First of all I would like to thank Robyn for the informative and well put together web site and for this Forum. I‘m NEW to the Pond hobby, but am sure to enjoy it. I have a two-month-old 2000 gallon, 2.5 feet max depth pond. 2400 GPH pump - Skimmer with strainer and filter media - Water Fall with two bio pads on bottom, floss, and a pack of Barley Pellets on top. My water is semi-clear to a 1.6 feet but not clear down to the 2.5 foot bottom. The general color of the Pond is green. Location near Atlanta, GA. The animals consist of 18 Gold fish about 2 inches long. Plants consist of, 4- Water Hyfina plants, 4- Water Lettuce plants, one water Lilly. About ½ of the pond sees sunlight for 4 hours a day. The ph has been running 6.8 to 7 most of the time but lately it has been up to 8. I do get tree leaves and small sticks in the Pond from time to time.

My question is, or for some reason the Water Lettuce and the Water Hyacinth grew at first but now are not growing, in fact the outside edge of the plants are dying (turning brown). I thought maybe the ph was too high so I added some HCL. About 3 cc each day for three days. Each time mixed the HCL in a gallon of water before adding it to the Pond. I have not seen a change in the Pond ph and actually it would seem to me that it would probably take quite a bit more HCL to affect the ph? Is the ph too high and is affecting the plants? There is one thing I am sure that I have done wrong and that was cleaning the bio pads too frequently (every 3 to 5 days, spraying them off with the water hose). Is this my problem? Where am I going wrong?
Thanks,
Lou

I have some dead/chewed up leaves on some of my floaters. At first I thought it was insects, turned out to be the fish. My ph was 9.0+ the other day, lovely algae bloom. ;) I put in enough ph down ( containing citric acid ) for 200 gals. and seems to be working. I'll be retesting today. I haven't seen any ph Down that's HCL...to me, I'd think that was too strong. Anyway, have you put in any light color items in the bottom of the pond? I have 2 spots, 1 with white and 1 spot with light blue aquarium gravel. This way I can gauge how clear the pond is getting. Just a thought...I'm still a newbie.

Thanks for the reply SadieMay,
My pond has a couple of levels with some river rocks in each. So I can gauge the clarity as you suggested. On the HCL, I read that on Robyn’s web site, http://www.fishpondinfo.com/chem.htm . Not sure just how much to use, so I only used a minimum amount.
:(

HCl is a moderate acid. pH down often is sulfuric acid (dilute) which is a strong acid (divalent for chemists). Citric acid is an organic acid which are normally considered weak acids. Acetic acid (vinegar) is another organic acid. If you are added 3 cc (mL) of HCl (is that concentrated?) to a 2000 gallon pond, you should see a decrease in pH but not too much. Since you are not, your water is probably well buffered. This means it has things like calcium in there making the water hard and maintaining it higher. The fact that your pH was near neutral (7) before is confusing as to why now it's higher. pH normally will go up in an active pond due to biological processes but with acid, should come down. If your pH is 8, I would leave it there. A pH of 7-8 is ideal for a pond. Because of the various factors in a pond, one can't say add exactly 5 mL of HCl, and your pH will be perfect because it varies too much depending on what's in the water. The chemical equations would make me faint, and I'm a chemist!

Is it super hot there? If so, that would explain the water hyacinth and water lettuce dying in part. Also, if water splashes on them, that can cause browning.

If you have city water, squirting off your filter material can kill off some (but not all) of the good bacteria. I have well water and can squirt away. For those with city water, you can bail some pond water into a kiddie pool or container and swish the filter material around in there, extra work!

I am still at a loss to understand why the Hyacinth and Water Lettuce is dying. If the ph is ok and since these plants are tropical, the high temperature should not be a problem. All of the other water chemistry that I have checked are in the normal range. Ph 7.8 – 8.0, Alkalinity 40, Total hardness 75, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 0. I have read lots of post on this Forum and it seems everyone complains about these plants over running their pond. In my pond they are dying??? Because I do have some green algae, I would think there are enough nutrients in the water to support the plants?? Again I am new to the Pond care and would appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks,
Lou

My pond is in the sun all day long and my water lettuce is all brown around the edges. I think it is the sun and being so very hot. I do not have water hyancinth this year. Does you pond get alot of sun?

Water lettuce doesn't like full sun. Water hyacinth likes the sun and heat more. Mine is growing pretty well. If water splashes on either plant, or they get insect pests, that could explain them changing colors, rotting, dying, etc. Look around the plant for holes and bugs. Also, since your pond is new, it may not have enough nitrate and other nutrients just yet. You said your nitrate was zero. It is usually readable in an older pond. The plants may need more nutrients. You could add Flora Fin by Tetra I think it is that has potassium and micronutrients. Your plants should do better is subsequent years. Some plants didn't do great in my pond the first few years.

Thanks for the responce.
My pond sees sun from about 10AM to 1PM then mostly shade. There are no splashing water on any of the plants. I have seen some ants on the plants from time to time. Is this a factor do you believe?

Lou

The ants themselves won't harm the plants. They could be there just for water. If they're coming to milk aphids (ants protect the aphids and, in turn, eat the aphid waste which is high in sugar as their reward), then you could have an aphid problem which would certainly account for the poor condition of the plants. Aphids can be almost any color but are normally green, yellow, or black. They're normally 1 to 3 mm in size. They tend to congregate in groups at the base of leaves. They suck the life out of plants.