I have tried researching but have not read anywhere what a typical pH 'swing' is or what is 'excessive'. I took pH yesterday evening at about 7pm and had a reading of 8.4 (if not slightly higher as this was the upper end of the test kit). Realizing that the pH is higher at this time of day, I took another reading this morning at 6am and it was 7.2.
Pond details: The water temp was 85f for the evening measurement and 80 for the morning measurement. I live in MS. with a 500 gal in-ground liner pond, no mortar or brick in the pond, full sun until about 3pm then it is shaded, string algae is present in the pond but not in excess and I ocassionally pull it out from dense areas. I assume oxygen is very good as I have earthworms living underwater and from what I read, this is a sign of good oxygen levels. I have about 600gph filtration with UV light and the entire filtered volume goes over a waterfall for aeration. I have healthy plants, toad frogs love (and reproduce in) my pond and I have recently resolved that the baby fish in my pond are indeed gold fish from my other fish and were not a lake fish brough in as eggs on the plants. The pond was build last summer / fall and not stocked or planted until early this spring.
??? So what is an 'excessive pH swing'?
After all of the reading I have done, I have decided to keep my goldfish (and one koi) at a pH of 7.5 to 7.8. I have also read that to buffer your pH using crushed oyster, you should get the pH where you want it and then add the buffering component to 'lock in the pH'.
??? With the swing I see on a day to day basis, where will my pH lock in if I were to add crushed oyster?
??? How do you know when the crushed oyster is spent without doing pH checks multiple times a day? Is this determined by a kh test kit?
Thanks for sharing your experience
Cheers...
Neil
Pond details: The water temp was 85f for the evening measurement and 80 for the morning measurement. I live in MS. with a 500 gal in-ground liner pond, no mortar or brick in the pond, full sun until about 3pm then it is shaded, string algae is present in the pond but not in excess and I ocassionally pull it out from dense areas. I assume oxygen is very good as I have earthworms living underwater and from what I read, this is a sign of good oxygen levels. I have about 600gph filtration with UV light and the entire filtered volume goes over a waterfall for aeration. I have healthy plants, toad frogs love (and reproduce in) my pond and I have recently resolved that the baby fish in my pond are indeed gold fish from my other fish and were not a lake fish brough in as eggs on the plants. The pond was build last summer / fall and not stocked or planted until early this spring.
??? So what is an 'excessive pH swing'?
After all of the reading I have done, I have decided to keep my goldfish (and one koi) at a pH of 7.5 to 7.8. I have also read that to buffer your pH using crushed oyster, you should get the pH where you want it and then add the buffering component to 'lock in the pH'.
??? With the swing I see on a day to day basis, where will my pH lock in if I were to add crushed oyster?
??? How do you know when the crushed oyster is spent without doing pH checks multiple times a day? Is this determined by a kh test kit?
Thanks for sharing your experience
Cheers...
Neil
