with a heater in it to bring up to temp.
 
When my new tank is set up I am planning to use my Anova sous vide cooker for this if I need to heat water quickly. It's 800w, will clamp to most containers, built in circultion pump, accurate to 0.1 degrees and even tells your phone when it has reached temperature.

Kind of an expensive way of doing things if you don't already own one but for those who do it seems like an ideal way to repurpose an existing tool. If you or your partner like cooking it makes the investment much more acceptable. Also, just saw that since the new range has come out they are having a clearance on the original models for £75:

We’re making room for the new Anova Precision® Cooker! Get a great deal on the original Anova Precision® Cooker while supplies last!

Products | Anova Culinary
 
When my new tank is set up I am planning to use my Anova sous vide cooker for this if I need to heat water quickly. It's 800w, will clamp to most containers, built in circultion pump, accurate to 0.1 degrees and even tells your phone when it has reached temperature.

Kind of an expensive way of doing things if you don't already own one but for those who do it seems like an ideal way to repurpose an existing tool. If you or your partner like cooking it makes the investment much more acceptable. Also, just saw that since the new range has come out they are having a clearance on the original models for £75:

We’re making room for the new Anova Precision® Cooker! Get a great deal on the original Anova Precision® Cooker while supplies last!

Products | Anova Culinary
Thats really cool, and yummy steak 😀 Would it melt a plastic container do you think?
 
No, it is fine with plastic containers. Many people use insulated cooler boxes to cook sous vide for example. The heating element is not able to come into contact with anything due to the casing.
 
I pump it inside into a bin and then heat with a 300w aquarium heater. Only takes 2-3 hours to heat up this time of year which I don’t think is bad at all.

cheers
 
I pump it inside into a bin and then heat with a 300w aquarium heater. Only takes 2-3 hours to heat up this time of year which I don’t think is bad at all.

cheers
How much water would that be please?
 
Re-mineralised before use? How do you deal with contaminants?
The water here is so soft there’s no general hardness measurable, so I add Seachem Equilibrium and would continue with this. Chemical contamination not an issue in rural Scotland and Suppose I’m willing to risk microbes and invertebrates, thinking the former will be harmless and the latter live food. I see some folk use half tap/rain maybe this is preferable?
 
Re-mineralised before use? How do you deal with contaminants?
Nothing added before use, I rely on my ferts to add some minerals back.

It all depends what type of fish you’re keeping. For the general community species from South America, say for example a black phantom tetra half and half with tap will be fine. I’ve got poecilocharax weitzmani, coral red pencil fish and corydoras duplicareus. These are all black water species so prefer really soft water.

what species are you planning on keeping?

cheers
 
Nothing added before use, I rely on my ferts to add some minerals back.

It all depends what type of fish you’re keeping. For the general community species from South America, say for example a black phantom tetra half and half with tap will be fine. I’ve got poecilocharax weitzmani, coral red pencil fish and corydoras duplicareus. These are all black water species so prefer really soft water.

what species are you planning on keeping?

cheers
thanks, I have neons and corys and intend to add a pair of apistos and possibly honey gourami for up top. I dose with TNC at the stated dose, adding Equilibrium as I read plants and fish needed the minerals. Cheers
 
Hi all,
I see some folk use half tap/rain maybe this is preferable?
It is mainly people who have hard tap water, so they can add dGH/dKH from the dissolved limestone (CaCO3) in their tap water. If you have soft tap water (low/no dGH/dKH) then there isn't any point in cutting your rain-water with tap water, you've just added small amounts of chlorine, <"NaOH"> and <"PO4---">.
How do you deal with contaminants?
I use the <"Daphnia bioassay">, but that will only work if you have some hardness in your rain-water.

cheers Darrel
 
Hi all,

It is mainly people who have hard tap water, so they can add dGH/dKH from the dissolved limestone (CaCO3) in their tap water. If you have soft tap water (low/no dGH/dKH) then there isn't any point in cutting your rain-water with tap water, you've just added small amounts of chlorine, <"NaOH"> and <"PO4---">.

I use the <"Daphnia bioassay">, but that will only work if you have some hardness in your rain-water.

cheers Darrel
Thanks Darrel, that explains the water cutting. Honestly I think it highly unlikely the rainwater in rural N.Scotland running off a slate roof would be contaminated, unless it picks up combustion products deposited by open fires but I’ll take the risk and think it’ll probably be beneficial. Will check basic water parameters before I start gearing up though. Any other suggestions welcome
 
I’m guessing your tap water would be pretty soft anyway so rainwater may not be required at all. I’m using rain because my water is basically liquid chalk and decided to make my life a bit more difficult and go for soft water species.
 
Good point, maybe I don’t need to as tap water is as soft as it gets, I was swayed by reports of healthier fish and a vague notion of natural is better but maybe its just not needed.
 
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