Ph levels

[Meg]

Hi all. I’m currently setting up my very big pond which will have koi, a sterlet or two and a couple turtles, musk, yellow belly slider and a map. I just tested my water (it’s well water) to see the PH as I wanted to know about it for when the pond is filled up. Here is the picture.. I’d say it’s at the 6.0 one, I’ve seen for koi it needs to be about 6.5-8.5, how do I raise it? And what tips on it all? I’m doing my research still but help and tips are always helpful

 

[brokensword]

Hi all. I’m currently setting up my very big pond which will have koi, a sterlet or two and a couple turtles, musk, yellow belly slider and a map. I just tested my water (it’s well water) to see the PH as I wanted to know about it for when the pond is filled up. Here is the picture.. I’d say it’s at the 6.0 one, I’ve seen for koi it needs to be about 6.5-8.5, how do I raise it? And what tips on it all? I’m doing my research still but help and tips are always helpful

@addy1 had well water that was pretty acidic (like yours); I'll pull the Boss into this one!

And realize, IF you want turtles, you're going to have to COMPLETELY fence in the area as they WILL escape otherwise. They can climb, too, so this fencing has to be at least 18" high, not to mention they can DIG, so it has to be buried at least 6".

 

[Meg]

@addy1 had well water that was pretty acidic (like yours); I'll pull the Boss into this one!

And realize, IF you want turtles, you're going to have to COMPLETELY fence in the area as they WILL escape otherwise. They can climb, too, so this fencing has to be at least 18" high, not to mention they can DIG, so it has to be buried at least 6".

Yep don’t worry the turtle side of it I’m all prepared hahah just wondering what to do with the water

 

[brokensword]

Yep don’t worry the turtle side of it I’m all prepared hahah just wondering what to do with the water

no prob, Meg; I answer a lot of peep's posts and can get them mixed up with regard to if I've noted such issues to them earlier in another thread! That's what happens when you get 'old'!! To give you a quick start, you'll want to also test for KH (GH, too) as this will tell you how much 'hardness'/acid-absorbing ability your pond has. It isn't the pH you want to continually aim for, though I'd at least have it over pH=7, it's a stable pH you want, hence you need to look at KH. This will involve adding sodium bicarb or better, bags (talking 50 lb ones) of crushed egg shells/coral/oyster shells to your pond. And always best to do it slow if you have any wildlife in there now; if not, you can add all at once (the sodium bicarb as that's a powder that readily dissolves whereas the shells take more time and slowly dissolve to balance your acidic water). Won't hurt to have the bags in the water even if you have pH over 8 as you can't really 'over alkaline' the water.

 

[Meg]

no prob, Meg; I answer a lot of peep's posts and can get them mixed up with regard to if I've noted such issues to them earlier in another thread! That's what happens when you get 'old'!! To give you a quick start, you'll want to also test for KH (GH, too) as this will tell you how much 'hardness'/acid-absorbing ability your pond has. It isn't the pH you want to continually aim for, though I'd at least have it over pH=7, it's a stable pH you want, hence you need to look at KH. This will involve adding sodium bicarb or better, bags (talking 50 lb ones) of crushed egg shells/coral/oyster shells to your pond. And always best to do it slow if you have any wildlife in there now; if not, you can add all at once (the sodium bicarb as that's a powder that readily dissolves whereas the shells take more time and slowly dissolve to balance your acidic water). Won't hurt to have the bags in the water even if you have pH over 8 as you can't really 'over alkaline' the water.

Okay that’s great. The pond itself is going to be filled with different water from something else. Not well. But I’ll be using well water for top ups or water changes so just wanted to find out. Thanks

 

[Neville]

no prob, Meg; I answer a lot of peep's posts and can get them mixed up with regard to if I've noted such issues to them earlier in another thread! That's what happens when you get 'old'!! To give you a quick start, you'll want to also test for KH (GH, too) as this will tell you how much 'hardness'/acid-absorbing ability your pond has. It isn't the pH you want to continually aim for, though I'd at least have it over pH=7, it's a stable pH you want, hence you need to look at KH. This will involve adding sodium bicarb or better, bags (talking 50 lb ones) of crushed egg shells/coral/oyster shells to your pond. And always best to do it slow if you have any wildlife in there now; if not, you can add all at once (the sodium bicarb as that's a powder that readily dissolves whereas the shells take more time and slowly dissolve to balance your acidic water). Won't hurt to have the bags in the water even if you have pH over 8 as you can't really 'over alkaline' the water.

We are currently having serious KH issues here in South Africa as well. Well water is very acidic, comes out at 40 to 50 ppm and Ph as low as 5. Our rain water currently is at 0 KH and we are having a lot of rain currently. Alarming is that our Municipal water also now has a very low KH. So yes it is Bi carb weekly. In my 35000 Lt pond I have to add 1 Kg per week. Yes I am on well water. A serious issue that will follow is a dead bio filter if you dont keep it up.

 

[sissy]

REMEMBER KOI GET HUGE . I SHOULD KNOW MINE ARE OVER 4 FEET LONG NOW . Sad to say no one told me how big they would get . Should have done my homework first on fish back in 2004