Lowering PH

[j.w]

Got mine down to 7 and then added the oyster shells. Need to check it to see if it's working.

 

[jupiter1]

Getting a clear picture now. Peat to lower , oyster shells to stabilize . Using liquid test kit as reccomended . Will get some peat on the way home today . Thanks everyone .

 

[CometKeith]

jupiter, just wondering are you getting water runoff into your pond from a sidewalk or anything like that? It would explain why your ph goes up after a heavy rain.

 

[addy1]

crushed oyster shells. Is'nt there a product they sell at feed stores for chickens that is basicly the same thing ? Scratch I think it's called .

That is where I get it from, the tractor supply store, they sell it in the chicken section.

I didn't do anything to get my ph down, it was around 10. I let the plants grow, added the shells, and waited. I do not have koi, but do have healthy goldfish and shubunkins and a ton of fry. I decided if the fish were doing ok, eating breeding etc , the ph was not bouncing (well it did once, then stabilized), it slowly drifted down. Now a nice 7.5 or so every time I test it.

the test strip and the liquid gave two different measurements, now use liquid or my ph meter.

The peat will make your water brownish.

 

[jupiter1]

That is where I get it from, the tractor supply store, they sell it in the chicken section.

I didn't do anything to get my ph down, it was around 10. I let the plants grow, added the shells, and waited. I do not have koi, but do have healthy goldfish and shubunkins and a ton of fry. I decided if the fish were doing ok, eating breeding etc , the ph was not bouncing (well it did once, then stabilized), it slowly drifted down. Now a nice 7.5 or so every time I test it.

the test strip and the liquid gave two different measurements, now use liquid or my ph meter.

The peat will make your water brownish.

As much as I enjoy and work towards clear water no problem with the brown tinge , healthy fish first .

Regardless of the PH I am freaking out about the fish are active and seem happy and OK . No change in their behavior . I tend to over think and see problems where there is none . Did the same thing when me and the wife were raising children . Guess I am now substituteing the fish for the children :lol:

 

[addy1]

That is why I left mine alone even though the ph went up to 10ish. The fish were procreating, swimming eating, tads, water bugs etc. It has now, by itself self, settled back down. I was at a store buying junk to mess with the ph, a fish breeder, seller and I started talking after a long conversation I decided to wait it out. His thoughts lined up with mine, fry, happy fish, eating like hogs, tads, good plants why mess with it. I am glad I did nothing. NO KOI

Sometimes it is best to have faith in mother nature. But then again I have built my system to be as natural as possible with a bog filter system. Gravel and plants.

 

[jupiter1]

Well looks like I found the problem while rebuilding my filter to make it easier to clean. I had used some pieces of concrete block to weight down the bottom grate in the old one . The block they came from was out in the weather and at least 10 years old so I thought it was safe . Guess were the fresh breaks are caused the problem .

Nothing but clay pots filled with pea gravel for weight in the new one . After a 20 % water change some heavey rains and 12 days PH is now 7.5.

 

[addy1]

Great glad to hear! Better than messing with the water

 

[CometKeith]

Actually that's amazing it went down 2.5!

 

[HARO]

At the risk of antagonizing some of you, I'd like to put in my 2 cent's worth. I've been pondering for a good while now, and in the retail end of the pond hobby for about 7 years. Most of the new pond owners that I come across tend to get far too obsessed with water quality testing, and wind up adding "remedies" willy-nilly. Ph will fluctuate throughout the day, the last thing you should do is try to correct it two or three times a day! I can think of at least half a dozen people who decided that their pond was just too much trouble, and filled it back in. Test kits definitely have a place in the hobby, but so does common sense. John

 

[CometKeith]

John, I think you are not antagonizing anyone. The vast majority of the people that are active on this forum would agree with what you are saying and discourage newbie pond owners from adding chemicals etc. There are some people that have very acidic or alkaline water in their ponds and need to do something to get it more in the mid range. Regarding testing someone that is new to the game might have very high ammonia or nitrites, nitrates etc and may need to take some steps to correct it before their fish are harmed. Again this is often the case of a newer pond owner that did not cycle their pond or has too high of a bio-load etc. For someone that has been ponding for a while it is more common sense because you know from experience what to look for and you have equipment that you have used before and know what to expect.

 

[addy1]

It is the new ponds, the new pond keepers that struggle with their water and keeping their fish healthy. A lot think dig a hole, line it, put in fish done.............then the struggle starts.

I bought a small piece of epdm (didn't want to wait for my favorite liner to be shipped, ppl36) for our new little deck pond, the instructions stated dig a hole, put in liner, fill with water .............done lol

 

[CometKeith]

Addy, I started with a kit from Sunterra. I must have read their instruction booklet 10 times and knew everything in it. I filled the pond with water and the next day I visited a friend who had a pond and he gave me a nice 10' koi and a 6' goldfish to put in it... The booklet didn't really say anything about when you put fish in, but implied that it was all ready. I wish I had known about this forum back then.

 

[addy1]

Yep agree cometkeith, my first ponds were built by reading pond books, magazines. Made a few mistakes, well more than a few.........slowly gotten better at building them........

 

[CometKeith]

Yes, Unfortunately I am stuck with my first pond from 3 years ago that I have made a million band aid type adjustments on. My wife is going out of town next month and I really want to pull out the liner, do a little digging, and put a brand new one in while she is gone. I am not 100% sure I want to do it because I don't want to lose all the good bacteria on the old liner by tossing it, but it really needs to be done at some point. My fish have been so happy this year and I have not had any problems, so I am reluctant to change a good thing. Sorry Jupiter I didn't mean to hijack your thread!