gypsum to lower ph

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You say it was a pool you demoed? Does it have a rubber liner or is it cement? How big a pump do you have running? What is yiur nitrate,nitrite,ammonia readings?
It has a rubber liner. The pool was completely removed and filled with dirt and inspected. I believe that we have a 1 horse power pump. I fill the pond with well water. Nitrate, nitrite and ammonia readings are zero.
 

crsublette

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@Lindasue A stable pH is the best pH... With a 19 KH and a 26 GH, you have the most stable water there is... Now... there could always be something else in the water that is made your fish sick, but I can tell you it is not the pH if your test results are correct.
 

crsublette

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And how exactly is that measured? Isn't "hardness" either ph or alkalinity?

I will do my best without getting geeky, but have to kind of get geeky when talking about this stuff. In my reply to you in that other thread, the mattress example might be more understandable.


pH is the measure of hydrogen cations (H+) within the water. pH lower than 7 has more H+ (i.e., acidic) and pH above 7 has fewer H+ (i.e., basic or alkaline).

Alkalinity is the measure of water's ability to resist a change in pH. This "resistance ability" is referred to as the buffer.

Buffer is a compound that creates resistance when changing water's pH due to the compound maintaining a balance of H+ at a particular pH. All buffers have their own inherent pH as well. This inherent pH of buffers is what determines how the buffer will change the pH until a point, that is the buffer stability point. Once the stability point is reached, a higher alkalinity will no longer change the pH.

KH is the measurement for carbonate hardness. However, this is not correct in our context. Technically, due to the testing methodologies used in most hobby test kits, KH is a measurement of alkalinity and not carbonate hardness. The terms KH and carbonate hardness is really quite obsolete except continues to be used amongst hobbyists. When people say alkalinity, then they are talking about KH and carbonate hardness. Do not confuse carbonate hardness with GH (general hardness) even though they can be both shown as a measurement of calcium carbonate.

GH is the measure of all divalent or bivalent ions, which are most minerals (i.e., calcium is Ca++, magnesium is Mg++, copper is Cu++, ferrous iron is Fe++, and many more). However, for us, GH is primarily dominant in calcium and magnesium. There are minerals that can act as a buffer to an extent, such as calcium when carbonates are too high, but this resistance is quite weak thus GH should never be viewed as alkalinity.
 
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Chasing pH is a waste of time for any normal fish keeping operation. Koi handle any pH as long as it isn't too low. My koi start getting flashy when I get loads of pecan tree pollen sacks in the water and it goes tea colored on me. For me that requires lots of netting,filter cleaning and water changes.

@Smaug ... Koi handle a wide range of PH, true, but going instantly when moved or purchased to a radically different environment can be a problem.
 

Smaug

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@Smaug ... Koi handle a wide range of PH, true, but going instantly when moved or purchased to a radically different environment can be a problem.
Not if your doing a proper acclimatization period. Most people just float the bag to match temps. I check the bag water to my own. If there is a big difference I do an extended acclimation where I slowly add my water to the bag water. In an aquarium situation I use a drip acclimatization.
 
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Not if your doing a proper acclimatization period. Most people just float the bag to match temps. I check the bag water to my own. If there is a big difference I do an extended acclimation where I slowly add my water to the bag water. In an aquarium situation I use a drip acclimatization.

Hmm! Not familiar with the latter ...
 

Smaug

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You put the new fish in a 5 gallon bucket with its bag water. Set in under the tank then use small tubing like airline and start a syphon. Pinch the hose off lightly so yiu just a trickle then wait while the new water slowly fills the new fish bucket. When the parameters match yiur water then it's done. It should take a couple hours if the bag water is much different then your water.
 
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I started this thread some time ago and I am still confused. One of my original koi that was probably 8 inches suddenly started swimming on its side and died with no signs of sores or wounds. Three small koi I added last summer have died too. I have 4 eight inch koi left. My ph is 9 and all other API Fresh Water Pond tests show 0. The plants are coming back now that it is warming up and the string algae is out of control. I added salt as recommended by the local Koi club to help with the algae but was concerned about the plants. HELP PLEASE!! I am ready to kill the fish and rip out the plants and treat it like a pool with lots of chlorine.:banghead:
 

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You have previously stated that your source water for your pond is well water. Given that all of the usual water quality parameters are within tolerance as you stated in the last post, I would be inclined to look at the well water. Well water can and often does contain heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, VOCs,etc. I had a customer that killed all of their fish using well water that was high in Copper. I would suggest that you submit a sample of the well water for testing to a commercial lab that specializes in this type of testing.
 
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You have previously stated that your source water for your pond is well water. Given that all of the usual water quality parameters are within tolerance as you stated in the last post, I would be inclined to look at the well water. Well water can and often does contain heavy metals, pharmaceuticals, VOCs,etc. I had a customer that killed all of their fish using well water that was high in Copper. I would suggest that you submit a sample of the well water for testing to a commercial lab that specializes in this type of testing.

We have it tested yearly and all test are in accepted ranges.
 

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