Can water testing become a compulsion?

[brokensword]

Ya been on the oxygen again lol

Again? You must mean 'still'!

(geez, @addy1 ; smilies have gone AWOL again...sigh)

 

[GBBUDD]

I got enough smiles for everyone.

 

[CometKeith]

I'm not knocking those Ponders out there whom start up a new pond and instantly buy a test kit, well I am if they get addicted lol.
I was about to purchase a kit to test the ppm parameters and still might though I am concerned I'm only doing it to fulfil a drive to make the new home I created a totally stress free habitat for the aquatic inhabitants.
But hay, I did put some thought into the very modest layout of this thing, and tried not to introduce any harmful or dirty stones, I'm aware of the hardness in our local water therfore I only did a gradual fill and relied on a rainy top up, lucky maybe. I think the pond hadn't cycled much though before I finally put fish in, naughty me, as the rocks around the edges were turning a reddy colour, like on some bird baths, a lot of birds do take baths in it but nowadays no red has returned. I have a suspicion the reddinous may have been down to a nearby conifer shedding dead spinnals, I fished a few out from the edges and pruned the tree plus vaccumed the sheddings. All I'm saying is as fun as testing could be, if I don't allow the fish n. o. s to harm the toxicity of the pond could I not just sit back and observe? Ps, I did get the card test from my local aquatic store, so I'm not totally irresponsible ;-) View attachment 141283

Hi the last time I tested my water was 2013 but then I pretty much
know what to look for. If your fish start flashing that’s a bad sign, sorry no acronyms here! Why do people make everything so complicated!

 

[callingcolleen1]

It can be, I used to test now and then and now have not tested in around 6 or more years.

Nice fish!

Me neither. Have not tested my water since late 1990's. Used to test when it was new pond. Now its all well balanced and runs same year after year after three decade's. You pretty know what to expect

 

[Gazzas pool]

Hi the last time I tested my water was 2013 but then I pretty much
know what to look for. If your fish start flashing that’s a bad sign, sorry no acronyms here! Why do people make everything so complicated!

Hope you mean constant flashing Keith coz I've noticed the odd flash when I've been crouched by my small pond hoping for a glimps of my ten tiddlers from the local park lake coz the water has murked up again.
After a recent water test from the aquatic store came back sound, I've just put 3 small goldfish in ‍

 

[WaterGardener]

I don't often test the water in my pond, but I do test the KH level maybe once a month or so, especially if we have a lot of rain. Rain here is acidic and it can use up my buffer more quickly than I would like, so I try to keep up with that.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

I don't often test the water in my pond, but I do test the KH level maybe once a month or so, especially if we have a lot of rain. Rain here is acidic and it can use up my buffer more quickly than I would like, so I try to keep up with that.

Same here. The only thing I regularly test for is KH because that does drop over time and/or with lots of rain.

 

[CometKeith]

Hope you mean constant flashing Keith coz I've noticed the odd flash when I've been crouched by my small pond hoping for a glimps of my ten tiddlers from the local park lake coz the water has murked up again.
After a recent water test from the aquatic store came back sound, I've just put 3 small goldfish in ‍

Yes an odd flash is probably not a big deal. It’s when you see a new regular behavior from your fish it’s a dead giveaway something major is wrong with the fish and probably the pond too. Oh as long as it’s not spawning! There is a pretty big difference!

 

[yorkshire pudding]

Hope you mean constant flashing Keith coz I've noticed the odd flash when I've been crouched by my small pond hoping for a glimps of my ten tiddlers from the local park lake coz the water has murked up again.
After a recent water test from the aquatic store came back sound, I've just put 3 small goldfish in ‍

maybe you need to get a test kit and test your water

 

[Criscar]

It can be, but at least, in the beginning it’s the best way to learn about the nitrogen cycle and to appreciate the relationship between everything that goes on in a pond.

I'm with Turtlemommy here. I would argue testing is important when starting a new pond to monitor the nitrogen cycle so you don't have to rely upon fish dying or massive algae blooms to know if something's not going smoothly, but I can't see why frequent monitoring would be needed after cycling is complete if there's no sign of problems, nor why using a kit in the beginning would lead to compulsive testing down the road in a mature pond? I already had an API master test kit from my aquarium so I just used that when the pond was cycling.

 

[yorkshire pudding]

when this thread was first started i was interested as to what the replies would be and its kind of what i thought, long time ponders dont test as often or ever as new ponders do, im not a new ponder i have been keeping "water" and fish most of my life but i still test i do this for a number of reasons i am constantly changing the fish, be that through growing on and adding or moving on to other ponds, growing fry and adding is another reason i test all the time, but the testing for me is a pat on the back for my hard work also its part of my weekly maintenance which is clean the filter ( i know most of you guys have bogs) 10% water change,test parameters and this is the important bit i sit with my dog and have breakfast at the side of the pond (normaly a sunday) read the paper have a coffee and just stare. i used to do this with my wife and since she passed its something i continued to do, another thing that intrigued me was since this thread was started there have been several people asking for advice and the first thing members do is ask for water test results so as better to advise. so i suppose i am a compulsive tester but that suits me and im quite happy testing compulsively

 

[WaterGardener]

I also like to see that my pond is in great shape, visually and by testing. I don't do it that often, but it's rewarding when the tests come out perfect.

