reverse osmosis treated water

[luv2bfishin]

Re: Saltwater aquariums, It is suggested that in order to reduce growth of diatoms, which are primarily a product of silica in water, when doing water changes that I use water that has been filtered using reverse osmosis. My question is: does rain water (or snow) have the same amounts of silica as most drinking water? Would rain / snow water work in my water changes?

 

[ccCapt]

I would never use either. They both "wash" the polutants out of the air. Silica isn't the only concern with tap water. There could be nitrates, phosphates, copper, etc etc in tap water that is removed by RO/DI.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Depending on where you live, rain/snow water might actually be worse than using tap water. cccapt probably lives in one of those areas.

 

[tawolcott]

If I didn't know better I'd think that was a shot a Philly... Hmmmmm

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Not really... more a shot at anything in that area of acid rain fallout.

 

[Ziggy953]

I agree with Kurt here, using rain water or water right out of the ocean is not a good idea. You can't control what is in that water. RO/DI is the way to go and it will remove close to 99% of all "stuff" in the water.

 

[cmor1701d]

They use ice cores taken at the poles to look for air borne pollution in the past. I wouldn't use anything but RODI these days.

 

[melosu58]

I agree that I would not use either for reasons stated above.