Random Question on RO Meter

[Priscilla]

Hi All,

My dad came over with his reverse osmosis water tester and tried it in my pond. It read 900 ppm.

Does this mean anything to anyone? And is it good, bad or pointless? The meter is used for testing drinking water - which of course a pond isn't meant to be drank, so ...... ARG! Parents! Lol!

My PH is around 7.5, 0 Nirites, 0 Ammonia, 0 Phosphates

I welcome any input. My water hyacinths are suffering, my Dad suggested the water might not be good for them .... all other plants are doing good. Fish seem happy. I think the fish are eating the roots of the hyacinths. I've just netted them a week ago, so waiting to see if they come back.

Thanks for any of your thoughts or comments.

Priscilla

 

[addy1]

It basically means you have really hard water. Lots of minerals in the water. I have the opposite have to add hardness to our very soft water.

The hyacinths may just not like your pond, mine never did well, so quit trying to get them to grow Think I do not have enough nutrients in the water for them. I do not know if hardness makes a difference to wh's

 

[Priscilla]

Lol! I will not give up on the WH just yet! I love those flowers wayyyy too much. Not to mention I'm depending on them to help clean the water. They make up a huge part of the plants I have in my pond.

Does it matter if the water has a lot of minerals? Should I try to mix it up by adding a bit of the city water? The guy at the pet store suggested that once but his water is very acidic and my fish seem happy .....

Am I over analyzing too much here? I have a tendency to do that.

My poor cannas have yellow leaves. They are growing like crazy but the leaves are yellow. A quick google leads me to believe the fish are also eating their roots. I don't have them in pots, just stuck in some rocks with a lot of their roots hanging out. So I need to change that today.

The challenges. But I love them all! The best part is to listen to my 5yo have conversations with friends who visit the pond on the roles of everything in and the around the pond. Using words like ammonia. Lol! You just can't get this depth of understanding in a classroom!

 

[addy1]

Take a look at this link, it appears that having hard water is actually good for your fish. I have very soft water and am always buffering it up.

http://www.practical-water-gardens.com/gazette406int.html

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/hardness.php