18 replies to this topic

[Darren Felvus 91]

Why does pond water always go cloudy when its raining weve had a lot of heavy rain and waters cloudy cant even see fish is this safe for fish how to stop it happning i have removed the fish indoors now just incase


Thanks

Dazz:goldfish:

[Kaysavage]

Hi Dazz

I don't think the rain should harm your fish, unless it is so heavy they get stressed. The cloudyness is probably caused by the new rain water mixing with your filtered water. Here we find that sometimes the rain carries particles of sand etc and so these are deposited in your pond with the rain.

Has anyone else had fish harmed by heavy rain? Does it help to have a deep pond so the fish can get to the bottom out of the way?

[koiguy1969]

the biggest threat i can think of would be ph swing.due to the acidic nature of rain water, but you'd have to accumulate enough to raise your water level a bit. and if your pond was at max capacity it should've just ran off,unless your pond is below grade, then youre opening the door for multiple problems. you may be washing in soil,or other contaminants,clouding your water. fertilizers and pesticides may be fatal to plants and fish if they are being washed in.

[DrCase]

I always enjoy a big rain ..I think my koi like it to..
I look at it as a water change

[DrDave]

Just beware of runoff that may be contaminated. Rain alone will no hurt your fish.

[koiguy1969]

when i first opened the pond, i didnt know anything about ph buffering,so i lowered my pond 3 inches to do a water change. up to then i was a consistant 7.4 to 7.6 it started raining,so i decided to let the rain handle it, or some of it.after a weekend of rain wich filled it plus... my ph was 6.8 not harmfull yet but but a nice decline and a speedy fall is worse than a slower larger one. koi and goldies can handle a wide range of ph but sudden drops or peaks can be fatal. since i started buffering no significant ph swings have occurred. i have had 7.4 readings consistantly with very little varience.

[garry jack]

Rain water is not harmful for koi because pond fish in temperate areas do not require any extra heat, the term "cold water" comes from fish that do not come from a tropical environment.

[Janers]

What is "buffering?"

[koiguy1969]

bufffering is stablizing the ph of water,crushed oyster shells do a nice job of it. put them in a old nylon or something that will allow waterflow, and put them somewhere with a good steady circulation of water

[Janers]

Thanks!

[stroppy]

is the ph so important in a pond if you have goldfish ...or is this just for a koi pond ...or would the oyster shells be good for any pond ?

[koiguy1969]

the oyster shells will help in any pond that you want to stablize ph,koi and goldfish can tolerate a wide range of ph. but sudden sharp spikes and drops can be harmfull. the oyster shells help to control these fluctuations

[MassKoi]

Is there anything else besides oyster shells to buffer the water? My pond has been between 7.0 and 7.5 until yesterday when I tested and it was 9.0 ....yikes. :icon_eek: I did do a partial water change but did not retest.
Would rain cause this? We had some heavy rain 2 days ago.

[BlakeA]

MassKoi said:

Is there anything else besides oyster shells to buffer the water? My pond has been between 7.0 and 7.5 until yesterday when I tested and it was 9.0 ....yikes. :icon_eek: I did do a partial water change but did not retest.
Would rain cause this? We had some heavy rain 2 days ago.

I had the EXACT same problem as you, we had a good rain for a few days, and my PH levels were the same for a month, then went up to 9.0 over those few days. I went to wal-mart and purchased these PH tablets, that dissolve kinda like those alka seltzer tablets, and i put a very minimum dose, for fear of rapidly changeing it back to normal, i think the tablet per gallon would've called me useing more than 1 package of 8, and i put 1 tablet in my waterfall resevoir, and dissolved 1 tablet in a bucket full of the pond water, that i evenly distributed in the pond. The next day my PH was back at 7.5 and has been every since.

Although i do plan to try the oyster shells that koiguy suggested in my new filter i plan to have up and running in a week or 2.

[koiguy1969]

do the oyster shells.. they really do work and they are real cheap.