High Pond pH Levels...

[ed2]

Hi guys,

I have just tested my pond chemicals as I broke both of my filters and had to leave them off for a week. I also stopped feeding.

The levels are (taken at 8pm)

Nitrite -

 

[addy1]

From what I have read and experienced, a ph of 9 is ok for the fish if it is stable, not bouncing around.
To lower you would need to add peat moss (browns the water) add lime (dangerous hard to get the right amount)

 

[koiguy1969]

interesting article on ph..... http://www.mpks.org/articles/BobPassovoy/acid.htm

 

[addy1]

nice article koiguy thanks

This is one I have saved to read when I am bored lol............or need to understand something better.

http://users.vcnet.com/rrenshaw/ph.html

 

[Waterbug]

Can't really tell without knowing the KH.

But in general...

Make sure KH is about 100 to 300 ppm by adding baking soda if needed. For most people this is all that's needed for water gardens.

But if you really want to get below 9 pH you can measure GH, which is magnesium and calcium (baking soda is carbonate). Make sure GH is about 100 to 200 ppm by adding calcium chloride if needed. You can add Epsom salt to help get the magnesium to dissolve. This will get you to a stable low 8.3 or 8.4 pH.

 

[Nova]

I have well water and the ph was always around 6.2. I would add baking soda and it would go up but it never lasted. I then drove down to a local lake and collected tiny shells along the edge. A lot of shells. I put them in a bag and set it in the waterfall pool. The ph shot up to 9. So I took the shells out and the ph is not 7.5. It is a big bag of shells. I am going to try a smaller bag and see if I can get the ph to stabilize.

 

[addy1]

My ph never stabilized until I added the crushed oyster shells. I added baking soda it would go up then back down, went though multiple 10 lb bags. I added some feeders the first year, the poor things all died due to the ph issues, did not add any more fish until we got our hardness up. The oyster shells finally got our pond water to be harder which stabilized the ph.

 

[Waterbug]

I have well water and the ph was always around 6.2. I would add baking soda and it would go up but it never lasted.

My ph never stabilized until I added the crushed oyster shells. I added baking soda it would go up then back down, went though multiple 10 lb bags.

If pH goes below 8.3 after baking soda is added it is because not enough was added...not enough carbonate...exactly the same stuff oyster shells provide...there is no difference pH buffer wise. KH measures carbonate, not pH. Having a pH below 8 while KH is say 100 ppm can only mean one thing...your testing system failed. Unless the laws of physics changed.

Oyster shells are fine slow release buffers, but you can still get a pH crash with oyster shells. If you don't have enough and/or a heavy rain. You can also get a crash with baking soda if you don't keep adding it as needed. None of this is set it and forget it. It does take a little bit of understanding.

 

[addy1]

We have had some horrendous rains, our rain is around 5.8 to 6, so far every time I test the ph after it rains it has been fine. Every time I test it, the ph is around 7.8

 

[CountryEscape]

Glad to find this post, exactly what I was wondering. I tested my rain this morning (got 1.4" last night, and is pouring this morning so adding much more, and both ponds are full to overflowing as it is!) Here are my results:
Rain PH - 6.4
Goldfish pond tests:
PH 8.2
Ammonia .25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
GH 11
KH 7

Koi pond testsL
PH 8.4
Ammonia .25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
GH 15
KH 11

So, is this all ok? I always get totally confused with the KH/GH and if it's ok. I'm pretty sure as long as it's not over something like 60, it's fine.
Here's the thing I'm most concerned about. I want soooo bad to put water hyacinths in my goldfish pond, put any overabundance of them into the koi pond for them to munch on. BUT, I read in a post that hyacinths need the PH to be below 8. Does anyone know if this is true? Maybe it's why I could not get them to flourish last year. When I finally took them out of the koi pond and put them in the bog (there is standing water in that bog), they survived, but didn't really grow much or definitely no more blooms. I want pretty this year, and so will see if I can get them to survive. I will wait to get them until my water is over 60 degrees and looking like it will stay there. But, will the higher PH be a problem I have to deal with and maybe not try the hyacinths because of it?

 

[sissy]

never had any luck myself with hyacinths in my pond and thought it was due to the salt but my neighbor has them and when I test her pond the ph is always around 8 or 9 but mostly 9 .Mine is almost always at 9 .I gave up keeping them in my pond and keep them in a stock tank as the koi destroy them as fast as I put them in .

 

[CountryEscape]

I'm glad your neighbor keeps them fine with her high PH, Sissy. Thanks for letting me know. I think they will do fine as long as I keep them away from the koi, unless intentionally for them to eat. We shall see! Will wait until May 1 to get them, though. That seems to be the "date" for my area.

 

[Telkwa]

GH 11
KH 7


GH 15
KH 11

Country, do you mean that's the number of drops it took to turn color? AFAIK GH & KH are usually expressed in terms of ppm. Sometimes mg/L. We need to know what those numbers describe.

 

[sissy]

really 8 and 9 are normal for koi and I have kept mine around that range for years now and koi are healthy and growing .I go to the koi breeder and he likes his between 9 and even 10 .

 

[CountryEscape]

Country, do you mean that's the number of drops it took to turn color? AFAIK GH & KH are usually expressed in terms of ppm. Sometimes mg/L. We need to know what those numbers describe.

Well crap, that would help, wouldn't it?! I got the instructions out and if I'm reading it correctly, it says it this way:
GH & KH range
7 drops = 125.3 ppm
11 drops = 196.9 ppm
12 drops = 214.8 ppm (it doesn't go any higher ... so does that mean that 15 is off the charts?!
Another part of the instructions shows that the GH/KH range for goldfish should be between 100-200 ppm. It has the number of drops as the same number of (degree sign) dKH, but I don't know what that means. Looks like my GH in the koi pond is high. Would I assume a water change might help that? I know that my well water is high in GH/KH and that's why I've always used bottled water to refill my aquariums in the house, then I have to add minerals to that water, as it has literally none.
Hope this helps, Telkwa, and that you can give me some pointers on how to correct if necessary.