Water test questions

[Kaffik]

New 2500 gal pond- up and running for about a month.
Laguna uv bio filter, waterfall and air stone.
I did my second water test. Ammonia is .25, nitrates .25, ph 8.8 ( maxed out on color chart)
My well water is very hard.
Should I test alkalinity? Are these numbers a good start?
My son has 4 trout in the pond who seem to be doing well. Also have about 3 frogs which I like. My Lillie's are started but not yet growing.
Any suggestions?
Thanks all !!!

 

[sissy]

I keep my ph around 8 or 9 and I have koi .Trout huh thinking about them for a meal or just pets .I would think trout would be happy with anything

 

[fishin4cars]

ammonia is kind of high, it should be zero, If it climbs any more be prepared to do water changes, PH really needs to be lower. Even with trout (Which I don't know what they require) most fish other than cichlids from africa usually prefer water 8.2 or lower, harder than that and slow lowering adjustment need to be adressed. You need to check harness for sure, both GH and KH, also being a new pond nitries need to be monitored as they can get high enough to be toxic pretty quickly in a new pond, remedy if the do, Water changes as well,

 

[Waterbug]

I also think KH and GH are good measurements to take. A pH reading only tells you what the water is at that moment. 8 hours later it could be different. Knowing KH and GH, and keeping them up means pH should be stable and at that point you really don't need to know pH.

4 trout in a 2500 gal pond and 0.25 ppm ammonia and nitrate is a bit strange to me. I'd double check that. Could be the time of year and the bacteria is just starting up. Ammonia becomes toxic at higher water temps and pH, there are charts if you're interested. But even at low temps the ammonia level isn't good for pH above 8.8. And the nitrates is a problem no matter pH or temp.

Trout can take a wide range of pH, like 4 to 10. Most streams don't have good KH levels so I guess trout just have to cope. Ammonia and nitrates is a different matter. This doesn't mean the fish will die tomorrow. Risk just goes up are water quality goes down. Fish "seeming to do well" is a false sense of security. By the time fish don't seem to be doing well it's normally too late.

 

[Kaffik]

Wow thanks for the info. Ill recheck the water today to see if they are correct. I'll be back!

 

[Waterbug]

Sorry, for some reason I thought this was a 3 year old pond rather than a one month old pond. Now it makes sense why there would be ammonia and nitrites.

The bacteria that converts these chemicals need rather warm water to reproduce. They do reproduce above 39F but really slowly. When you get above 65F they can start to make a difference. Water changes is the normal option. There are chemicals that lock ammonia and nitrites but that will slow the bacteria.

Algae blooms are pretty normal in new ponds. The water changes won't increase the amount of algae.