Rain water?

[lar]

If your area is not industrial would not Rain water be as good as distilled or RO.

 

[clayton]

Would depend where you lived in the world. Rain can still be acidic, etc. etc, even if you are many hundreds of miles from a polution source.
You could always test your rain water.

 

[psjusa]

I highly discourage rainwater unless you test it every single time you use it- it is way too risky otherwise- save yourself the hassle and use RO/DI

 

[krazzydart]

it would be o.k if you are doing fresh water fish...... rain water is quite soft and with salt water fish you need a higher Ph(hard water 8.2) or so ...... and if you do use it ...... boil it to kill any bacteria..

 

[kass]

Ive heard rainwater has alot of nitrogen. That's what makes the plants grow. I'm not sure about it but I wouldnt use it.

 

[reptilicus]

Hi,
typical rainwater, from an unindustrialised clean area, has a pH of around 5.6. In more industrialised/polluted areas it can be even lower. This is considerably far away from your desired pH of about 8.3.
Regards,
Tom

 

[dean]

As a chemist I can tell you NOT to use rainwater. Rainwater can be more contaminated with undesirable compounds than you tap water. For a reef tank only go with RO or DI.