found dying fish with black on scales..pic included

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@gardenlady did you calibrate your Ph meter first , we have one that needs to be calibrated , one question I'm confused about though is you seem to be testing your ph twice high range, low range you only need do it once your nitrarte is slight but nothing to write home about and all therest are in normal ranges

Dave
 

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I went out and took the tests and have photos here for you to see. I quit doing the ph and ph high tests after getting the meter but included them here for you to see. The ph has ALWAYS been a royal blue so isn't even on the chart. I was told that any numbers..even somewhat high..are okay if those numbers are consistent.
I am not questioning your accuracy in reporting the test results, but rather the test results themselves.
Besides the aforementioned questions that I have, there is also the pH level which you have stated continues to fluctuate..."My PH seems okay at 8.5 but it has gone higher". The KH levels that you have reported..17 drops and 19 drops...should provide enough buffering capacity to render the pH stable.
I would like others to jump in because evidently I am missing something.
 
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@ Dave..Yes I calibrate it before I test the PH. I have only been using the PH meter but just decided to show you the API results of both ph tests since I was running tests in the kit.. @Meyer..the ph level variance might be a result of the time of day I'm taking the test?
 
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If a person is going to measure PH, 2 readings should really be taken, one in the morning and one in the evening.
Carbonate hardness (KH) will stabilize the lower PH value and Calcium hardness will stabilize the higher PH value. Perhaps your pond is low in calcium. Do you have any water test results from the source water?
Have you ever added sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)?
What salt concentration are you keeping your pond at?
Just trying to understand the overall chemistry of your pond.
 
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What test would I be taking of the source water? I have never added baking soda to the pond. I haven't been using salt in quite some time..I only just added it the day when I had this fish die and in part did so because it had been suggested to me in the past to keep the pond continuously at a 0.15ish level. As far as the ph level I can tell you that the high ph api test has always been the royal blue color and did not worry too much because it was always consistent. I had tried lowering the level by doing a water change but although it did bring it down it would just go right back to the royal blue color. I don't know if this is what you're looking for but I used the PH meter on my water out of the tap and the test read 7.8 and I did the same for the KH and it took 17 drops to turn the water yellow.
 
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Perform the same tests on your source water that you perform on your pond. PH, KH.
If you are on city water, municipalities will make water tests public, so that could be helpful, but do those two tests on the water from your tap anyways. A city water test should have a calcium number in it.

As for your fish that died, if the other fish are spawning and seem otherwise healthy, it's unfortunate, but sometimes fish die without us knowing the reason.
I am interested in a morning and evening PH measurement from the pond though. Use the same handheld meter for all PH tests.
 
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Perform the same tests on your source water that you perform on your pond. PH, KH.
If you are on city water, municipalities will make water tests public, so that could be helpful, but do those two tests on the water from your tap anyways. A city water test should have a calcium number in it.

As for your fish that died, if the other fish are spawning and seem otherwise healthy, it's unfortunate, but sometimes fish die without us knowing the reason.
I am interested in a morning and evening PH measurement from the pond though. Use the same handheld meter for all PH tests.
My thoughts as well Mitch , they water authority will come test your tap water and send you a readout , they are a tad confusing basically they report on evryting in the water , you'll be shocked to know excretment both animal and human can be found in minute quantities with everything they will find .
Mating can be very rough your ratio of male to female may well be more male than female the females can die from shear exuastion being chased around the pond ,
The goldfish was in good condition but it could have been anything even parasite .

Dave
 
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I will call to have them come out and test the water but sounds like I might be disgusted. Do you still suggest I puchase this product based on our continuing discussions? Lithaqua by Kusuri
 

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If a person is going to measure PH, 2 readings should really be taken, one in the morning and one in the evening.
Carbonate hardness (KH) will stabilize the lower PH value and Calcium hardness will stabilize the higher PH value. Perhaps your pond is low in calcium. Do you have any water test results from the source water?
Have you ever added sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)?
What salt concentration are you keeping your pond at?
Just trying to understand the overall chemistry of your pond.

Mitch- based on my sources total Carbonate hardness is generally 70% Calcium and 30% Magnesium hardness.
Hardness calcium and Magnesium concentration chart.png
therefore, wouldn't the KH stabilize the pH?
 
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Mitch- based on my sources total Carbonate hardness is generally 70% Calcium and 30% Magnesium hardness.
View attachment 87236 therefore, wouldn't the KH stabilize the pH?

That table looks more like a general hardness (GH) table which measures calcium (Ca++) and magnesium (Mg++) ions.
I'm referring to KH as a measure of bicarbonate (HCO3-) and carbonate (CO3--) ions. The KH I'm referring to will prevent the PH from dropping because of it's acid binding capacity, but KH will not prevent the PH from rising.
 

Meyer Jordan

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I'm referring to KH as a measure of bicarbonate (HCO3-) and carbonate (CO3--) ions. The KH I'm referring to will prevent the PH from dropping because of it's acid binding capacity, but KH will not prevent the PH from rising.

I think that you mean 'anions' instead of 'ions'.
Wouldn't this still stabilize the pH once it had risen to its highest level?
 
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The KH will only be effective against acids lowering the PH.
If the pond is low in calcium, the PH can still slowly creep up, but I don't think that this pond's PH level is so high that it needs any intervention.
The accuracy of the guage gardenlady is using is +/- 0.1 PH.

I suspect that gardenlady has a fairly clean pond (not a lot of decomposing organic matter) with a fair amount of filtration and aeration.

...
Wouldn't this still stabilize the pH once it had risen to its highest level?

I wouldn't say stabilize, but I would say prevent from being lowered. Splitting hairs, maybe.:)
 
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Meyer Jordan

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My PH seems okay at 8.5 but it has gone higher.
I wouldn't say stabilize, but I would say prevent from being lowered. Splitting hairs, maybe.

This is where I am getting confused.
Based on the first above quote pH has been higher than 8.5, but has evidently lowered.
Based on the second quote Ph would not lower but would remain at the higher level.
These two (2) statements are contradictory, hence one of them can not be true.
This is the source of my confusion.
 

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