Since most problems are the result of poor water quality, it's necessary to know how the water stacks up when there is an issue. Good water is the best medicine.

Sorry to hear of the loss of your wife. My better half and I have coffee by the pond every morning that the weather permits. It's a great way to start the day.

I also don't have a bog, so it sounds like we have similar set-ups and routines.

Give yourself another pat on the back for keeping a healthy pond. It's nice to know that the work pays off and one way of being assured of that is by testing, in my opinion.

 

[Gazzas pool]

when this thread was first started i was interested as to what the replies would be and its kind of what i thought, long time ponders dont test as often or ever as new ponders do, im not a new ponder i have been keeping "water" and fish most of my life but i still test i do this for a number of reasons i am constantly changing the fish, be that through growing on and adding or moving on to other ponds, growing fry and adding is another reason i test all the time, but the testing for me is a pat on the back for my hard work also its part of my weekly maintenance which is clean the filter ( i know most of you guys have bogs) 10% water change,test parameters and this is the important bit i sit with my dog and have breakfast at the side of the pond (normaly a sunday) read the paper have a coffee and just stare. i used to do this with my wife and since she passed its something i continued to do, another thing that intrigued me was since this thread was started there have been several people asking for advice and the first thing members do is ask for water test results so as better to advise. so i suppose i am a compulsive tester but that suits me and im quite happy testing compulsively

 

[Gazzas pool]

when this thread was first started i was interested as to what the replies would be and its kind of what i thought, long time ponders dont test as often or ever as new ponders do, im not a new ponder i have been keeping "water" and fish most of my life but i still test i do this for a number of reasons i am constantly changing the fish, be that through growing on and adding or moving on to other ponds, growing fry and adding is another reason i test all the time, but the testing for me is a pat on the back for my hard work also its part of my weekly maintenance which is clean the filter ( i know most of you guys have bogs) 10% water change,test parameters and this is the important bit i sit with my dog and have breakfast at the side of the pond (normaly a sunday) read the paper have a coffee and just stare. i used to do this with my wife and since she passed its something i continued to do, another thing that intrigued me was since this thread was started there have been several people asking for advice and the first thing members do is ask for water test results so as better to advise. so i suppose i am a compulsive tester but that suits me and im quite happy testing compulsively

As water gardener says, sorry for your loss ' Yorkie and may I commend you for keeping your water in good health.
I was quite happy to amble on and turn my small garden pond over with low capacity pumps to support the tiddlers I put in from a local park lake. But having seen some nice pictures on here of colourful goldfish in crystal ponds, I went n bought a few extras, 2 Orandas and I assorted single tail that looks koi like (but only supposed to grow to 14cm) after achieving very clear water using blagdons Clear pond. But now a couple of weeks later, its back to murky green,. I'm awaiting a 40% mark up on the waterfall pump which will run 24/7 also instead of average 8hrs and will use the waterfall pump for a fountain aerator which also can run 24/7. I'm just hoping the small waterfall box will cope with the extra water capacity, should do with a bit of extra tilt.
Could you put a pic of your pond on Yorkie al hopefully get a nice crystal clear one when I've set me new pump filter up ;~}

 

[yorkshire pudding]

just a few pics of my place ,sorry about picture quality but its raining and overcast some of the fish are near the bottom about 4 foot deep, i dont have any plants in the pond that didnt work for me.i like plants around the pond. the smaller fish in the pond are last years fry about 8-10 inches and the ones in the tank are this years about 3 months old and around an inch, the filter is a nexus 220 which does get some good and bad reviews but it works very well for me.i did have 2 sturgeon which i sadly had to move on they require feeding all year round and that was a problem with my other fish eating a very high protien food in winter not good for koi, the last picture was taken last year i think when the house next door was renovated, i wish the pictures would justify the water clarity but like i said its really overcast but it is very clear, hope you like it watergardener/gazza also thank you for your kind words

 

[WaterGardener]

Very nice!

 

[Lisak1]

I think testing is essential for anyone new to pond keeping. Once you've got an established pond it becomes kind of boring, at least for me it was. "Another week. Same results." The only thing that was intriguing was to see our relatively high pH (near 9) drop to a more moderate level, without me doing a single thing to change it. Once that stabilized, I lost interest in seeing numbers every week or month.

 

[addy1]

I loss interest within the 2 nd year, with the bog every reading was just normal, ph raised from 5.4 to a great 7.6 and stays there, hardness stabilized, I lost interest. Have tested a few times since then, again boring! normal!

 

[GBBUDD]

read the paper have a coffee and just stare. i used to do this with my wife and since she passed its something i continued to do,

Sorry to hear about your loss. At least you san still sit by the pond and go mindless im sure on the rare occasions it even feels like she's still there

 

[Lisak1]

@yorkshire pudding I'm very sorry to hear that you lost your wife. I hope that you find comfort in those quiet moments at your pond, remembering the life you shared together. I would believe that she would be very happy to know that you are still finding joy in life.