quarantine advice
 

I have had some really bad quarantine results. I have a tank in place - 350
gals, I think. It has some unwanted gf in it, which I think will serve well
for 'canary' fish. I know I need to run some of the water out and replace
it before I put in this new baby. I plan to do frequent water changes,
rather than setting up a filter. These gf have lived out the winter in this
setup without it, and I have not had good results with the filtration of
this tank in the past. The total fish load will be about 18" in the 350
gals. I think two to three weeks should be enough. Any disagreements?
My past bad experiences have led me to skip the quarantine entirely, but my
last resulting disaster cured that carelessness forever. Mostly, it makes
me think hard about acquiring new fish.

quarantine advice
 

"Ann in Houston" wrote in message
...
I have had some really bad quarantine results. I have a tank in place -
350 gals, I think. It has some unwanted gf in it, which I think will serve
well for 'canary' fish. I know I need to run some of the water out and
replace it before I put in this new baby. I plan to do frequent water
changes, rather than setting up a filter. These gf have lived out the
winter in this setup without it, and I have not had good results with the
filtration of this tank in the past. The total fish load will be about 18"
in the 350 gals. I think two to three weeks should be enough. Any
disagreements?
My past bad experiences have led me to skip the quarantine entirely, but
my last resulting disaster cured that carelessness forever. Mostly, it
makes me think hard about acquiring new fish.
=============================
I lost almost every fish I had to a contagious ulcer infection back around
1998. All new fish, and they are few, are quarantined for 21 days now and
treated for parasites whether I see anything suspicious or not. I filter
even my smallest 150g ponds. What problem did you have filtering your 350g
tank?

No one goes by inches of fish anymore.
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

quarantine advice
 

Hmmm, thanks for that info. I hate to expose any of my koi. I like them
all. I would go get one at Petco, but I thought the point was to use a fish
that has been living in your own pond. Also, how do you heat up your QT?
Are tank heaters expensive?
wrote in message
...
you need an indicator koi ... GF arent enough for the worst. and the temp
in that
tank has to get up to 80oF or so to let the heat activated virus or
bacteria out and
do its worst. anything short of a month isnt going to do it. Ingrid

"Ann in Houston" wrote:

I have had some really bad quarantine results. I have a tank in place -
350
gals, I think. It has some unwanted gf in it, which I think will serve
well
for 'canary' fish. I know I need to run some of the water out and replace
it before I put in this new baby. I plan to do frequent water changes,
rather than setting up a filter. These gf have lived out the winter in
this
setup without it, and I have not had good results with the filtration of
this tank in the past. The total fish load will be about 18" in the 350
gals. I think two to three weeks should be enough. Any disagreements?
My past bad experiences have led me to skip the quarantine entirely, but
my
last resulting disaster cured that carelessness forever. Mostly, it makes
me think hard about acquiring new fish.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up:
http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold
website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

quarantine advice
 

I forgot to add that I was going to treat the water for parasites and
fungus.
I think my pump was too big for the tank, and I kind of rigged the filter
petty cheaply. The water was agitated an awful lot. I didn't want to pop
for a new one. Also, I had trouble with the fish hating the tank and
stressing out. Now that I think of it, though, those fish were big. As for
the fish load, it is about four small gf, two and a half, on up to about
six inches long. The new one is about four inches.
=============================
I lost almost every fish I had to a contagious ulcer infection back around
1998. All new fish, and they are few, are quarantined for 21 days now and
treated for parasites whether I see anything suspicious or not. I filter
even my smallest 150g ponds. What problem did you have filtering your
350g tank?

No one goes by inches of fish anymore.
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

quarantine advice
 

"Ann in Houston" wrote in message
...
I forgot to add that I was going to treat the water for parasites and
fungus.
I think my pump was too big for the tank, and I kind of rigged the filter
petty cheaply. The water was agitated an awful lot.

I believe too much agitation does stress them. My 150g ponds/tanks have
pumps that are in the 250gph range. They're wrapped in plastic window
screen and some poly quilt batting material and stuffed in plastic pots.
There's no wild agitation. I have them at one end, not the middle so the
fish can rest or hide in the plants at the opposite side.

I didn't want to pop
for a new one. Also, I had trouble with the fish hating the tank and
stressing out. Now that I think of it, though, those fish were big. As
for the fish load, it is about four small gf, two and a half, on up to
about six inches long. The new one is about four inches.

