Added Fish To New Pond, Now What.....

[MitchM]

It does sound like bacterial activity is increasing with the drop in ammonia and PH.
I'm questioning the accuracy of the Tetra strips for the KH. (unless you have switched to a liquid test kit)
Make sure to provide as much aeration and water circulation as you can.

 

[qclabrat]

1.4 dKH is 25.8 ppm.

Bacteria; activity is typically the cause of an Alkalinity drop, but it is normally a gradual process.
We can explore the cause later. Right now it (dKH) needs to be raised. Ideally you want the GH and the KH at the same level, so yes, your target is 150 dKH.
You should also see the pH gradually rise.

measured the water last night and this morning, they were the same. The numbers are as follows: In ppm
- nitrite- 0.2
- GH- 150
- Chlorine- zero
-KH- 40
- pH 7.2
- nitrate 10
- ammonia - zero

 

[qclabrat]

It does sound like bacterial activity is increasing with the drop in ammonia and PH.
I'm questioning the accuracy of the Tetra strips for the KH. (unless you have switched to a liquid test kit)
Make sure to provide as much aeration and water circulation as you can.

still using the strips, trying to get to the pet store today for the other kit. Also added 10 lbs of oyster shells to buffer the pH.

right now I have a waterfall and fountain for aeration. Do I need to add an air pump?

also my water is becoming increasingly murky, where the fish are bearly visible. Can I add an algae or water clarifying product?

 

[MitchM]

...

right now I have a waterfall and fountain for aeration. Do I need to add an air pump?

also my water is becoming increasingly murky, where the fish are bearly visible. Can I add an algae or water clarifying product?

You should be fine with that aeration/water circulation including your filter.
I would not recommend trying to clear the water.
What colour is the murkiness? Green, white or brown?

 

[Meyer Jordan]

measured the water last night and this morning, they were the same. The numbers are as follows: In ppm
- nitrite- 0.2
- GH- 150
- Chlorine- zero
-KH- 40
- pH 7.2
- nitrate 10
- ammonia - zero

pH is up and KH is also up. A good sign.

 

[Lisak1]

It works out to about $50 a month.

 

[qclabrat]

You should be fine with that aeration/water circulation including your filter.
I would not recommend trying to clear the water.
What colour is the murkiness? Green, white or brown?

greenish, even the white fish are hard to see at this point

 

[qclabrat]

pH is up and KH is also up. A good sign.

do I add more baking soda to get the KH up to 150ppm? or should I expect to see further increases through out the day?

 

[tbendl]

A quick fix, (well quickish) is to get some quilt batting and put it into a milk crate and put it where your water falls into the pond if you can. It will catch a lot of the suspended fines that are turning your water murky green.
I did it with my pond and it took a few days of rinsing the batting out and replacing it but it did pull the murk out of my water.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

do I add more baking soda to get the KH up to 150ppm? or should I expect to see further increases through out the day?

Yes, but remember to add it slowly. It should take a few days to 'safely' raise the dKH to 150.
Always test the water immediately before any remaining dosages. This will tell you if you are dosing too much. Remember, you are striving to increase the dKH no more than 25 dKH per day.

 

[MitchM]

greenish, even the white fish are hard to see at this point

That green is algae, and it is consuming the ammonia that is available.
That's a good thing.

 

[Meyer Jordan]

Yes, but remember to add it slowly. It should take a few days to 'safely' raise the dKH to 150.
Always test the water immediately before any remaining dosages. This will tell you if you are dosing too much. Remember, you are striving to increase the dKH no more than 25 dKH per day.

Major, Major typo on my part. The above should read "you are striving to increase the dKH no more than 25 ppm per day.
So sorry. Getting too old for multi-tasking.

 

[qclabrat]

That green is algae, and it is consuming the ammonia that is available.
That's a good thing.

I'm going to ask eventually, chicken or egg?
-need green water to eat ammonia
-but green water considered ugly

is the end goal to have clear water which still cleans ammonia?

this Padawan is listening intently...

 

[qclabrat]

just read on the interweb, that surface area exposed to direct sun could be an issue.Since I have no plants, and the recommendation was 60-70 coverage, I'm going to make some faux Lilly pads out of foam as recommended by some folks here.

with the shade and limited ammonia waste, will the water begin clearing?

 

[MitchM]

I'm going to ask eventually, chicken or egg?
-need green water to eat ammonia
-but green water considered ugly

is the end goal to have clear water which still cleans ammonia?

this Padawan is listening intently...

Actually, you want bacteria to consume the majority of ammonia.

Algae is there as a "safety valve" that consumes excess ammonia, as the level of ammonia is constantly fluctuating in healthy ponds. As your pond matures, you'll see green water less frequently, usually only when the pond comes out of colder winter temperatures, until the bacteria level stabilizes again.

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