Muddy & High PH Levels

[tfulk]

To All,
I could use some of your expert advice. I'm new to the pond world. I have a 1,000 gallon pond fed by a bog pond and 20 foot stream with 5 waterfalls. We installed the bog pond this year to replace the filter box and was amazed by how clear the water stayed all summer with very little maintenance. The bog pond was full of tropical plants all summer and between the plant roots and the 4 feet of pea gravel, it was an excellent filter. I pulled the tropical plants this fall and between the silt stirred from pulling the plants and all of the leaves settling in the bottom of the pond, the water turned brown. When I checked the PH last week it was very high (about 9.0). So, I turned the pump off, emptied over half of the pond, cleaned as many of the leaves out as I could and refilled the pond with fresh water. I treated with Clearity Max and Microbe Lift Sludge Away. I still have brown water and I still have a very high PH level. I am afraid my fish will not be able to survive the 9.0 PH level (I have Orfs, Comets and one Koi).

I'm going to try the pillow stuffing material today and see if the helps clear the water. Any suggestions on how to bring down the PH level. I thought for sure exchanging 500 gallons of water would do it.

Thanks in advance for any advice given!
Tim

 

[DrDave]

Your high PH might be caused by the pea gravel or other rocks. Take a clean sample of your rocks and cover the rocks with a neutral PH water, then test your sample again in 24 hours.

What was your PH over the summer when all the plants were in the system? You will need to have some form of bio filtration and that will keep the water clear, although it might be tea colored which is normal.

 

[tfulk]

Dr. Dave,
I'm not sure what the PH level was over the summer, the water stayed crystal clear right up until the day that I pulled all of the tropical plants out of the bog pond. I did not give it much thought at the time, I just assumed that the muddy water from pulling the plants would clear up as soon as it all settled. It never did. That is when I decided to check the PH and found it at 9.0. it has been about 3 weeks since I pulled the plants. It has been 4 days since I changed out about 500 gallons of the water. I also pulled all of the Hyacinth out of the pond and bog pond 3 weeks ago. It was starting to turn brown.
Any suggestions? we live in central VA.

 

[DrDave]

It is hard to say since I am not there to see the variables. If your bog has dirt/mud in it then without the roots to hold it there I think it is going to continue to go into solution.

I don't recommend or have any dirt in my ponds for that reason. i use the gravel out of my driveway for all my plants.

Is this a lined pond or dirt/clay pond?

 

[tfulk]

Both the pond and the bog pond has a liner. The bog pond only has pea gravel in it.

 

[clm]

Do you do any routine water changes? What's the PH of your water source.

I too run bog filters, I have 2 of them, and they do need to be cleaned out once a year. Your mucky water is from the trapped debris in the bog that has been stirred up when you removed your plants. This is not good for your fish, you're going to need to clean out your bog. The brown colour could be from the leaves in your pond, which need to be removed daily.

Cleaning a bog is not for the faint hearted, it's a big dirty job unless you've had the foresight to put in a way to drain it from the bottom (I did not). I usually do mine at the end of the summer when the water is colder and the fish are no long eating. Sometimes I remove all the media, yes hundreds of pounds of it, and clean most of it (leave some uncleaned to help seed the filter), and then put it all back in.

Cindy