ph balancing

[mogsie]

hello, as some of you already know ime new to pond & fishkeeping, my pond has had water in for 3 days now and i connected the pump up today to start circulating and aerating the water water (returning via a waterfall) i have approx 8 marginal plants in my pond and 12 bunches of submerged plants, and 1 lilly, anyways over the last few days i have been doing daily ph tests, and each time it shows as around 5.5 - 6, so slightly acidic, now i live in an acidic area, we have acidic soil, acidic rain and even the domestic water supply is leaning towards acidic, is this a problem (i dont plan on keeping koi, mainly just golder orfs and goldfish etc) or is there a way i can counteract this acidic ph and balance it out without regularly using chemicals? or even without chemicals atall ? ( prefer to do things naturally)
if i must use a chemical then so be it, but i would prefer not to ! i read on the internet about using crushed oyster shell or calcium bicarbonate (crushed limestone) to raise and buffer the ph, is this a longterm stable solution to this problem or will i have to regularly replenish these also ? any opinions will be appreciated thankyou.

 

[oldmarine]

During the spring, summer, and fall my pond is well planted with live plants to the point that the PH in my pond will balance itself. If I change it it will gradually gravitate back to where it was. I noticed by not altering the PH, ammonia levels, and all that stuff that we feel a need to temper with find it's own happy medium. I think the secret is simply just finding the right balance of fish, plants, filtration, and required periodic water changes, the water and the fish will stay quite healthy.

 

[j.w]

Did I just read here somewhere that calcium will lead to more algae growth?

 

[mogsie]

Did I just read here somewhere that calcium will lead to more algae growth?

does it ! now this shouldnt be a problem during summer months if the calcium carbonate dissapates before then as i shouldnt need to add any during summer months i dont think as ime sure the photosynthesis of algae raises ph, tho ime not 100% on that,

i also read that marble chips placed in my filter will have the same desired effect, do they mean marble as in the decorative stone or is this some pond product ive never heard of ??

 

[DrDave]

Did I just read here somewhere that calcium will lead to more algae growth?

Yes you did, I think it was Calgary.... that gave that advice.

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Mogsie, If you have a waterfall feature you could try putting in some limestone rocks for the water to go over. The lime from them will probably raise your PH a little and you won't have to do anything in the future once they are installed.

 

[DoDad]

With a ph that low you do need a buffer. this will prevent ph crashes.
ph crashes are generally caused by a low level of (kh) carbonate hardness.
A pH crash kills fish, damages plant life and kills the nitrifying bacteria in your biological filter.
The quick fix for this is baking soda.

 

[DrDave]

Dodad
Do you have the ratio of baking soda to gallons for each point that you need to raise? That would be helpful to anyone who has to purchase it.

 

[mogsie]

thanks for the info guys, so ile give the calcium carbonate a miss, ive ordered the crushed oyster shell so i can try that, will look into sourcing some limestone (maybe local builders merchant ??)
yes the ratio for sodium bicarbonate would be very helpfull, again thankyou

 

[DoDad]

Here's a calculator.
http://www.cnykoi.com/calculators/calckh.asp

 

[DrDave]

Thanks for the great link. It also confirmed my calculations for Sodium Thiosulphate.

 

[mogsie]

ok so ive had a bit of a problem sourcing limestone in my area unless i buy in bulk, but i have managed to find limestone chipping i imagine they will have the same effect, plan to add the chippings into the filter tank, so the water has to run through them before returning to the pond.

 

[mogsie]

so i have now put 40 kg of limestone chippings in my filter so the water has to flow through it, and there is 1 kg of crushed oyster shell in there also, the water is climbing up nicely and is at 7..5 now, just waiting for a KH testing kit to come,
the water has gone a little murky since i put the limestone in (yes i did wash it first) but i guess it will settle and clear,

 

[mogsie]

so i tested my water again today and the ph is at 7, i done the kh test which was quite low at 71 ppm, so i have added the sodium bicarbonate and waited a few hours and the kh is still low ! how long does this take to work? should i add more sodium bicarbonate ?

 

[DoDad]

How many gallons is your pond?

so i tested my water again today and the ph is at 7, i done the kh test which was quite low at 71 ppm, so i have added the sodium bicarbonate and waited a few hours and the kh is still low ! how long does this take to work? should i add more sodium bicarbonate ?