new guy needs advice.....

[coondog]

i buillt a hand dug 2000gal pond thats fed by a stream from a spring and the waters ph is around 6.2. the water runs in on a waterfall and then it goes right out another one at the other end so, what i was thinking was to line the stream running to the waterfall with cruched coral. would this help raize the ph at all or am i wasting my time? the stream it pretty fast moving also...thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[addy1]

Welcome to the group, they like you to introduce yourself first.

Crushed coral might help, but with your water turning over that much, probably not much if any

 

[KennethO]

I don't think it would help since it is flowing water. It needs to be in a contained system so it can raise over time.
Plus I think coral is more of a ph buffer than raiser. 6.8 is a nice ph if it doesn't fluctuate any lower.

 

[fishin4cars]

I don't think it will do anything for the PH, Like kenneth said it's primarily a buffer, It doesn't raise the OH but slighlty and with the water running through the pond I doubt you will see any significant ph that would amount to anything.

 

[coondog]

thanks for the responses....my bad, my names todd and i live in connecticut. my ponds water is still but it moves alot of water, probably 5 or more gallons a minute dump in, so would it help to put coral or oyster shells in the bottom of the pond? its between 2 and 3 feet deep with an overflow on the side where the water dumps out as fast as it dumps in....can ph be raised at all in anyway with this much water "turnover"???? my koi seem cool with the water but small goldfish seem healthy but one dies every other day or so without any signs of symptoms.... and also my ponds constant temp is 52 degrees! i love this hobby and if cant have fishys in there id be very dissapointed!

 

[stroppy]

sorry about your fish dieing, but they cant be healthy like you think i think we need more details and photos might help us understand your pond better

 

[fishin4cars]

52 degrees is barley enough temp to keep a bacteria bed functioning. Koi really need warmer water and that low of a PH is not healthy for goldfish or Koi. Oyster shell, crush coral, and such is just going to be washed out before it can do anything for your pond. I don't know of anything you can do to keep the PH above 7.0 (which is where you need to be at minimal) in a pond of that design with that kind of turn over rate. BUT, You can still have fish. maybe look into trying to keep native fish. Small trout would love that! have you ever seen Brooksi trout. To me one of the US most beautiful native fish. with your set-up going with Native fish will reduce the chance of accidental release of non-native fish into the enviroment, the fish will be more likely to live in your area because that's the water they are adapted to and they are cheaply replaced.

 

[addy1]

We had a pond on a natural river in colorado, stocked it with brook trout. Same thing the water ran in ran out, and it was cold! But the trout loved it, so did the eagles that fished the trout.

 

[fishin4cars]

When we had the cabin in North Carolina there was a small stream at the back of the property. I had it dug out to make a natural swimming hole. We had about a dozen brook trout in there that stayed year round, When they would breed they would rival any koi or tropical fish I ever kept, Some would get bands some would get spots, some would even get a deep red color to them. the kids used to go down stream and gather up nymphs in the stream and bring them back up and throw them in the hole, You would think there wasn't any fish and all of a sudden they would come out of the rocks from everywhere and feed. hopefully one day we can move up there for good and that will be one thing I will require when we are shopping for a home/property. It must have a natural stream cause I want to do that again. I loved sitting on the rocks in the morning watching the trout and the wildlife.

 

[coondog]

ok, heres an update....i lined my stream from the spring to my troth that dumps into the pond with 150lbs of rinsed oyster shells....it raised the ph to 6.8 or so..... thats at the troth before it dumps in! the pond itself is at 7 now but im assuming its from a little of the milky water that dumped in.....tomorrow im going to check it and if its still in the mid 6,s im going to put more shells in the pond where the troth dumps in.... i think this might work, i will keep you all in touch. the water isnt fast moving in the pond so i think the shells will have time to do their thing......fingers crossed

 

[addy1]

Neat keep us updated!

 

[coondog]

well the ph is a hair ABOVE 7 and holding! what i ending up doing was back the water in flow to about 2 gallons a min.....that and the additional 100 lbs of oyster i dumped in the pond itslelf right below the spillway. not only did the less water help the ph, it also warmed the water up a bit....its mid 90,s today so that probably didnt hurt either! hahaha..... fish seem alot more "friskie" too! i think the ph will go down a bit, so my question is a little under 7 ok for koi and commets? i know its NOT ideal but i can only do so much! i have 6 koi in there now from 4" to 14". 10 or so comets and a bunch of feeders.... i probably should have let the pond mature and reaserch more but it was a deal (on the fishes) i couldnt refuse....

 

[coondog]

this is the pond. still have a ton to do and clean up! but not bad for a weekend (long weekend, probably like a week on and off) and a shovel! oh ya, and a chainsaw!

 

[coondog]

my bad.... i forgot a before....this is just to the right of the pond now...you will get the idea of what it was!

 

[addy1]

Wow lots of work! It is looking nice