[fisherman]

MY FRIEND , is going to set up a 250g freshwater tank and he have a problem which type of water is gong to use. So, he is going to marry soon and cannot afford an Ro Unit.

Can he use tap or rain water ? Which one is best ?

Thanks

[Mikeman]

He can use tap, but he'll have to add some sort of conditioner to the water to get rid of the chlorine in the water, and other bad chemicals.

It also matters what kind of fish he's going to keep, some fish need purer water while other need more acidy, and so on.

[Freshwaterguy1313]

What I do is I use tap and I have this chemical called INSTOCHLOR by Jungle. Every water change he does he must put it in to remove Chlorine, Ammonia, and Irons in the water. It works in seconds. And a 2 Oz. bottle is only $3.00 (At least where I live).

[slubugvw]

First test the tap water. If the water parameters are acceptable, just use tap water. That is what I do in my tanks. Unless the water quality is really off, I wouldn't suggest using rainwater just because it sounds like it would be a whole lot of work.

[MarineKid]

Hey there fisherman!
I use tap water for all my water changes in my tank and they do fine. If you used RO water for a freshie tank it's usually if your keeping a fish like a Discus or something like that. Anyway, I use AquaClear for water conditioner. It works instantly and you don't have to wait either.Rainwater might not be the way to go...you don't always know whats in it
HTH
MarineKid