# can i use rain water for dart frogs



## TommyBurt (Dec 14, 2009)

yeah i know i cant use tap water and i bet repti safe runs out really quick


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## liamb111 (Apr 2, 2010)

not sure about rain water but i use aqua safe for my water and the bottle lasts aaaaages and it's only like £2


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## coral1 (Jun 4, 2009)

TommyBurt said:


> yeah i know i cant use tap water and i bet repti safe runs out really quick


 i use my marine fish ro unit for my frogs cheap and easy water.


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## TommyBurt (Dec 14, 2009)

o ok guess i will give it a go do you just put a drop of conditioner in


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## ipreferaflan (Oct 8, 2009)

I use rainwater for all my frogs.


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## TommyBurt (Dec 14, 2009)

ok its just i have a water butt full of clean rain water i guess i have to warm it up


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## Ben W (Nov 18, 2008)

All my sals and frogs get rain water, no problems


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## TommyBurt (Dec 14, 2009)

im also gonna have a small pond in there nothing they can drown in but how often should i replace the water in this small pond and how often should i clean the whole terrarium im gonna have 3 darts to start


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## Pipkin28 (Oct 6, 2007)

This has been debated before, I suppose it depends where you live and how clean the rainwater is. All rainwater will pick up contaminents, particularly if you live near industrial areas. 

However, even if you live miles from a source of pollution it won't guarantee that your water is safe. Remember how far the fallout from the Chernobyl nuclear plant travelled and recently the ash from the Icelandic volcano travelled miles, helped along by the wind!

Just because you can't see pollutants in the air, doesn't mean they're not there.

Just a little something to consider...... and discuss of course!


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## Morgan Freeman (Jan 14, 2009)

What Pipkin said.

I live a few miles from Heathrow airport, no way I'd use rainwater.


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## Ben W (Nov 18, 2008)

You can always filter it through carbon, that will take out the nasty stuff


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## soundstounite (Sep 6, 2009)

ben how do you make a carbon filter for rain water? we went to see a guy called Alan Cann afew weeks ago he has kept darts for years we stayed for hours:blush: thanks again Alan,the guy is very knowledgeable. He uses exclusively rainwater( for his darts) he has fitted a diverter to his down pipe which after it has rained for a while he then switches over to the water butt for his frogs he uses a peice of stocking to filter out anybits etc....He has tested his water chemically always better than tap, if you need to know more look on his web site he is very articulate and the above will make more sense explained by him.....It is also a bloody good read for all phib keepers....awsome man AJC's virtual frog room...once again thanks alan


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## TommyBurt (Dec 14, 2009)

i dont live near any industrial areas:2thumb: im a countryside man cant wait to get my darts im gonna have a male and female and breed them its better than buying more cost like 45 pounds get some broms and other plants in there a small pond moss coconut hides just need to do the heating and feeding part of it


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## frogman955 (Feb 7, 2010)

Considering the cost and effort involved in setting up and keeping frogs I wouldn`t take a chance on rain water.
As previously said you just don`t know whats coming down outa the clouds.

Mike


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## Ben W (Nov 18, 2008)

Alan seems a knowledgable chap, and i have no doubt he gives good advice.

True you dont know whats coming out the sky, hence the carbon filter!!, again everyone has their own ideas, and what works for them, if we all did the same it would be a boring place


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## pollywog (Oct 6, 2005)

I avoid using rain water when possible, from time to time we note a film or sandy residue left on cars after heavy rain and some years ago had a number of fish die in our pond and plants start to wilt and die (in our garden and neighbours gardens) which we are sure was due to something in the rain and we live in a very rural area. I'm lucky living in Malvern I get an endless free supply of spring water.


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## Ron Magpie (Oct 11, 2009)

Yeah, I have to say I'm with Pipkin, Morgan and Polly; as somebody else said, we all have our own methods, but living in the Southeast, I'd be very dubious about the quality of rainwater. I remember, years ago, a debate in a gardening magazine; an organic guy saying 'I have no chemicals on my plants' and a chemical company guy saying 'do you realise, eveytime it rains, those chemicals come down?' 

My only answer (gardening-wise) is to at least try not to add to the atmospheric load, but it's made me pretty wary about what I use.


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## ipreferaflan (Oct 8, 2009)

I <3 rainwater.


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## TommyBurt (Dec 14, 2009)

yeah might use repti safe how often should i cover the fruitfly with vitamin


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## rhodes4130 (Mar 9, 2009)

hi ive used asda smart price bottled still water ever since ive had my dart with no probs and only 17p a 2L bottle

as for the flies i do it when im feeding my frogs -
get a couple of plastic cups tip a bit of powder in one
shake the req amount of flies into it then shake the cup to get the flies covered
then decant the flies into the other cup leaving the powder still in the first cup
then tip the flies in your tank


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