Is rain water bad for fish in a small garden pond. The reason I ask this is
that every time there is heavy rain, the water turns even more murky and the
fish appear lethargic. I put salts in to pep them up a little, but this only
helps for a short while. (Is it possible to overdose with tonic salts, or
can I continue to put it in reasonable amounts?)

Also, I have lost 2 small sarasa comets with what appears to be light green
marks on their underbelly. The pond is murky green, even though I have used
interpet 'green away' and sludge blaster.

Any answers will be welcome.

Thanks

Alex

Hi Alex,
A couple of thoughts.
Do you think that the pond is getting runoff from the lawn when it rains so
hard? And is there fertilizer or herbicide on the lawn?

Do you have a mech/bio filter running on the pond?

You can read the algae primer for tips on your murky green water in the link in
my sig below.
I'll let others answer questions about salt.

Hope we can track down your problem!


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

"Alex Woodward" wrote in message
...
Is rain water bad for fish in a small garden pond. The reason I ask this
is
that every time there is heavy rain, the water turns even more murky and
the
fish appear lethargic. I put salts in to pep them up a little, but this
only
helps for a short while. (Is it possible to overdose with tonic salts, or
can I continue to put it in reasonable amounts?)

Also, I have lost 2 small sarasa comets with what appears to be light
green
marks on their underbelly. The pond is murky green, even though I have
used
interpet 'green away' and sludge blaster.

Rain water in itself is not harmful, but what it can sometimes carry can be
a problem. If you are getting runoff from your lawn, fertilizers can run
into the pond helping algae to grow. Pesticides can be run into the pond and
poison the fish as well. Murky water from green alage would imply that some
source of food such as lawn fertilizer has been run into the pond. If the
water is murky as in being dirty, that could just be run off particles from
the area around the pond. When I first built my pond, I had problems with
clay running into the pond. My water was orange forever.

As for the salt...IMHO, adding salt to make the fish feel better is a bad
idea. Treatments should be added to treat conditions. What is the current
salinity of your water? Blinding adding salt every time it rains could be
the cause of the lethargic fish. You may be poisoning them with salt.

BV.

"Ka30P" wrote in message
...

Hi Alex,
A couple of thoughts.
Do you think that the pond is getting runoff from the lawn when it rains
so
hard?

The ponds edging stone is slanted away from the pond so any rain water tends
to run away. Of course, the exception is rain that falls directly into it.

And is there fertilizer or herbicide on the lawn? Other than the edging of
'indian stone', only 20mm decorative gravel is nearby.


Do you have a mech/bio filter running on the pond?
No, I was hoping that good combination of plants would do the trick. It is
only a comparitively small pond - 7ft - 4ft, by 20 inches deep (with shelves
for the plants.

There were originally 9 (now 7!) 2 1/2 inch sarasa comets in it.


You can read the algae primer for tips on your murky green water in the
link in
my sig below.
I'll let others answer questions about salt.

Hope we can track down your problem!


kathy :-)
algae primer

Thanks!
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

Okay, got those answers.
My next suggestion is to test if for PH
as I recall that can change a lot with rainfall.
Do you live in an area that gets a lot of rain rapidly? - thinking about when
my folks lived in Baton Rouge.
We get a total of 7 inches around here yearly so I'm not much up on that end of
ponding...


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

"Ka30P" wrote in message
...

Okay, got those answers.
My next suggestion is to test if for PH

Looking at the colour of my test kit, the PH is 8.5. The high end I know,
but I was under the impression comets could live with that. Am I correct?

as I recall that can change a lot with rainfall.
Do you live in an area that gets a lot of rain rapidly? - thinking about
when

No, I am from central England. So, although it rains a lot, we don't have
anything that compares to big storms on a frequent basis.

my folks lived in Baton Rouge.
We get a total of 7 inches around here yearly so I'm not much up on that
end of
ponding...


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

Alex,

You have to remember that with each drop of rain there
is a speck of dust that the rain drop formed on, and
the larger the drops the more specks of dust.

Although the air smells fresh and clean after a rain
your pond has collected a lot of specks of dust during
a rain storm and this is usually the case after a
rainstorm. In my ponds you can read the Mint letter
off a dime sitting on the bottom through 31 inches of
water, but after a rain it is pretty hazy. It usually
takes a day or a day and a half to clear up, depending
in the amount of rain.

Tom L.L.
------------------------

Alex Woodward wrote:

Is rain water bad for fish in a small garden pond. The reason I ask this is
that every time there is heavy rain, the water turns even more murky and the
fish appear lethargic. I put salts in to pep them up a little, but this only
helps for a short while. (Is it possible to overdose with tonic salts, or
can I continue to put it in reasonable amounts?)

Also, I have lost 2 small sarasa comets with what appears to be light green
marks on their underbelly. The pond is murky green, even though I have used
interpet 'green away' and sludge blaster.