I always figure 10g per small goldfish and 20 to 30g per adult which are
over 8" long.
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

quarantine advice
 

"Ann in Houston" wrote in message
...
Hmmm, thanks for that info. I hate to expose any of my koi. I like them
all. I would go get one at Petco, but I thought the point was to use a
fish that has been living in your own pond. Also, how do you heat up your
QT? Are tank heaters expensive?
==========================
You didn't take a new fish from the pet shop and put it outside in cold
water did you? That can be a real shock since pet stores keep their tank on
the warm side. You can't easily heat and outdoor tank. My quarantine tank
is inside.

I don't expose anything to new fish. And watch for cross-contamination by
hand or fish nets.
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

quarantine advice
 

you need an indicator koi ... GF arent enough for the worst. and the temp in that
tank has to get up to 80oF or so to let the heat activated virus or bacteria out and
do its worst. anything short of a month isnt going to do it. Ingrid

"Ann in Houston" wrote:

I have had some really bad quarantine results. I have a tank in place - 350
gals, I think. It has some unwanted gf in it, which I think will serve well
for 'canary' fish. I know I need to run some of the water out and replace
it before I put in this new baby. I plan to do frequent water changes,
rather than setting up a filter. These gf have lived out the winter in this
setup without it, and I have not had good results with the filtration of
this tank in the past. The total fish load will be about 18" in the 350
gals. I think two to three weeks should be enough. Any disagreements?
My past bad experiences have led me to skip the quarantine entirely, but my
last resulting disaster cured that carelessness forever. Mostly, it makes
me think hard about acquiring new fish.




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

quarantine advice
 

On Thu, 15 Mar 2007 04:57:17 GMT, wrote:

you need an indicator koi ... GF arent enough for the worst. and the temp in that
tank has to get up to 80oF or so to let the heat activated virus or bacteria out and
do its worst. anything short of a month isnt going to do it. Ingrid

I agree, I go for 6 weeks minimum. 3 weeks without indicator koi, and 3
weeks with a small koi from the pond. I use gf to keep the filter going and
move them when the koi go in. It is good to leave a gf or 2 until you can
put a small koi from your pond in with it. ~ jan

quarantine advice
 

No, I didn't take a new one and put it outside. Ingrid said I needed to
have a koi as a test fish, but I don't want to sacrifice any of my own koi.
I only was saying that the only koi I wouldn't mind testing with would be
one from the lfs, but that I didn't think that would serve the purpose since
it wouldn't be from my own pond.
The new fish I just bought was in a bldg. without any climate control,
just out of the rain, sun and wind. Right now, he's indoors because I don't
want to just put him out in the somewhat neglected tank on the patio with
the goldies. I want to improve the water somewhat. We just got in from SA
this afternoon and I had too much to do and too stormy a day to set up the
tank today. We are on a well, but the tank is full of rainwater, right now.
Our highs are mostly in the mid to upper 70's now. We start most days
around 60 degrees. I don't know how I would keep him inside with enough
water to accommodate him and one other one.
"Reel McKoi" wrote in message
...

"Ann in Houston" wrote in message
...
Hmmm, thanks for that info. I hate to expose any of my koi. I like them
all. I would go get one at Petco, but I thought the point was to use a
fish that has been living in your own pond. Also, how do you heat up
your QT? Are tank heaters expensive?
==========================
You didn't take a new fish from the pet shop and put it outside in cold
water did you? That can be a real shock since pet stores keep their tank
on the warm side. You can't easily heat and outdoor tank. My quarantine
tank is inside.

I don't expose anything to new fish. And watch for cross-contamination by
hand or fish nets.
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

quarantine advice
 

"Ann in Houston" wrote in message
...
No, I didn't take a new one and put it outside. Ingrid said I needed to
have a koi as a test fish, but I don't want to sacrifice any of my own
koi.

I don't use "test fish" and never found that necessary. What if the test
fish has immunity to whatever the new fish has? And what do you do with the
test fish after the quarantine time is over? To each his or her own
way.......

I only was saying that the only koi I wouldn't mind testing with would be
one from the lfs, but that I didn't think that would serve the purpose
since it wouldn't be from my own pond.
The new fish I just bought was in a bldg. without any climate control,
just out of the rain, sun and wind. Right now, he's indoors because I
don't want to just put him out in the somewhat neglected tank on the patio
with the goldies. I want to improve the water somewhat.

