PlanetCatfish.com

I live in a very hard water area and I prefer to keep my tanks topped up with RO water although I work in the local aquatics store because I dont drive (I ride a bmx). I find it very difficult to get the water home unless I get a lift. my 10g on its own uses a supriseingly large amount of water weekly! If I can find a lake with soft water is that sutible to use, Im going to my local lake to test it sometime in the week im guessing it will be pretty soft water because although most of the sorounding area is calcareous this is an old clay/sand pit (all the rivers are hard chalk streams) or is rain water sutible?

Rain water and melted snow both work very well. In the old days it was fairly common for aquarists to hunt down natural water sources with varying chemical properties for aquarium use. I have heard stories about Rosario LaCorte doing it. However, with modern availability of inexpensive RO and DI units and the number of chemical additives, from Rift Lake salts to black water extracts, I am not sure anyone is better off collecting their own water.
-Shane

i use rain water from a water butt that is in my parents garden, whenever i need some just fill up a big water bottle and away i go. i find that it is really soft, about 6.5

whiteymoza wrote:I live in a very hard water area and I prefer to keep my tanks topped up with RO water although I work in the local aquatics store because I dont drive (I ride a bmx). I find it very difficult to get the water home unless I get a lift. my 10g on its own uses a supriseingly large amount of water weekly! If I can find a lake with soft water is that sutible to use, Im going to my local lake to test it sometime in the week im guessing it will be pretty soft water because although most of the sorounding area is calcareous this is an old clay/sand pit (all the rivers are hard chalk streams) or is rain water sutible?

Rain water would be a better bet, I would think. I'd be very surprised if the water in your local clay/sand-pit is noticably softer than the water in the rivers, but by all means, don't take my word for it. Just to explain, my reasoning is that the water filling the pit isn't coming all from straight above, a lot of it would come from "the sides", which is likely to pass through the same type of chalky ground that makes the local rivers hard... Also beware that "wild water" can contain things that you don't want in your tank, anything from fish-decease to pesticides or other "nasty" chemicals.

Maybe, and I'm not kidding, you can find a trailer to go on your bicycle[1]. I used to have one many years ago when I lived in Sweden. It was great as long as the load wasn't too big when going up hills. I would take three crates of 25 bottles of fizzy drinks in one go. Also used it when I went fishing in the local lake, and brought home more than one lot of local fish for my tank.

[1] Mind you, unless you find one at the local car-boot or some such, you'll probably be paying nearly as much as a RO unit would cost...

--
Mats

--
Mats

You can also think about maximizing your RO out put. I use an RO/DI because of the very high calcium and iron we have in our water here in Wisconsin. The DI makes a difference adn my water comes out of the unit 0/0/pH6.7. I also use a booster pump to maintain pressure in the unit at 80 psi. Without the booster pump my pressure is 50 psi, and my pure:waste ratio is nearly 1:5. With the booster pump my ratio is about 1:3.8. All RO systems waste more than they make. No way to get around it, but you will have the water you need when you need it and where you need it.

if you have a garden just stick a water butt in it, when the rain falls you will reap the benefits of excellent quality water.......for free.