water turned color!!!!!!!

[atgunner]

in about 3 hours of heavy rain my water turned an ominous redddish brown tinged color. Water parameters also went crazy----- PH was normal, but, nitrites-0.1, ammonia 0.1!!! higher than they have ever been in my pond!!!!

what is going on !?!? some kind of leeching runoff?????

I did an almost complete water change and all, I will wait and see what happens.

[MikeM]

I have only seen this when a pond was shaded by trees, and the trees were in bloom... pollen is washed into the pond, the water turns yellowish and within 24 hours water parameters alter dramatically ... especially if the bio-filter is re-establishing. Rain by itself may cause some degree of cloudiness, but should not alter the tint of the water as much as you describe. Are you sure there is no muddy run-off getting into the pond?

[Russell Peters]

You can use activated carbon to remove the color as well as anything that might be harmful.

[PapaBear]

Between the pollen, tannins from hardwood leaves, and acidic rain, it is entirely possible that your bio took a major hit from the storm. Cut off the food for a few days to minimize the ammonia/nitrite buildup while you follow Russel's advice.

[atgunner]

yep, I have 2 filters running activating carbon on high power, it looks to be clearing up. my bio was reestablishing after a cleaning a couple weeks ago.