Rainwater p.H 7.2 & low salt, Is it OK for goldfish?

We live in an area where the tap water is horrible and rely on
rainwater for household use. We don't have industrial polution
affecting the rainwater quality and lttle chance of agricultural
contaminants! If we buy goldfish from town where the filtered
tapwater has approx 500mg salt per litre (plus chlorination and
everything else) obviously we cant just transfer them to straight
rainwater so we add a "rainwater conditioner" which is a salt
solution. Can we gradually dilute the solution by adding straight
rainfater with each change (25%) of tank water? Do goldfish have a
requirement for some salt (can they live in crystal clear mountain
streams)? It would be an advantage as far as reducing algal growth if
the water was purer.

yes, the need the salts that form the buffer system and keep the pH from swinging
wildly. I think Dr. Wellfish has some fresh water salts for those with RO or rain
water. Ingrid

(johjoh) wrote:

We live in an area where the tap water is horrible and rely on
rainwater for household use. We don't have industrial polution
affecting the rainwater quality and lttle chance of agricultural
contaminants! If we buy goldfish from town where the filtered
tapwater has approx 500mg salt per litre (plus chlorination and
everything else) obviously we cant just transfer them to straight
rainwater so we add a "rainwater conditioner" which is a salt
solution. Can we gradually dilute the solution by adding straight
rainfater with each change (25%) of tank water? Do goldfish have a
requirement for some salt (can they live in crystal clear mountain
streams)? It would be an advantage as far as reducing algal growth if
the water was purer.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

Why will the p.H fluctuate? Couldn't I just check the p.H when I top
up the tank ? The change water is coming from a very large rainwater
tank and does not vary much in p.H. Can the fish be acclimitized to
different salt levels? What is the range of their salt tolerance?

wrote in message ...
yes, the need the salts that form the buffer system and keep the pH from swinging
wildly. I think Dr. Wellfish has some fresh water salts for those with RO or rain
water. Ingrid

(johjoh) wrote:

We live in an area where the tap water is horrible and rely on
rainwater for household use. We don't have industrial polution
affecting the rainwater quality and lttle chance of agricultural
contaminants! If we buy goldfish from town where the filtered
tapwater has approx 500mg salt per litre (plus chlorination and
everything else) obviously we cant just transfer them to straight
rainwater so we add a "rainwater conditioner" which is a salt
solution. Can we gradually dilute the solution by adding straight
rainfater with each change (25%) of tank water? Do goldfish have a
requirement for some salt (can they live in crystal clear mountain
streams)? It would be an advantage as far as reducing algal growth if
the water was purer.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.

their wastes are acidic. without a buffer system the pH can drop from a single drop
of acid. actually, most rain water is acidic. GF do very well in 0.1% NaCl. that
is 0.9 lbs per 100 gallon or about 1 tablespoons per 5 gallons, no additives,
dissolve first, add slowly. split addition up over a few days rather than all at
once. Ingrid

(johjoh) wrote:
Why will the p.H fluctuate? Couldn't I just check the p.H when I top
up the tank ? The change water is coming from a very large rainwater
tank and does not vary much in p.H. Can the fish be acclimitized to
different salt levels? What is the range of their salt tolerance?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List
http://puregold.aquaria.net/
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Unfortunately, I receive no money, gifts, discounts or other
compensation for all the damn work I do, nor for any of the
endorsements or recommendations I make.