Three of our members have had varying results from a white tinge to the water through to fish becoming unwell and dying , well I've just had a reply from my friend in Tetra who is trying to get to the bottom of whythe three members of this forum who have recently usedTetra AlgoRem have had their problems .
As such this is a copy of the the reply he sent in which he does make a few valuable pointers if using this product as a novice or for the very first time :-
Hi Dave, hi Val, long time no hear.
So sorry to learn you are struggling with ill health, showing koi is a huge commitment, I understand why you are retiring from it.
I can assure you that AlgoRem, when used as directed and within expiry date, is perfectly safe to use in garden ponds; it will not harm any pond fish (excluding sturgeon), frogs/tadpoles, newts, or pond plants except the green water algae that it flocculates.
You mention that some of your website visitors have associated fish deaths with applying AlgoRem to their ponds, before proceeding with any investigation it is vital to confirm that the product is within date (expiry date printed on the bottom of the bottle), and that they have tested the carbonate hardness (KH), in their pond was greater than 3°dH prior to this application? As explained in the instruction label, dosing the AlgoRem into ponds that are filled with very soft water, can lead to an adverse reaction in fishes.
Many parts of the UK have soft tapwater due to a low concentration of dissolved calcium and magnesium in the water due to local geological conditions. Your region in the sunny south west and large parts of the north of England, large parts of Wales and most of Scotland are renowned for having softwater due to the local geology. Even in hardwater areas, regularly filling the pond with rainwater rather than tapwater will have a dramatic softening effect as rainwater is devoid of any dissolved calcium/magnesium content. Hence it is important to follow the instructions on the bottle and test KH prior to each use, AlgoRem must not be used in water where the hardness figure is 3°dH or below.
Regularly filling the pond with rainwater rather than tapwater will have a dramatic softening effect as rainwater is devoid of any dissolved calcium/magnesium content.
I’m afraid I have spoken with some folks over the years who have failed to heed this instructions, and suffered the consequences.
I appreciate that testing KH can be quite daunting for beginners, some do not know what KH is or appreciate the need to test water quality at all, but I do not tolerate ignorance as excuse I’m afraid! Also, the bigger picture here is that keeping Koi in water with a KH of 3°dH or less is more risky, in terms of pH instability, than if the KH is a nice healthy 6°dH or higher. Thus as koi keepers should we not be monitoring KH anyway?
Anyway, these are my thoughts, I hope they help. If you have any comments, questions or wish to discuss further, please let me know.
Again, great to correspond with you again, sorry to learn you are in less good health than previously.
Kind regards
Dave Hulse
So please folks when using this product heed Dave's warning to test your water perameters and find out just what area you live in a hard or soft water area also check the instructions are read to the full and fully are understood before using it
Dave
As such this is a copy of the the reply he sent in which he does make a few valuable pointers if using this product as a novice or for the very first time :-
Hi Dave, hi Val, long time no hear.
So sorry to learn you are struggling with ill health, showing koi is a huge commitment, I understand why you are retiring from it.
I can assure you that AlgoRem, when used as directed and within expiry date, is perfectly safe to use in garden ponds; it will not harm any pond fish (excluding sturgeon), frogs/tadpoles, newts, or pond plants except the green water algae that it flocculates.
You mention that some of your website visitors have associated fish deaths with applying AlgoRem to their ponds, before proceeding with any investigation it is vital to confirm that the product is within date (expiry date printed on the bottom of the bottle), and that they have tested the carbonate hardness (KH), in their pond was greater than 3°dH prior to this application? As explained in the instruction label, dosing the AlgoRem into ponds that are filled with very soft water, can lead to an adverse reaction in fishes.
Many parts of the UK have soft tapwater due to a low concentration of dissolved calcium and magnesium in the water due to local geological conditions. Your region in the sunny south west and large parts of the north of England, large parts of Wales and most of Scotland are renowned for having softwater due to the local geology. Even in hardwater areas, regularly filling the pond with rainwater rather than tapwater will have a dramatic softening effect as rainwater is devoid of any dissolved calcium/magnesium content. Hence it is important to follow the instructions on the bottle and test KH prior to each use, AlgoRem must not be used in water where the hardness figure is 3°dH or below.
Regularly filling the pond with rainwater rather than tapwater will have a dramatic softening effect as rainwater is devoid of any dissolved calcium/magnesium content.
I’m afraid I have spoken with some folks over the years who have failed to heed this instructions, and suffered the consequences.
I appreciate that testing KH can be quite daunting for beginners, some do not know what KH is or appreciate the need to test water quality at all, but I do not tolerate ignorance as excuse I’m afraid! Also, the bigger picture here is that keeping Koi in water with a KH of 3°dH or less is more risky, in terms of pH instability, than if the KH is a nice healthy 6°dH or higher. Thus as koi keepers should we not be monitoring KH anyway?
Anyway, these are my thoughts, I hope they help. If you have any comments, questions or wish to discuss further, please let me know.
Again, great to correspond with you again, sorry to learn you are in less good health than previously.
Kind regards
Dave Hulse
So please folks when using this product heed Dave's warning to test your water perameters and find out just what area you live in a hard or soft water area also check the instructions are read to the full and fully are understood before using it
Dave