Any answers will be welcome.

Thanks

Alex

Does your test kit test higher than 8.5 or is that the last color? If last
color, you really don't know how high your pH is. Personally I really like
the Nutrafin wide range tester that goes from 4.5-9.5. ~ jan

Alex wrote Looking at the colour of my test kit, the PH is 8.5. The high end
I know, but I was under the impression comets could live with that. Am I correct?

(Do you know where your water quality is?)

right. check salt level AND check the hardness. if enough rain water gets into the
pond it may dilute the buffer system enough to cause pH crashing. rain is typically
acid from the dissolved CO2, and it also contains dissolved nitrogen
http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasc...0/wea00044.htm
http://www.globalchange.umich.edu/gl...ter_nitro.html
the latter url contains nitrogen cycle and maps where acid rain is prevalent.
Ingrid

"RichToyBox" wrote:
If your are
using salt, you need to use a solt test kit to determine the amount of salt
in the pond.


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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.

Alex wrote Looking at the colour of my test kit, the PH is 8.5. The high end
I know,
but I was under the impression comets could live with that. Am I correct?

Yup, they should be happy with that.
So not run off, not ph....... did they have a spawning party and are hung over?
;-) Sometimes rain will bring on spawning in the summertime.
You'd be looking for eggs, foam and a fishy odor.
Also an ammonia spike might happen.



kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

Hi Alex,
A couple of thoughts.
Do you think that the pond is getting runoff from the lawn when it rains so
hard? And is there fertilizer or herbicide on the lawn?

Do you have a mech/bio filter running on the pond?

You can read the algae primer for tips on your murky green water in the link in
my sig below.
I'll let others answer questions about salt.

Hope we can track down your problem!


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

Okay, got those answers.
My next suggestion is to test if for PH
as I recall that can change a lot with rainfall.
Do you live in an area that gets a lot of rain rapidly? - thinking about when
my folks lived in Baton Rouge.
We get a total of 7 inches around here yearly so I'm not much up on that end of
ponding...


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

"Alex Woodward" wrote in message
...
Is rain water bad for fish in a small garden pond. The reason I ask this
is
that every time there is heavy rain, the water turns even more murky and
the
fish appear lethargic. I put salts in to pep them up a little, but this
only
helps for a short while. (Is it possible to overdose with tonic salts, or
can I continue to put it in reasonable amounts?)

Also, I have lost 2 small sarasa comets with what appears to be light
green
marks on their underbelly. The pond is murky green, even though I have
used
interpet 'green away' and sludge blaster.

Rain water in itself is not harmful, but what it can sometimes carry can be
a problem. If you are getting runoff from your lawn, fertilizers can run
into the pond helping algae to grow. Pesticides can be run into the pond and
poison the fish as well. Murky water from green alage would imply that some
source of food such as lawn fertilizer has been run into the pond. If the
water is murky as in being dirty, that could just be run off particles from
the area around the pond. When I first built my pond, I had problems with
clay running into the pond. My water was orange forever.

As for the salt...IMHO, adding salt to make the fish feel better is a bad
idea. Treatments should be added to treat conditions. What is the current
salinity of your water? Blinding adding salt every time it rains could be
the cause of the lethargic fish. You may be poisoning them with salt.

BV.

"Ka30P" wrote in message
...

Hi Alex,
A couple of thoughts.
Do you think that the pond is getting runoff from the lawn when it rains
so
hard?

The ponds edging stone is slanted away from the pond so any rain water tends
to run away. Of course, the exception is rain that falls directly into it.

And is there fertilizer or herbicide on the lawn? Other than the edging of
'indian stone', only 20mm decorative gravel is nearby.


Do you have a mech/bio filter running on the pond?
No, I was hoping that good combination of plants would do the trick. It is
only a comparitively small pond - 7ft - 4ft, by 20 inches deep (with shelves
for the plants.

There were originally 9 (now 7!) 2 1/2 inch sarasa comets in it.


You can read the algae primer for tips on your murky green water in the
link in
my sig below.
I'll let others answer questions about salt.

Hope we can track down your problem!


kathy :-)
algae primer

Thanks!
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html

"Ka30P" wrote in message
...

Okay, got those answers.
My next suggestion is to test if for PH

Looking at the colour of my test kit, the PH is 8.5. The high end I know,
but I was under the impression comets could live with that. Am I correct?

as I recall that can change a lot with rainfall.
Do you live in an area that gets a lot of rain rapidly? - thinking about
when

No, I am from central England. So, although it rains a lot, we don't have
anything that compares to big storms on a frequent basis.

my folks lived in Baton Rouge.
We get a total of 7 inches around here yearly so I'm not much up on that
end of
ponding...


kathy :-)
algae primer
http://hometown.aol.com/ka30p/myhomepage/garden.html