Hi everybody! I went out and bought a test kit today to test my water parameters as many members advised. I've been testing my ammonia levels daily because my 4 month old 60 gal pond is a little overstocked (I should have only 6 small fish and I have 10). I was especially concerned because the day before yesterday I found a "floater" in the pond when I went to feed them in the morning. The day before I had done a 10% water change and added a .3% pond salt solution, plus a tsp of ammonia detox/dechlorinator (our water is very chlorinated here). The fish was a small comet and had some scales missing from each side. I couldn't detect any other visible signs of anything wrong with it. I usually don't do the salt solution, so that was unusual for me, everything else was what I do about 3 times a week.

Anyways, since I am really loving this hobby, I'm getting serious about my water conditions, so I got the test kit. Both afternoon and evening readings were the same - Nitrates = 0, Nitrites = .25. GH was 200, KH was 200 and pH was off the chart at 8.4 I feel like I cheated because I bought the inexpensive test strips for $8 versus the $28 kit of vials and reagents. Is one test dramatically different from the other?

I read the KoiVet.com article on water quality for beginners - very helpful and easy to understand. I gather that I need to bring the pH down but I'm not positive what to use to get it into the neutral zone. I saw an ad for "pH salt down" but I'm not sure how this relates to the pond salt solution I just put in, if at all. I'm also not sure how often to add a salt solution. What is the theory behind adding salt? I've used it twice in the past to control ich, but I've was leary each time I did it. I know salt is nature's antiseptic so I can see the sense in it, but should I be trying to always maintain a .3% salt level in my pond (so I should be adding a small solution each time I do a partial water change?) I haven't seen a test yet for salinity, but I haven't inquired at the store either. In a nutshell, is there a more natural way for me to bring down and maintain a more neutral pH?

My pea soup clears up somewhat within a few hours each time I do a water change, and next time I go to the fishstore I am going to get some Microbelift to see if I can clear the sludge up a bit. When I cleaned my bio filter this time I gently rinsed my pads (no boiling this time - ) at least I can laugh at my own mistakes! Since that yucky brown goo in my filter box is supposed to be good?, should I be saving it and just rinsing pads, or dumping it out as sludge?

I did send some pics to Koko a few days ago but I haven't seen them posted yet. Im not sure I followed all the proper procedures, though. I forgot to send my registration name and just signed my real name so she probably has no idea who to attribute the pics to. Hey, I'm still learning how to use icons....I'll get the hang of all this sooner or later.

Thanks for all of your feedback anytime I post.

"PONDerosa"

GREAT POST!!!!!!!!!! I am very proud of you! You are going to be a great pond hobbiest!

I should say first, sorry to hear about the loss. It's hard. When I lose a fish it seems like the world has ended and everyone around me gets the brunt of it. But there really is a bright side, your beautiful comet is swimming with all of my beautiful koi and they'll never get sick again. We still miss them though.

Your Nitrites, as you know now are a little high. That should have been taken care of with the water change? You probably understand from your test kit that zero is what you are shooting for. And when that bio filter is working it will be. I don't test for GH and KH but I am sure from the directions in your kit you understand them and I am sure Kathy will be along as well. I put crushed coral in my bio falls and was told by someone who claims to be smarter than me that it would take care of the GH and KH. I use the Pondmaster test kit with the test tubes and have never used the test stips so I don't know how they compare. I am sure that what you bought works fine.

On your Ph of 8.4 did you test it in the morning, afternoon and then in the evening? I have been told that the Ph will change from morning to evening, you just don't want it to change too much. Mine does NOT change. My Ph is a solid 9 and has never been any lower. A high Ph is only a problem if you have high ammonia. You never want high ammonia but high ammonia is especially lethal with a high Ph. Thus, you really don't have much room for error with a high Ph (please someone stop me if I am giving false info, this is the way I understand it to be though). On lowering your ph, I would strongly advise you to stay away from anything that is going to lower your ph. If you lower it too much or too fast you'll kill all of your fish. IMHO there is no need in lowering it, your ammonia is fine and koi and gold fish can live in a high ph but cannot survive in LOW ph(which I think is 6.5 and below).

Get rid of the sludge, you don't want it. You just don't want to wash everything completly off your bio media, so if there is brown crusties or stain or what ever on the media that you can leave as long as the water is going to flow through the filter freely just as when you first hooked it up. The slimy crap dump it in the garden.

If you do decide to get microbe lift I would suggest microbe lift TheraP because it not only will help boost the bio filter but it has oxygenators in it to raise your oxygen levels, it is also supposed to help reduce nitrites, plus it says it boosts the fish immune system. It's good stuff and for your size pond a bottle of it will last you awhile.


I am looking forward to the pictures!!!!!!!

Scott

I forgot to comment on the .3% salt. No you don't want to keep your pond at .3%. I think that .1% would be about right. I only told you to raise it to .3% in order to get rid of ich and hopefully get rid of other nasties that could be lurking. I'm in hopes the salt did it's job. I would suggest you keep it at .3% for two weeks then gradually drop it down to .1%

Scott

I got a saline test kit yesterday, and I actually had to add 1/4 cup of pond salts to bring it into the "good" range. I also picked up some MicrobLiftPL (the store didn't have the TheraP version) and put in 6 oz. It's been 24 hours and I can't say I see any difference at all, but the box didn't specify a time frame for me to expect better water clarity in. Whoever posted that the stuff smells like rotten duck eggs was right on the money! I had to hide my pond supplies today because the raccoons and oppossums tried to get to the MicrobeLift bottle last night - guess they were looking for those rotten eggs! If it turns out to be a product that works for me I will definitely buy it from Ebay from now on - the mom and pop petstore I go to wants $88/gal, while I've seen it on Ebay for approx. $55


Kellie

Wow that is expensive. I found it on azponds for 49 a gallon. I think everything is cheaper online, or it seems. I buy most everything online now because it seems the local stores charge double what I can get it online. Crazy.