koiguy1969
GIGGETY-GIGGETY!!
a ph that is excessively or constantly swinging in either direction is more dangerous than a high or low consistant ph. (within reason)
High PH level
- Thread starter Bart
- Start date
Seems like it would be useful to have a sticky about what effects pH, even though it would require clauses like "raises pH if the pH is below 8" etc. Especially since it is such a noobie pond issue. I know the topic is very complex and debateable, but may avoid reading the wrong false post and making your pH problem worse.
I did a water exchange yesterday. I lowered it 4" and then I filled it back up to just to the bottom of the cement blocks. 4" is equal to about 800 gals and I raised it back up 400 gals to just below the cement blocks. I ran another PH test today and it is still up to a solid 9.0. And I was wondering if you can use Muriatic Acid for lowering the PH. This is the same acid that is use for adjusting the PH in swimming pools. I used a 5 gal bucket and filled it up with pond water and determined it takes 4 drops to lower the PH from a 9.0 to just above a 8.0. That is 3840 drops for my pond. Anyone know many drops it takes to make an oz. And will this work or not.
Thanks
Bart
Thanks
Bart
I would try Seachem's Acid Buffer. We have about the same size ponds. Last night I made a drip dispenser for it. Took one of those plastic gallon jugs and put some gravel in for weight and rinsed it well. Then I put water and acid in and drilled a small hole in the lid for an outlet and a small hole for air on the side which faces up. So I lay it on it's side and it slowly drips out into the waterfall so there is less pH shock. Still experimenting with how much to use. But I would not use over a tablespoon by volume for sure. I'll know more soon.
At one point I did calculate what you are looking for, but I have a graduated cyclinder and counted how many drops made a ml. Don't remember now. It may vary by dropper anyways.
At one point I did calculate what you are looking for, but I have a graduated cyclinder and counted how many drops made a ml. Don't remember now. It may vary by dropper anyways.
Thanks FishinForCars, I really appreciate all this. Right now I just have goldfish that otherwise would have been used for fishing. So not a lot of money involved here. So after reading this article and others I think I will just leave it alone and just see what happens. Maybe things will line out by themselves.
Thanks
Bart
Thanks
Bart
So is there a particular type of vinegar that is better than others? Distilled?
Does the pond have a liner? Or is it natural rock? Sometimes (especially in the case of limestone), the building materials will have an effect on the pH.
Also, not having a good microbial balance will tend to bring up the pH, and in the case of goldfish, you are dealing with excessive nitrogen levels. Overstocking goldfish is easy to do, as a single goldfish typically requires 10-30 gallons of water to maintain balance in the water column.
You may want to consider adding a biological product that will help neutralize nitrate/nitrite levels (insert plug here for my product, BZT Koi & Pond, designed to solve this very issue).
Also, as the above poster mentioned, it's a good idea to get an average pH reading from different times of the day. Find your baseline. You can add things like oyster shells to reduce the pH, but ultimately you still need a good microbial balance, and in the case of closed systems such as garden ponds, nature does not always supply bacteria in sufficient quantities to keep up with your stock.
Also, not having a good microbial balance will tend to bring up the pH, and in the case of goldfish, you are dealing with excessive nitrogen levels. Overstocking goldfish is easy to do, as a single goldfish typically requires 10-30 gallons of water to maintain balance in the water column.
You may want to consider adding a biological product that will help neutralize nitrate/nitrite levels (insert plug here for my product, BZT Koi & Pond, designed to solve this very issue).
Also, as the above poster mentioned, it's a good idea to get an average pH reading from different times of the day. Find your baseline. You can add things like oyster shells to reduce the pH, but ultimately you still need a good microbial balance, and in the case of closed systems such as garden ponds, nature does not always supply bacteria in sufficient quantities to keep up with your stock.
I moved, stuck and closed fishin4cars PH thread into the Garden Pond Talk > Re: High PH level. It is information that at first reading, appears to be good information. I don't do this often so I hope everyone can find it.
So where did you place fishin4cars PH thread? I came back to print it out and here you moved it.
Bart said:
My mistake, I corrected the place it was moved to. re-read my post.
sorry
fishin4cars
True friends just call me Larkin
DrDave said:
Thanks, I thought it really good info when I found it. Glad you put it where it can be found easily as I know many people use blocks for adjusting pot height for plants. So far in the last two days I have removed 50% of what I was using out. Four to go, Not too worried about tha big pond but the 300 gallon I would like to see if I can get at least two of the three blocks left in there and hopefully the pond will drop naturally to about 7.5 ph or so, It's in the mid 8 now. Looking foward to this new filter as it opens up more possibilities so I can now get oyster shell and barley into the system without it being just sitting in the pond doing nothing.
Usually when we get good information, it gets lost in all the chatter. I think in the future I will do the same. Nice thing about these closed threads are, even though they are stuck and closed, I can still edit them if we get information to improve the post.