dieing fish & high PH - HELP!!!!!

[mogsie]

as your in ireland barry,the pump that koiguy is refering to is available on ebay uk for under £4 including postage,
here is a link :
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DRILL-POWERED...aultDomain_3&hash=item56425d1db9#ht_749wt_905

 

[barry]

I went outside (in the dark), dug down the side of a slab, used a broken brush head to stab the soil and I managed to get a hose inside now all I need is a pump, I'm sure I can get one locally, I have a pond cleaner Hoover thing, if I was to tape the hose onto it would it work?

 

[addy1]

It might, give it a try.

 

[DoDad]

You need a buffer for that ph. Ad baking soda.To bring your kh up to 150 ppm.
This will lock that ph at 8.3 as mine is.

 

[barry]

UPDATE: pond has been laying empty for a couple days to let everything settle, tap water ph = 7, i just filled the pond after cleaning it all up again and the ph goes straight to 8.5ish, is this safe? do you think it will rise more? why would it be going straight up after a refill?

 

[DoDad]

Read above!
With the ph swings going up and down you can kill your fish
As I said before I keep my kh up to 150ppm and that locks my ph at 8.3

 

[nyteyz]

UPDATE: pond has been laying empty for a couple days to let everything settle, tap water ph = 7, i just filled the pond after cleaning it all up again and the ph goes straight to 8.5ish, is this safe? do you think it will rise more? why would it be going straight up after a refill?

Are you using any sort of chemical to clean the pond? are the materials you are using used elsewhere around your home? if you answered yes to either of these questions this could be the source of your Ph spike.

Just a thought.

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Barry, Can you post a picture of your pond and how big it is? I think this information would be helpful to get the right information to correct the problems. Runoff from the concrete will raise your PH. Also I'm curious how big your pond was because it sounds like you had quite a few fish in it. You can put that information in your profile. If your liner is rising then you probably need to raise the sides up and make sure your liner stretches far enough out so water doesn't get under it.You might have had chemicals from your garden or yard run into the pond if it was set too low. Typically the best place for a pond is the high side of your yard so storm water doesn't flow into it. This may be what caused the problem with your fish. You may need to build new sides and put again another liner down!

 

[barry]

IV SOLVED IT!!!!!!!!

THIS IS THE MOST PECULIOUR THING I HAVE EVER SEEN!!!!! TRY AND WORK THIS OUT AND LET IT BE A LESSON TO ALL!!!

in my house the kitchen and the hose outside are connected as one line, so tap water and hose water should be the same ph? WRONG!

tap water ph - 7.2
hose water ph - 8.5

work that out, it had me confused why the ph in the house was so good and then when i put it in the pond it was so high, let it be a lesson to all - good ph on tap doesnt mean good ph on hose

 

[mogsie]

i tested that last week when i discovered my pond water was acidic, and out of the hose it was 6.5 but it was 7.0 from the kitchen tap, and mine are both from the same pipe ! i thaught i had made a mistake and didnt think about it ??

 

[shakaho]

Is your in-house water softened or anything?

 

[mikeinpgh]

I'm thing the problem is the cement/mortar used in between and under your pavers. When they lay pavers they usually use a DRY mix of sand and cement (no water). This could cause the runoff to be contaminated for a while. The mixture will get hard over time from rain and moisture in the ground and then cure. The lime in cement/mortar is very corrosive and will actually burn your skin. I can only imagine what it could do to fish if too much got into the water. If this is the problem I don't have a solution, sorry.
My second guess is the frequent water changes. They were probably too frequent.
Good luck. I hope things work out.

Mike

 

[barry]

dry mix was used, took the extreme measure of lifting all of the slabs and removing all of the cement today, now iv got a hole with a pond liner and very dirty water.

tomorrow a guy is coming to put decking around the pond and garden, no cement - cant lose there can I?

 

[addy1]

Nope, keep plugging away you will have a good product in the end.

 

[j.w]

And the guys not using any poisonous stain for the decking right? If not it sounds good to me and you are getting closer to the finished lovely pond area soon :bowdown: