Rain Water instead of RO water?

[bornlooser]

Collected some rain water and tested after 48 hours....the PH is around 6.5 and the Water is really soft..hardness is around 25 ppm (less than 1 GH i guess)...have not checked Conductivity though,...do you think i can use this water for breeding (hatching period)? or am i missing something?

[TWA]

A lot of people use rainwater to breed SA species like apistos. There's no reason you couldn't use it unless you for some reason have fertilizer or chemicals on the house, trees, ect whatever the water hits before your collection.

[TURQ64]

You are both out of your tree...Chance expensive fish to all the airpollution that rainwater carries.......All of a sudden, your fish are sick, you have to do many back to back water changes, but..oh yeah, 'I wish that it would rain'.....

[Skip]

AMEN to that TURQ

[discussmith]

Meaning no disrespect but I have to chuckle a little at those who might feel rain water is more polluted than their tap water. Many factors come into play and water utilities spend a lot of effort in making sure the water is safe to drink but that doesn't mean it is not polluted to some extent only that it meets Fed. guidelines. Is the rain falling through the air of an industialized area or out in the country away from such pollutants? Are you below an area where the jet stream or other natural air currents bring polluted air to where you are? Does your tap water come from below the ground or from a lake or other surface holding aquafer? The only way to know what's in your water is to have it tested. I would collect some rain water and pay for a complete water test on it if using rain water would be worth the effort.