to test or not to test

[gardenlady]

Okay..so we've had a pond for about 6 years which has been pretty successful without any major problems. Have lost fish along the way but very few. I have never really tested my pond water and after all of these years I'm afraid to jinx myself by starting now...........except...after an egret on our lake dined on a number of our fish I had my husband redig our pond. It was only 13" deep which made my fish easy pickings for the egret so I had him redig it so that the deepest level was 4'. He included a tunnel for the fish to hide in. I've included a photo but also shows where he has not had an opportunity to finish the edges of the pond yet. At any rate..now that the pond is much larger....was 800 gallons and is now approx. 3,000 gallons and consequently holds more fish *up from 8 to 24 but this pic is prior to upping the number of fish* I am more concerned about making sure nothing happens to them. I recently had the water tested at our local Petsmart who checked it for PH which was 8 and alkali nity which was 250. Could someone advise me of what I should test for to insure the health of my fish and which type of test to purchase? I would love to just stick with not testing but now that I have 24 fish I'm nervous about risking it especially since I will be adding more fish since I have a lot of room for more since I don't have koi.

 

[fishin4cars]

Think of testing water as a measure to find problems before they start. Knowing what your water is doing is a part of the hobby that any fish keeper should know. The most important things that need to be tested in a pond is Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and KH. , Ph is important but for a pond stable PH is the most important factor, not so much what the PH is. goldfish and Koi can handle 6.0-9.0, but changes of even .2-.3 can be a sign of a problem. same thing for ammonia, If your PH is high ammonia is far more deadly than it is when the PH is ow say 6.0. so knowing what the PH is definitely helps to determine how dangerous the ammonia is that is being read. In a newly set up pond Nitrite is also very likely to be found in high concentrations during cycling. Knowing when this peak takes place and when it balances back down to zero is the time the pond is telling you that it is ok to add new fish. You would never want to add a new fish during this time when the pond is still getting readings of ammonia or nitrite. nitrate is the least important but if your getting readings as the pond gets older then it means it's time for a water change or you could experience a algae bloom, or worse slow problematic signs that the fish may be suffering if continued to be exposed to high nitrates. Alkalinity is usually tested by KH, a reading of 80ppm-200ppm means that your PH will be far more stable, If it falls below 80ppm it can start having fluctuations from PH swings that can again cause problems that at first are hard to determine what they are as they effect each fish differently. Other tests that may also be considered. If you use salt a salt meter, hydrometer, or a refractometer would be useful as it tells the exact percentage of salt being used. Phosphate test kit if your experiencing continuous green water, copper test kit if you use medications that contain copper.
Of course a pond can be kept without testing, many new ponders do this at first. But as soon as a problem starts they are the first ones that don't have a clue what to do. More experienced ponders will ask first what is the water quality parameters. The reason why, It's far easier to fix water and in most cases, problems start from water that has been neglected. In fact most ponds that water stays within the best quality rarely ever have problems with the fish to begin with. Start learning how and why to test your water, this is probably the best preventive measure a pond keeper can take to help keep a pond healthy and long lived.

 

[Dave 54]

Not ever tested your water ?
I'm sorry but you are looking over the edhe of the cliff here you really are.
People such as my partner and I have been keeping for 27 years this years and even though we can tell if a pond is good or not without testing we still test.
One day your lack of testing is going to come back and bite you big style in that theres you thinking everything is Hunky Dory and the next day your looking at a pond full of dead or dying fish.
Sorry to be so brutal but we have the experience to say you have.
We have come across many pond keepers like yourself who are so sure in their ways that no matter what a person says and how much experience a person has , they wont listen too good fish keeping.
Now I sure hope youarent in that last group and that you will see good sense in that testing ponds is a neccessary part of keeping fish be they koi or goldfish.
Look at it this way I put you in a room then seal it no air in nor out eventualy what will happen "you die" well by not testing your doing the same.
If you wish your fish to live to a grand age (we have tho koi both 27 years old) we also hope to have these guys in another 27 years time as these guys can live as long as 80+ years with goldfish 40+ years.
So please test your water perameters as I dont want to say to you at a later date "I told you so".


rgrds

Dave

 

[Dave 54]

Larkin dont know where you got your figures from but its 6.5 at the bottom and the top end of the scale is 8.5 dead nothing higher
Koi will not tolerte the PH levels you claim they will.

rgrds

Dave

 

[addy1]

I tested my pond constantly the first year, less the second year, now just off and on and when we have a ton of rain to keep track of the ph, like yesterday. It never changed from perfect (no koi) so sort of got bored with testing. Not saying that is good for anybody but me...........

