I was trying to be helpful, and now am confused LOL

[capewind]

We were out of some tests, so thought I would be helpful and pick some up. I know hubby likes the liquid tests (he had liquid API anyways) but I couldnt get it, so bought the test strips by API (maybe at least getting the brand right). I do NOT understand testing beyond Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate... aka I know the closer to zero the better... Hubby deals with this stuff. Well, he is not home:-(
I thought I would be further helpful and test the pond... now I am worried...

LIQUID test results:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
PH: 8

Test strips.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate: 20
GH: 10
KH: 10
PH: 7.5

Water temp is at 81 (pond is 4-5' deep so dont think there is too much variance). I thought I read that GH and KH are supposed to be higher... Are these results okay?

 

[addy1]

ammonia and nitrite are the ones to worry about and they are zero. You ph is fine. I do not trust the test strips, I had some that read totally wrong.

 

[capewind]

Thanks Addy...Where are the KH and GH supposed to be?

 

[addy1]

the hardness of the water
read this and it might help you understand the tests and what they are for.

http://users.vcnet.com/rrenshaw/H2Oquality.html

 

[capewind]

Thanks addy... reading away... and have a question...

it states...

Alkalinity is most often measured in ppm (referred to as calcium carbonate equivalents). A measurement is normally made by pretreating the water sample with a pill, powder, or droplet solution which results in the sample turning blue. The alkalinity is then determined by measuring (from a calibrated pipette or by counting drops) the amount of a second acidic reagent required to change the color to pink. A recommended test kit should measure a range of 0 - 200 ppm. An Alkalinity test kit is recommended but not considered to be a requirement for the average pond keeper. In an established pond, the ideal Alkalinity measurement should be around 100 ppm. Readings from 50 to 200 are acceptable.

When they say alkalinity, are they referring to kh? My results were only at 10. it goes on to say...


Ponds with vinyl liners or of fibre glass construction tend to show a decrease in alkalinity over time and may need supplements to maintain an acceptable level. Raise alkalinity by adding Calcium Carbonate, concrete blocks, oyster shells, limestone, or even egg shells. To raise the alkalinity by 40 ppm, add 1/2 oz of Calcium Carbonate (precipitate powder) per 100 gallons of water. A bag of oyster shells or even a concrete block or two (not cinder block) submerged in the pond or filter area may be all that is needed. Keep a close eye on the pH while adjusting Alkalinity levels.

Hubby has a bag of crushed coral sitting here that he hasnt used yet... is the above referring to why he has it? I know when we had the marine tanks, it didnt matter how deep the crushed coral was, it kept the PH at 8... does the coral act as a buffer? I was reading about PH crashes and unstable KH but I honestly got lost. I could of course ask my hubby to just sit down and really explain this out to me, but he has been pulling so many hours lately, I really want to have better quality time with him, then waste it asking for info that I really dont have to have right now.

 

[addy1]

gh is general hardness, kh total alkalinity

Our well water is so soft it does not even read a color with the test kits. Our ph is 5.5 or so out of the well. We don't get water spots from dissolved minerals in the water, like in arizona, if water dried on something it leaves rings spots everywhere. The water there is hard as a rock lol.

When I clean our hot tub I have to add ph up, alkalinity up

When I built our pond, filled it, let the water sit and cycle for about 2 months then added some feeders, they died within 24 hours. In trying to figure out why, found out the water was acidic, and was soft. Felt horrible for killing them. To fix it I added a bunch of crushed oyster shells, about 100 lbs. I added baking soda to raise the ph, but until the hardness of the water went up the ph kept swinging up and down in level, not good for fish. We did not add anymore fish until the next year, but 2 of the feeders and 2 shubunkins managed to survive, found them in the spring when the ice melted.

With time, oyster shells, plants, age of pond the hardness of the pond water now sits around 100, the ph sits around 7.6 or so. I add more oyster shells every summer. I put them in the bog where water flows over them constantly. They do break down over time.