Lots and lots of partial water changes. :-) Filtering and aeration would
also help. Get a cheap powerhead and make one of the filters like I have.
Cheap, easy and effective.

We just got in from SA
this afternoon and I had too much to do and too stormy a day to set up the
tank today. We are on a well, but the tank is full of rainwater, right
now.

Watch the hardness as rain water can make the water too soft and even acid
depending on where you live (acid rain). Also it has no buffering capacity.
A PH crash can kill all your fish.

Our highs are mostly in the mid to upper 70's now. We start most days
around 60 degrees. I don't know how I would keep him inside with enough
water to accommodate him and one other one.

Gotcha!
--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

quarantine advice
 

And your fix was to collect them all up and dump them in a farm pond
to get rid of them.....you inconsiderate moron. Carol Gulley need to
be QT's, as she is always spreading trash and mess on the
usenet........

On Wed, 14 Mar 2007 22:43:30 -0500, "Reel McKoi"
wrote:


"Ann in Houston" wrote in message
. ..
I have had some really bad quarantine results. I have a tank in place -
350 gals, I think. It has some unwanted gf in it, which I think will serve
well for 'canary' fish. I know I need to run some of the water out and
replace it before I put in this new baby. I plan to do frequent water
changes, rather than setting up a filter. These gf have lived out the
winter in this setup without it, and I have not had good results with the
filtration of this tank in the past. The total fish load will be about 18"
in the 350 gals. I think two to three weeks should be enough. Any
disagreements?
My past bad experiences have led me to skip the quarantine entirely, but
my last resulting disaster cured that carelessness forever. Mostly, it
makes me think hard about acquiring new fish.
=============================
I lost almost every fish I had to a contagious ulcer infection back around
1998. All new fish, and they are few, are quarantined for 21 days now and
treated for parasites whether I see anything suspicious or not. I filter
even my smallest 150g ponds. What problem did you have filtering your 350g
tank?

No one goes by inches of fish anymore.



-------
I forgot more about ponds and koi than I'll ever know!

quarantine advice
 

You do not have a clue you clueless wonder......so just do the rp
folks a favor and STFU
On Wed, 14 Mar 2007 23:29:38 -0500, "Reel McKoi"
wrote:


"Ann in Houston" wrote in message
. ..
I forgot to add that I was going to treat the water for parasites and
fungus.
I think my pump was too big for the tank, and I kind of rigged the filter
petty cheaply. The water was agitated an awful lot.

I believe too much agitation does stress them. My 150g ponds/tanks have
pumps that are in the 250gph range. They're wrapped in plastic window
screen and some poly quilt batting material and stuffed in plastic pots.
There's no wild agitation. I have them at one end, not the middle so the
fish can rest or hide in the plants at the opposite side.

I didn't want to pop
for a new one. Also, I had trouble with the fish hating the tank and
stressing out. Now that I think of it, though, those fish were big. As
for the fish load, it is about four small gf, two and a half, on up to
about six inches long. The new one is about four inches.

I always figure 10g per small goldfish and 20 to 30g per adult which are
over 8" long.



-------
I forgot more about ponds and koi than I'll ever know!

quarantine advice
 

Shut up you clueless moron..............

Why do you think everyone is as clueless as you are CArol Gulley?

You moron from Mt. Juliet, TN.


On Wed, 14 Mar 2007 23:32:48 -0500, "Reel McKoi"
wrote:


"Ann in Houston" wrote in message
. ..
Hmmm, thanks for that info. I hate to expose any of my koi. I like them
all. I would go get one at Petco, but I thought the point was to use a
fish that has been living in your own pond. Also, how do you heat up your
QT? Are tank heaters expensive?
==========================
You didn't take a new fish from the pet shop and put it outside in cold
water did you? That can be a real shock since pet stores keep their tank on
the warm side. You can't easily heat and outdoor tank. My quarantine tank
is inside.

I don't expose anything to new fish. And watch for cross-contamination by
hand or fish nets.



-------
I forgot more about ponds and koi than I'll ever know!

quarantine advice
 

Your just a cheap bitch ain;t ya Carol?
YOur also clueless and dumb.........now dance you moron kook muppet,
dance...I own yu bitch!