 

[gardenlady]

I have no Koi because I like to have plants in the water and also because the loss would be more devastating both emotionally and financially since they are so expensive, although they are beautiful but best left to people who know what they are doing for those reasons. ( All of this information *although a little overwhelming* is very much appreciated and I plan to start testing the water. I don't add salt to the pond and quite frankly have no idea why it would be, so I need to educate myself. Guessing water hard/soft? What I'd like to know is what specific test kits do any of you recommend. A book might come in handy for easy reference or a site recommendation in regards to what to do to resolve a situation if a level is too high or too low. @Dave54...I'm not sure of myself at all and have said before on this forum, that after 6+ years I still consider myself a newbie and is why I have recently starting coming to this forum for advice from people that know what they are doing so that I could learn. I'm just recently become very interested in becoming knowledgeable rather than having a pond and simply enjoying looking at it. @fishin4cars.......that is ALOT of information and made my head spin a little...lol! Based on what you said it sounds like my alkalinity is high and of course I have no idea about the other things since they haven't been tested yet.

 

[capewind]

There's alot of info to take in, but just take it one step at a time. Pick up all the tests Larkin suggested (we use mostly API liquid tests), but since you just set THIS pond up, if you can monitor your PH, Ammonia and Nitrites for now, you'll be ok. Keep coming back to the group for input as you become more comfortable with each test. My situation wasnt a whole lot different. We've had tanks and ponds for years, but I was too busy with other things than to take more interests past feeding fish. Hubby dealt with everything. Now that the "baby" is turning 18, I have a lot more time. Some areas I was solid, others, weak, and others still, a good deal of knowledge but HUGE gaps. One test in particular, KH, I had a hard time with. Some couldnt understand my confusion, as it isnt a hard test to do, but I *needed* the WHY questions I had answered (from a chemistry point of view). One of the group members spent a great deal of time with me via PMs explaining the CHEMISTRY so that it "made sense" .... As you have questions or concerns, just keep asking. No worries, it'll all come together for you

 

[gardenlady]

Thanks so much for that support! I'm going to see if Petsmart carries that test kit and will get it today if they do, otherwise my local pond place will surely have it but won't have time to get there today since they aren't around the corner. Now I'm excited to test the three you mention and hope that all is good with them, but if not I'm coming back to see what to do about it. Thanks again

 

[HTH]

http://www.petsmart.com/product/ind...ferralID=c4227e11-b8be-11e2-a969-001b2166c2c0

 

[gardenlady]

Thanks HTH! it doesn't test the KH right so I need to buy that also, or not worry about it for now?

 

[HTH]

If you plan on testing for KH I would get it but I am not sure you will find it there. They have dumbed down a lot and have a far better selection of plastic plants then test of useful chemicals.

You can get a fresh water hardness kit onlie

EDIT: I was just looking on amazon. The API master kit is about $10 cheaper and if you have prime shipping is free. If you have to go online to buy the KH you may as well get it all there.

 

[capewind]

Get all of the tests ASAP ... You still need to test them all, and we are all here to help. Some sites are really complicated in their explainations, but with a new pond and fair size fish load, you need to understand the nitrogen cycle. I know you are taking in a lot, so will GROSSLY simplify.

Fish eat (what you feed, bugs, algae, etc) ... what goes in one end, has to come out the other ... here's a cutsie picture to give a visual.

 

[gardenlady]

Okay..got it! I'm heading to Petsmart shortly to see what they have and will order online or hit my pond place and get the rest. Need to protect these guys and make sure they survive especially since I spent $40 on three of them and one in particular is a beauty! Big bucks for me since I normally spend around $10 or less.

 

[gardenlady]

Okay...tested the five the test came with and here are the results so let me know what you think:

Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Ammonia: 0
PH High: 8.4
PH: color not on the chart and I did it twice It's more of a light royal blue

 

[HTH]

You might want to try a high range test kit 7.4-8.8. I was thinking they made them that went higher but maybe not.