Melted snow for fish water?

[Matt201985]

Breeder says my angel eggs died cuz the town water is way to hard. Said to use melted snow or rainwater, any specail treatment to treat melted snow or rainwater to hatch eggs in?

[shev]

Dont use pure snow. snow or any precipitation is pretty much distilled water. it has 0 gh and kh. neutral water is at a ph of 7, when water from falls from the sky it combines with things like co2 which lowers the ph easily since there isnt a buffer (kh).

[Matt201985]

but this is how the breeder sucessfully hatches eggs, he told me to use rain or snow. But should i use water conditioner and methanol blue still>?

[SpongeBob]

Melted snow or rain water must be just about the worst water you could take for eggs. It's full of polution and whatnot. Distilled water is dead water and should not be used. Bottled water is not to be used either because it's often depleted of some trace elements needed. So it all boils down to this. Buy yourself a test kit and test your water. Once you know how it is, modify it with the appropriate products that are safe for aquarium use. I strongly suggest using Seachem products.

I'll give you a head start. Hard water is usually quite alkaline ( pH over 7.0 ). So, if you use an Acid buffer, you will therefor reduce your KH ( carbonate hardness) which in turn will lower your pH. Just get a good master kit Test kit by Aquarium Pharmaceutical ( about $20 for fresh water) and you will have all the tests you need to test your water and know how to correct it. I just hope you were paying atention in your chemistry class!

Oh... and by the way, it's Methylene Blue, not methanol. Yes, you should still use it to prevent egg fungus.

Otherwise, I'm here. (among others)

Sponge
Technician in chemical process.

[RockabillyChick]

if you really think your water is too hard, you can distill water yourself then mix it with your normal tap water to lower the hardness, but not remove it all completely.

fill a large basin half way with water, and place a clean bucket in the center. cover the top with plastic and anchor the edges so the plastic doesn't fall in. then place a weight like a rock in the center of the plastic over the bucket.

the sun will cause the water to evaporate, it will condence on the plastic and run down the plastic to the center where the rock is and drip into the bucket.

however, i agree with the others that you should not use straight distilled water because it is dead water. there are no minerals in it, no nutrients, nothing. you should also not use rain water or snow as it is dirty and full of pollution and god knows what. i collect it and use it to water some of my indoor plants, but that's it. i would never use it with fish.

[shev]

ahhh yes, my favorite spongebob, spongebob aquarium pants.

[TheOldSalt]

Just mix distilled & tapwater about 2/3 to 1/3, and then test it the next day to see how it turned out chemically. Depending on your tapwater, it will probably be pretty close to what you want, but not quite. A little amazon extract will finish the job in most cases.

[Jonno]

Originally Posted by Matt201985

but this is how the breeder sucessfully hatches eggs, he told me to use rain or snow. But should i use water conditioner and methanol blue still>?

If your going to use methylene blue i wouldn't use it in the main aquarium because it pretty much stains everything rock,silicone you name it.

- Jonno

[SpongeBob]

Originally Posted by shev

ahhh yes, my favorite spongebob, spongebob aquarium pants.