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

Salt is one of those items that gets some pretty good arguements going, to
use or not to use. Salt does not evaporate, and as such each addition only
makes it stronger. The only way to reduce the salt content is by water
changes and it takes many large changes to get it mostly out. If your are
using salt, you need to use a solt test kit to determine the amount of salt
in the pond. Values of 0.1 are typically mentioned as a good level for
continuous dosing, and 0.3% to 0.6% is used for treating for parasites. If
your salt level is above 0.1%, then I would start trying to reduce it to at
most 0.1%.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.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.

Any answers will be welcome.

Thanks

Alex

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.


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