Most people can appreciate a good rainstorm from time to time—and boy we certainly could use one!
While rain can benefit your pond by providing a zero-cost, soft water supply free of chemicals like chlorine or chloramine, it can also potentially harm your pond. Rain is most likely to affect your pond’s pH. For a healthy and happy pond, the ideal pH reading should be between 7.0 and 8.3. Precipitation with an abnormally low pH creates a condition known as acid rain. This occurs when your water’s pH parameter rapidly moves from a neutral balance to more acidic. This doesn’t mean that acid falls from the sky, but rain at this acidity level can introduce aluminum into the pond and cause a pH crash that kills fish and plants. Before and after a significant rainfall is a good time to test your water parameters. If your pond’s pH starts to drop, you need to add buffers, which are anything that counters the increased acidity. Various chemical buffers and pH adjusting chemicals we have available in store. Test your pH and water parameters often to insure your ponds water quality is stable, and especially after heavy rainfall. Keep your pond environment safe for your fish.