Questions on water testing?

[Bossman]

I have few questions on water testing. Do you test your water? If so how often? If not why not? Do you chase a number from your results i.e. if PH is off do you try to fix?

I ask because I do test at least weekly and I record my results. I use this to see trends and do not chase a number. Some of my readings may be slightly high but as long as the fish look healthy, are eating, and swimming I leave things alone. I do do water changes monthly as I think that is the right thing to do.

 

[GBBUDD]

i tested my water before i put fish in the pond to see if there was any serious issues where there was a little low on the ph and never looked back..

 

[pondering_life]

I test for ammonia and nitrite in the weeks after setting up the pond, once i'm confident they are at a constant 0 I will test for nitrates on an occasional basis, but with an abundance of plants it is relatively easy to keep the levels low

 

[Jhn]

Chasing numbers like ph is a bad idea, as fish can withstand a range in ph. If checking anything, kh and gh are better to check if these are kept where they need to be then ph will be maintained and stable. Better to let it be, as long is it is in the range, than chase a number, which can cause changes in ph sometimes even rapid, which puts undue stress on the fish.

Never really test for anything, but I have been keeping fish pretty much my entire life and ponds for over 25 years. So, I pretty much use my fishes behavior as an indicator as to what is going on with my water quality.

As for water changes do what works for you and your pond but there is no right or wrong. I will just say I have never had to do a water change on my ponds in all the years I have been keeping ponds. I say have/had because there are instances where it could be necessary like ammonia spike, some sort of toxin/pollutants get in the pond. Otherwise, no point in it, as a well balanced pond should be able to maintain water quality.....also you need to know what is in your source water a lot Of people have ammonia, phosphates, iron, nitrates, etc. in the source water, and if that is the case doing water changes to lower these can be counterproductive.

 

[BKHpondcritters]

I rarely test the water, but when I do, it's mostly to check the kh. Water changes in my pond come from rain, and (like we had this week) the occasional HEAVY rain can over soften the water. Right now I'm working to bring the kh back to acceptable levels after three days of soaking rain (almost 8" total) Ph is still OK (7.5 - 8) but I want to make sure to stabilize against swings, so... baking soda is my friend.

 

[addy1]

I have not tested in about 6 years, the pond stabilized and has done just fine. I used to test a lot and the readings were always good. So got bored with testing.