On Thu, 15 Mar 2007 01:06:10 -0500, "Reel McKoi"
wrote:


"Ann in Houston" wrote in message
.. .
No, I didn't take a new one and put it outside. Ingrid said I needed to
have a koi as a test fish, but I don't want to sacrifice any of my own
koi.

I don't use "test fish" and never found that necessary. What if the test
fish has immunity to whatever the new fish has? And what do you do with the
test fish after the quarantine time is over? To each his or her own
way.......

I only was saying that the only koi I wouldn't mind testing with would be
one from the lfs, but that I didn't think that would serve the purpose
since it wouldn't be from my own pond.
The new fish I just bought was in a bldg. without any climate control,
just out of the rain, sun and wind. Right now, he's indoors because I
don't want to just put him out in the somewhat neglected tank on the patio
with the goldies. I want to improve the water somewhat.

Lots and lots of partial water changes. :-) Filtering and aeration would
also help. Get a cheap powerhead and make one of the filters like I have.
Cheap, easy and effective.

We just got in from SA
this afternoon and I had too much to do and too stormy a day to set up the
tank today. We are on a well, but the tank is full of rainwater, right
now.

Watch the hardness as rain water can make the water too soft and even acid
depending on where you live (acid rain). Also it has no buffering capacity.
A PH crash can kill all your fish.

Our highs are mostly in the mid to upper 70's now. We start most days
around 60 degrees. I don't know how I would keep him inside with enough
water to accommodate him and one other one.

Gotcha!



-------
I forgot more about ponds and koi than I'll ever know!

quarantine advice
 

if you have a plastic stock tank a 100watt aquarium heater will work as long as you
can cover the stock tank in plastic. plastic holds the heat in. and all you have to
do is spike the temp for a couple days (I think) and then let the temp drop by 2o or
so per day. in your necks of the woods, that should happen. here is basics for
quarantine
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/c...%20pond%20fish
ignore the heat up at the end, that was before this heat activated plaque hit. I
would do the heat activation after 2 weeks then give em 2 weeks to see if they break
out.

so you are absolutely sure you just gotta have this new koi, that you wont be happy
without it being in your pond??? Ingrid

"Ann in Houston" wrote:

Hmmm, thanks for that info. I hate to expose any of my koi. I like them
all. I would go get one at Petco, but I thought the point was to use a fish
that has been living in your own pond. Also, how do you heat up your QT?
Are tank heaters expensive?


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

quarantine advice
 

a gravity filter with gravel can be kept cycled with a handful of Hikari Gold fish
food or any food for that matter. gravel rebounds incredibly fast. is cleaned up
easily with PP. I agree 6 weeks is much better. Ingrid

~ jan wrote:

On Thu, 15 Mar 2007 04:57:17 GMT, wrote:

you need an indicator koi ... GF arent enough for the worst. and the temp in that
tank has to get up to 80oF or so to let the heat activated virus or bacteria out and
do its worst. anything short of a month isnt going to do it. Ingrid

I agree, I go for 6 weeks minimum. 3 weeks without indicator koi, and 3
weeks with a small koi from the pond. I use gf to keep the filter going and
move them when the koi go in. It is good to leave a gf or 2 until you can
put a small koi from your pond in with it. ~ jan



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

quarantine advice
 

On Thu, 15 Mar 2007 00:13:56 -0500, "Ann in Houston"
wrote:

No, I didn't take a new one and put it outside. Ingrid said I needed to
have a koi as a test fish, but I don't want to sacrifice any of my own koi.
I only was saying that the only koi I wouldn't mind testing with would be
one from the lfs, but that I didn't think that would serve the purpose since
it wouldn't be from my own pond.

No it wouldn't. Better to sacrifice one from the pond and not the whole
pond later. But it also works to just keep them in Q-tank longer with the
heat up for a couple of weeks. The only problem with this trick is if your
new koi is a carrier, it won't break-out and die.

The new fish I just bought was in a bldg. without any climate control,
just out of the rain, sun and wind. Right now, he's indoors because I don't
want to just put him out in the somewhat neglected tank on the patio with
the goldies. I want to improve the water somewhat.

This is good, get a bucket filter going in the tub with the goldies.