When you say your hardness is 10 is that reading on the test strip? I use the liquid, my test strips never gave me a good hardness reading. With a liquid test kit, you count the drops that changes the color of the water. The test kit I have has one for gh and one for kh
Take a look at this, about aquariums but another explanation of water chemistry. http://www.americana...AquariumKH.html

I don't test my water anymore, it has been stable since last year. If we get a ton of rain, I will check the ph and hardness off and on to make sure our acidic rain is not affecting the pond water too much. So far all has been great.

 

[fishin4cars]

oyster shells or crushed coral will help buffer (Raise the KH) of the water. common baking soda will help raise the the GH. The important thing is rasie both #'s slowly. A little over several weeks is best. The oyster shell and crush coral will break down fairly slow. So by adding it in smaller amounts will have lesser effect ubtil the desired #'s are reached. the range for correct is pretty wide. GH 60-100 KH 40-120 are fine, higher is tolerable. extremes, Over 200ppm on either should be avoided. The test strips aren't as accurate, getting a reading at all is a good sign. But if they are fairly new they should work good enough to get you more in the ball park.
On the nitrate, test strip or liquid test. If the test strip is showing that high get a sample tested against a better or drop type and see if they are close. 20ppm is slightly high. I've seen test strips that read 20-40 and the nitrates were actually higher when tested against drops. that does send up a red flag IMO.
BIGGEST key of advice, Make small adjustments, the slower the better. lots less chance of making a mistake, lots less stressful for the fish.

 

[Mmathis]

For GH & KH, how does the # of drops translate to the actual reading? Don't have my kit in front of me right now, but thinking my instructions just give it as a general range rather than saying "4 drops = X," etc. So when I post my results, do you guys know what my numbers are if I report it in "drops" instead of a big number?

 

[fishin4cars]

It is better to post the actual reading not the # of drops. Others may use different brand test kits and by you posting the # of drops they may go off of their test kit not yours and make things even more confusing.

 

[Mmathis]

It is better to post the actual reading not the # of drops. Others may use different brand test kits and by you posting the # of drops they may go off of their test kit not yours and make things even more confusing.

I agree, and that's why I'm asking. But think my kit just gives ranges, not specific numbers. I'll look at it more closely -- maybe I'm missing something.

 

[crsublette]

Sorry for the vagueness. Just not that easy to answer. To stay on the safe side, harder the better. Add a small bit of crushed oystershells is good; I have seen these used as bio-media in filters eventhough they do eventually very slowly dissolve.

The aquarium website hyperlink Addy posted is a good explanation of it. ((aquarium chemistry))

Recommended KH and GH is dependent upon who you ask and depends on volume of water. Low KH and low GH water takes more maintenance, but fish will still do fine. High KH and high GH takes zero maintenance, if ya are sticking to hard water species, but can lead to alakanosis dependent upon the species. Ya can get away with a low KH if you have a few thousands gallons of water with a average load of fish and basic bio-filtration such as a bog or no bio-filtration. However, when KH gets too low, then pH crashes and swings can occur that kills or severely weakens aquatic life; so there is a such thing as KH being too low.

KH and GH directly change and determine pH swings, but KH is the main player most folk focus on since Mother Nature processes naturally decreases KH over time through various decompositioning.

GH mostly refers to the minerals in the water. GH is the main player when talking soft water fish or hard water fish. Hard water fish, such as the common goldfish and koi, osmosis system has a hard time intaking minerals so they do better in water with a higher GH. If the GH gets low, then the fish supplements it by eating mud or whatever else falling into the water that they can eat to get their minerals. This is all about evolution. There are goldfish species that do well in soft water, such as the very fancy tropical gold fish, but this fragile species will die in harder waters.

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For KH / GH, only liquid drops i have used were from API so not for sure if SeaChem would be much different since I think the liquid drop KH/GH methodology is standard; it is just the solution itself that might be composed different.

Each API liquid drop for KH / GH equates to 1 degree. Each degree equals 17.8~17.9 mg/L, depending on how ya round off the equation; I use 17.8 just to be on the safe side of not crashing my pH. mg/L and ppm are interchangeable units that are given from different measuring tools. So, 10 drops of the KH solution equates to 178 ppm KH and 10 drops of GH solution equates to 178 ppm GH. Good reference I found is of course, we must talk about Hardness if you ware wanting to know how to figure the measurements on how to raise a low KH.