Rain Collection

[Virginia ranchu]

Hey All,

I recently bought one of those 55 gallon plastic barrels and I plan to retrofit it with a spout and use it to collect rainwater. We periodically have drought issues in my area, and they sometimes put restrictions on water use.

Also for any of you who have water quality issues, rain water might help (though it may be too soft and acid). I also keep some tropicals that might benefit from rainwater.

In order to divert water from your downspout to a barrel, you will need a diverter unit. I found this one on Ebay.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150333642744&category=20547&_trksid=p3907.m263&_trkparms=algo%3DSIC%26its%3DI%252BC%26itu%3DUA%25 2BUCI%26otn%3D14%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D54#ht_942wt_958

I'll let you know what I think of the product once it arrives.

Cheers,

Rob

[*Ci*]

Hi all,
This is my first post, but I must say first that I am very much enjoying this site. The expertise and knowledge here are just what I was looking for in a goldfish forum!

I have been using rain water in my goldfish tanks, community tanks and pond for 7 years now. I have a 8000 gal. cistern and the water is roof runoff. I choose to use the rain water because the well water that is available to me seems to be very inconsistent, plus we get low on water in the summer and salt water seepage into the well. I believe rain here in the Pacific NW (specifically the Gulf Is. of BC) is relatively pollution free.

The water parameters out of the cistern are PH 6.4, KH 2dkh and GH 0-1 dgh. For water changes I fill a 50 g barrel in the house, PP the water and neutralize w/ hydrogen peroxide and add baking soda, calcium chloride and magnesium sulphate to achieve a PH of 7.4, KH - 6 dkh and GH - 6 dgh.

As I say - the goldies are thriving in it. I also keep snails, shrimp, loaches, gouramis, glass cats, plecos and various other community fish and they do fine as well. I feel that I have more control over the water - no worries about chlorine or other surprise additives that a city might throw in, or ground runoff, seepages and coliform associated with wells. By treating with PP I feel I am starting with nice clean water and I can I set the parameters right where I want them.

Anyway, I hope this info might help someone who is having water shortage issues and is considering alternatives.

Cheers,
Ci

[Cincy Ranchu]

This is quite the effort, I divert the back of the house to two ponds and the fish tend to love, I have been doing this for some number of years. Piping it to the house and adjusting the chemistry sound like a valuable addition. Do you heat the wayer befroe addition or just let it equilabrate with room temperature?

[*Ci*]

I heat the water to tank temp before WC.

My reasoning for the PP treatment is that you never know what organics are accumulating in the cistern - debris from the gutters, bird droppings on the roof etc. Better to be safe than sorry

(I don't do all this for the pond, however, it just gets water straight from the cistern)

[Molenest@yahoo.com]

Here's a link to getting bulkhead fittings & faucets for a rainbarrel:

http://www.bayteccontainers.com/bulfit34.html

I live in S. FL, so using tap water is a no-go because they hyper-chlorinate city water, well water has large amounts of iron, and the lake water has stuff I don't want to introduce to my fishpond. The only answer is a rainbarrel.

One good thing about living here is that I can keep my fish outside year-round, but a drawback are the birds, which will wipe you out in a heartbeat. I lost 4 fish in a couple of minutes, so I now have to keep a net over the pond. Also, because I live on a lake, I have to use an above-ground pond to discourage the snakes from dining. But, I've got Comets that grew over 9" in one year from less than 1". They're great fun and very friendly. Worth every effort, but I couldn't keep them w/o the barrel.