Last summer I had a small one from my pond in my Q-tank, in case I
purchased anything, unfortunately it jumped out and even though I got it
back in the tank, it was too damaged to survive more than 1-2 weeks after.
Went to koi club and someone had some baby koi from their pond. I knew I
was fairly safe with home grown koi, and it was a little yellow gin rin
butterfly. So it came home and was put in the Q-tank for weeks before I
finally found something I liked. Yellow.... just like a canary. ;-)
Everything turned out fine. ~ jan

quarantine advice
 

Watch the hardness as rain water can make the water too soft and even acid
depending on where you live (acid rain). Also it has no buffering
capacity. A PH crash can kill all your fish.

What do you do after a heavy rain? Large water changes?

quarantine advice
 

"Ann in Houston" wrote in message
...

Watch the hardness as rain water can make the water too soft and even
acid
depending on where you live (acid rain). Also it has no buffering
capacity. A PH crash can kill all your fish.

What do you do after a heavy rain? Large water changes?
============================
Nothing. We seldom get rain heavy enough and long enough to drop the PH (or
hardness) much. The PH is as high as 8.2 here so getting enough rain to
drop it to or below 7 is unlikely. When that days comes I'll start building
an Ark. :-))

You said the tank was "full of rainwater." Fish can't live in pure
rainwater.

--
RM....
Frugal ponding since 1995.
rec.ponder since late 1996.
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
~~~~ }((((* ~~~ }{{{{(ö

quarantine advice
 

yea yea yea ....CArol is always the exception to the rule. She can
feed cat food and they do great, she never gets heavy rains, never
gets predator problems, never does any trolling on usenet, always a
victim.........just shut the hell up carol gulley and get a life you
moron.Maybe go out and look for a new hubby to replace #6 would be a
good thing to kep you occupied for awhile, then you could change your
last name again and hide and plead innocent victim as always.....
Carol Gulley the usenet attention whore...


On Thu, 15 Mar 2007 10:56:28 -0500, "Reel McKoi"
wrote:


"Ann in Houston" wrote in message
. ..

Watch the hardness as rain water can make the water too soft and even
acid
depending on where you live (acid rain). Also it has no buffering
capacity. A PH crash can kill all your fish.

What do you do after a heavy rain? Large water changes?
============================
Nothing. We seldom get rain heavy enough and long enough to drop the PH (or
hardness) much. The PH is as high as 8.2 here so getting enough rain to
drop it to or below 7 is unlikely. When that days comes I'll start building
an Ark. :-))

You said the tank was "full of rainwater." Fish can't live in pure
rainwater.



-------
I forgot more about ponds and koi than I'll ever know!

quarantine advice
 

On Thu, 15 Mar 2007 10:48:13 -0500, "Ann in Houston"
wrote:


Watch the hardness as rain water can make the water too soft and even acid
depending on where you live (acid rain). Also it has no buffering
capacity. A PH crash can kill all your fish.

What do you do after a heavy rain? Large water changes?

Check your ammonia & KH, if KH is low and ammonia is 0, add baking soda.
~ jan

quarantine advice
 

toss in some dolomitic limestone. get it at the garden store. it is sorta gray with
darker hard flecks in it. whatever you do, do not make one of those plaster of paris
hockey pucks and toss that in. Ingrid

"Ann in Houston" wrote:


Watch the hardness as rain water can make the water too soft and even acid
depending on where you live (acid rain). Also it has no buffering
capacity. A PH crash can kill all your fish.

What do you do after a heavy rain? Large water changes?




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
List Manager: Puregold Goldfish List at
http://weloveteaching.com/puregold/
sign up: http://groups.google.com/groups/dir?...s=Group+lookup
www.drsolo.com
Solve the problem, dont waste energy finding who's to blame
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I receive no compensation for running the Puregold list or Puregold website.
I do not run nor receive any money from the ads at the old Puregold site.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Zone 5 next to Lake Michigan

quarantine advice
 

I check the pH and toss in some dolomitic limestone, or, I got some liquid
calcium stuff. I have lake water that isnt very hard at all. if you have
sufficient hardness, rain shouldnt be a problem. my ponds on well water
dont show pH shifts after a rain. Ingrid

"Ann in Houston" wrote in message
...

Watch the hardness as rain water can make the water too soft and even
acid
depending on where you live (acid rain). Also it has no buffering
capacity. A PH crash can kill all your fish.

What do you do after a heavy rain? Large water changes?