# Rain/Snow Water in Tank



## jayrod (Oct 22, 2003)

Since we got all this snow I got curious and wanted to know how the water would fair in my tank vs tap water.

I went outside and grabed some surface snow and melted and ran it through my aquarium test kit.

My results were:

PH -> 6.2
GH -> 0
KH -> 0
Ammo -> 0
Nitrate -> 0

This looks like it would be optimum water change water since I have a GH level that is through the roof due to my hard tap water.

Has anybody else tried rain/snow water in their aquarium?
Should I be concerned about pollution?


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## nfldRBP (Nov 30, 2003)

Thats really interesting, and would lower my Ph levels. Thanks for the idea.


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## Death in #'s (Apr 29, 2003)

there is lots of polluton in the snow or rain i wouldent trust it


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## jayrod (Oct 22, 2003)

How much pollution is in the water? If there is a lot is there a way to neutralize/remove it?


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## Guest (Dec 8, 2003)

I'm sure there is some pollution in snow, but I doubt it's enough to kill your fish. Afterall, your tap water is essentially rain water that flowed into a reservoir and the fish outside live in rain water, right?


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## traumatic (Jan 29, 2003)

I think rainwater is better than tap water, especially out in the country. It's a more natural source, if you don't live near highly polluted area. The tapwater in some communites has high levels of chemicals that can kill your fish fairly quickly.


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## Runningmad (Aug 13, 2003)

Death in # said:


> there is lots of polluton in the snow or rain i wouldent trust it


 i agree with death in #'s there are probabaly a lot of trace amounts of chemicals in the rain/snow that could hurt your P's


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## sweet lu (Oct 3, 2003)

snow and rain contain jet fuels/exaust/dirt/anything that really floats in the air. i wouldnt. would be cool though


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## DonH (Jan 25, 2003)

Assuming that the snow is free of toxins, you would still need to find a way to buffer it before you add it to your tank.


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## boxer (Sep 11, 2003)

if you live near any power plants or in the city where pollution is high, i definately would not even consider it. what if you had small traces of mercury enough for the fish but not enough for a human? if its possible..


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## jayrod (Oct 22, 2003)

How do I test for toxins and how do I buffer the water?

Do I use the PH Neutralizer to buffer it?

Also, I live about 8 miles outside the center of Pittsburgh, but I am away from the Airport which is good but there are power plants all over the state... PA is known for its coal power plants...

So considering these factors would there be that high of an amount of pollution in the snow?

Fish live in the rivers around here and they do fine. But I wouldnt eat any...


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## boxer (Sep 11, 2003)

pollution can spread in 100's to thousands of miles basically if there's pollution in 1 spot, its everywhere just not as dense. fish can live in lakes because there's so much surface area and water that the pollution is concentrated to somewhat safe levels but there are so many reports today on polluted waters where fish survive and develop diseases later on which affects us and the fishing industry.


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## oggietiu (Nov 4, 2003)

Be carefull in doing that. If your out in the country I think it would be fine but If your in a city like LA or Newyork rain or snow might be lethal to your fish because of pollution.


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