Pond chlorine Emergency

[Paulf615]

I just wanted to thank you guys for all the posts. I was trying to come up with a simple cost less solution for filling up my pond. I guess there's no cheap short cuts while taking care of ponds so i guess i was convinced and will consider a filter. I'm not to fond of spending money and but I am opened to hands on DIY projects if anyone wants to recommend some type of homemade filter for the rain water. If you have any ideas or want to show me your rain water filters i will be more than happy to check them out. In my most recent post i was looking for a homemade filter for my wintering tank but i could prob use the same filter for the rain water in the warmer months. Im not to good at this DIY thing but I'm getting better at it. Any ideas would be a great help.
Thanks again.

 

[morewater]

Well, I lived through SARS, then retired.

If Ebola takes hold, I may be recalled.

Rain water is the least of my worries. Use the rain water.

 

[tbendl]

In Hawaii, most of the rural homes on the Big Island catch their water. Tin roofing and a water catchment with a filter. I figure if I could bathe in it and drink it, my fish should be able to. Now I do understand some of the concerns depending on the roofing type but would still think it would be fine.
And I think trying to recycle rain water is a great ecologically friendly thing to do so I hope it works for you. Please update us on how it goes.

 

[crsublette]

In Hawaii, most of the rural homes on the Big Island catch their water. Tin roofing and a water catchment with a filter. I figure if I could bathe in it and drink it, my fish should be able to. Now I do understand some of the concerns depending on the roofing type but would still think it would be fine.
And I think trying to recycle rain water is a great ecologically friendly thing to do so I hope it works for you. Please update us on how it goes.

Point is, as ya mentioned, even the folk in Hawaii still filter their rain water.

 

[crsublette]

Paul, essentially setup a cistern to harvest the rain water from your roof then install a carbon filter to this before the water goes to your pond. This will remove some of the various salts and nutrients before this stuff enters the pond. Very basic stuff. No reason why this can't be DIY'd after some research.

I would not suggest this makes it clean enough for human consumption, but it will be good enough for the pond.

However, if you're one of those folk that think "clear" means "clean" and think even pond water is safe enough for our selves to drink, then any type of filtering would dedefinitely be overkill for fish.

 

[Priscilla]

I have a friend that only uses rainwater from her roof, straight from the roof, down the gutter into the pond. I think there is screen keeping leaves out, but that's it. Her pond is several years old and everything is healthy and happy. Is it a ticking time bomb, I don't know.

I grew up drinking rainwater off an aluminum roof, living on a small island there was no choice. So all the comments here are very interesting. In fact everyone on this island over the age of 40 would have grown up the same way. There was no choice. My Dad would yell at us to take shorter showers when we were low on water. Rain water was used for everything.

 

[addy1]

I have used rain water with every pond I have built, so far the fish have survived.

 

[crsublette]

Yep, and I rarely wear a jacket during Winter and I've not gotten sick for 10 years. So, if using the going logic here, don't know why people think they must wear jackets.

 

[morewater]

I wear a condom every day when I'm walking around, and nobody that I've come across has become pregnant.

It's rainwater, if you lived near the flaming Kuwaiti oil fields, it wouldn't be a good place to put a pond.

If you lived near a closed garbage dump, the groundwater wouldn't be a great choice for filling the pond.

If you wear a jacket and it's raining, and small, smoking holes appear in the fabric.....don't use the rainwater in your pond. Build a tent.

Sheesh.........

 

[Meyer Jordan]

I wear a condom every day when I'm walking around, and nobody that I've come across has become pregnant.

It's rainwater, if you lived near the flaming Kuwaiti oil fields, it wouldn't be a good place to put a pond.

If you lived near a closed garbage dump, the groundwater wouldn't be a great choice for filling the pond.

If you wear a jacket and it's raining, and small, smoking holes appear in the fabric.....don't use the rainwater in your pond. Build a tent.

Sheesh.........

That is exactly the point. If you live far enough away from air-borne pollution..industrial and/or urban, then the untreated use of rainwater may not cause any problems. There are, however, few areas that can boast as having this advantage. Many of the pollutants that are carried by rainwater likely would not cause an acute health issue in a pond, but with the majority of air-borne pollutants being bioaccumlates, the question of chronic health issues must be addressed. All of these pollutants are to a greater or lesser degree immunosuppressants and as we all know a weakened fish is open to attack from multiple vectors: bacterial, viral and parasitic.
As crsublette mentioned in an earlier post, a simple activated charcoal filter will go a long way in preventing any problems.

 

[crsublette]

I wear a condom every day when I'm walking around, and nobody that I've come across has become pregnant

Problem with this analogy is that it is false since "walking around with or without a condom" does not impact pregnancy. Correct, this is the false logic you are using.

"Walking in Winter with or without a jacket" is actually true since it has actually impacted folk's health. Correct, this is the true logic I am using.

So, to use your false logic with my jacket analogy, "since I do not wear a jacket in Winter and never got sick, then this means nobody should wear a jacket."

Correlation does not imply causation. In otherwords, just because it is safe for you does not mean it is safe for everyone else.

When there becomes an algae bloom as the result of accumulated salts and nutrients, as described in a previous post, then all variables should be addressed, which would include potential runoff drainage into the pond.

 

[morewater]

It wasn't false logic, it was sarcasm.

 

[dieselplower]

noone will ever beat charles and meyer lol

 

[callMeFishmeal]

i have chlorine problems too.. but what a great idea! Ill dig a 100 foot deep well next to my pond ... and put the fish in the well.

 

[johan]

Scary thread. I've been using tapwater to replenish for years and never had a problem but umm this makes me think twice.