Do you test your water?

[DoDad]

Do you test your water and for what or why not?
When starting a new pond I test for about everything until the bio in the filters gets established.
My source has a pH of about 8.6. Kh/Gh I can't measure out of the tap because it is less than 17.9.
Lets say the pond is1500 gallons, I would add about 1 1/4 pounds of baking soda to increase my kh to 200 ppm. This would stabilize my pH at 8.3. If you have chlorinated city water use
Sodium Thiosulfate or any other dechlorinator. Then I would add 1/2 pound of Calcium Chloride and 1/2 pound of Epsom salts to increase GH to 80 ppm. Then I would test each day after adding fish for everything till the bio is established.
With a new pond with fish you should have a ammonia binder such as Amquel Plus or there are many others to chose from.

Now that my pond is established and all my water parameters are good I don't check much.
My old pond is 4200 gallons and I check GH/KH about once a month.
I know how much baking soda, Calcium Chloride and Epsom salts at each water change from experience.
I check the TDS (Total Dissolved Solids) every week. This lets me know how my water changes are doing and if I have to do more.

 

[koikeepr]

I rarely check. As long as water is clear and fishies are happy, I don't check. I usually check once a few weeks into the spring when my bio filter is back up and then I check again in August when its crazy warm.

Other than this, I pretty much don't test

 

[DoDad]

I don't check to much except tds. I like to know what my water changes has done since I have a large fish load.

 

[stroppy]

untill i joined the forum i admit to never testing ..had the pond about 8 years only last year had it made bigger ... major problems after that because i had wider ledges which created more dead spots and lots of sludge ...sorted that now by air stones and a small pump with pipe pushing water towards by big pump ...and yes i do test maybe to often ...but tests are normally ok ..my tap water is ph 8 so my pond stays at 8 i dont try to lower it ...the fish seem fine only put in decolar when i do a water change ...should i be adding all the stuff you are dodad ?

 

[koiguy1969]

normal 10% water chages dont require any dechlorination unless you refill fast.. the chlorine will be so dilute at that amount it will be rendered harmless.. over 15% i use dechlorinater. but i refill over a couple hours.. the biggest threat is when your fish are drawn to the new flow (current of water) from the hose and the chlorine / chloramine concentration burns their gill tissue.

 

[DoDad]

I don't use dechlor because my water supply is pumped from the river.
I do 25% water changes because of my fish load.

 

[DoDad]

Because I use a lot of air in my bio filters and pond and I have a bead filter these use up the kh pretty quick,
As for gh it never gets used up but it does get diluted when I do a water change,
Low gh is great for the red in fish but it does not help the black on them so I keep my gh about 80 ppm.

Low

.should i be adding all the stuff you are dodad ?

 

[rdk]

When my pond was a mess I tested every day. Now it's much better so I test once every 3 days. When the water gets even colder is it safe to test less often. Please let me know.

 

[nc0gnet0]

Low gh is great for the red in fish but it does not help the black on them so I keep my gh about 80 ppm.

You learn something new everyday......I did not know this. I test for ammonia intermittantly but once established less than once every two weeks. Unlike Dodad, I have the opposite problem, my KH is off the scale on the high side. Ph is always around 8.4-8.6 and impossible to move.

 

[DoDad]

I think you could test less after you stopped feeding the fish.

 

[DoDad]

Well my ph is high as I stated before it's about 8.6 but when I buffer the pond it is 8.3.
Most propblems start when a normal ph is 6 or 7 you can get a ph crash and kill your fish.

You learn something new everyday......I did not know this. I test for ammonia intermittantly but once established less than once every two weeks. Unlike Dodad, I have the opposite problem, my KH is off the scale on the high side. Ph is always around 8.4-8.6 and impossible to move.

 

[oldmarine]

I don't check anymore. It's been over a year since I felt a need to the water for PH and ammonia. All was fine then.

Visual observation of your fish should be good enough. If the behavior of the fish change enough to raise the question. Then I might check the water quality. I haven't had to do so at all.

 

[DoDad]

To each his own, but I would rather catch it before I see a behavioral change in the fish.. I don't like to see them stressed.
Same way with my dogs I don't wait till they get fleas and start scratching to solve the problem.

 

[koikeepr]

LOL! That's a reasonable way to put it! Prevent instead of dealing with a problem after the fact.

I think the statement should me made--so that newbies don't get lulled into a false sense of security--that unless you have lots of experience in pond keeping that you should test often.

 

[koiguy1969]

that rings true in all things ... an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.