I am hoping that this is posted in the correct place.

For those of you who are interested, here is a link to some pictures of my pond. Sorry if they are a little on the big side:
http://www.atvbarn.com/pondpage.htm

I still have some work to do as you can see. The tubing that goes from the filter to the frog needs to be changed. I don't like the clear tubing. I need more plants too. I am going to work on that this weekend :)

Mainly what I wanted to show was all the "green stuff". I am assuming that the algae is normal for a new pond. Any input is appreciated :)

I had a little scare this morning when we thought that some critter had eaten one of the new fish. My hubby and I looked and looked for it but couldn't find it. I was pretty unhappy as I was already attached to Harley (the fish). Then later that afternoon by hubby checked the pond and sure enough there was Harley and Willie at the bottom of the pond. There had been a critter that visited last night b/c I sas the paw prints on the rim of the pond, so the fish were hiding and did a real good job of it too. Now I have to figure out how to keep the critter from fishing in the pond....
All I can say is whew that was close!

That's the kind of algae that popped up on me. I'd never had the frothy green stuff before, it has subsided within the last couple of weeks. Now my pond is sooo solid green that if you put your hand up to your wrist in the water...you can't see your fingers AT ALL. My fish are faint orange blurs. off to the maintance catergory. :)

Wow that's pretty thick SadieMay. :o I hope I don't have that problem...
I just cleaned my filter and checked the ph for the first time and it is way high. 9.0. I have algae floating around and the pond so I thought I would let things settle down and check again. I am a newbie and checking twice is probably a good idea. I need the practice. A ph of 9 is not normal for a new pond is it? :unsure:

You have a cute pond with a little bit of that floating hair algae mixed with other algae stuff. My 153 gallon pond has that right now since the raccoons and tadpoles keep killing off the plants.

A pH of 9.0 is too high. Test your tap water pH; what is it? If it's close to 9, then that's the problem. If not, is there any cement, mortar, or limestone in or near the pond that could be leaching into the water? If not, then the pH may be high due to natural processes. Algae will raise the pH during the day. If algae or plants change the pH, you should notice that if you test the pH at dawn, it's lower than at dusk. My 1800 gallon pond this week is running a pH of 8 to 8.5 (not sure exactly, multiple tests are slightly different). I don't know why. That pond has almost no algae but tons (I mean tons!) of water celery in the waterfall. I added sulfuric acid from "pH down" to get it lower. My fish have been acting weird, hanging at the surface. The oxygen tests fine so maybe it's the pH. A pH of 9 is worrisome. I suggest some pH down. Keep in mind that the pH test kits vary in how good they are by brand, type of test, expiration date, etc. Some are also harder to read than others. I keep a bunch of them and just bought a new higher pH test kit yesterday to test my pH. It was 7.8 last night. I forgot to test today.

SadieMay, what is your pH running with all that suspended algae?

I've tested at about 8am when I get home from work..it runs around high7-ph8. I did put in some ph down last week, and I'll be checking this morning. I finished off the bottle of bacteria to the filter this past Friday ( I'm figuring that no real filter didn't help either). And I'll be openning the umbrella up today. No shade since the winter thaw was no help. Hubby said I can buy some water hyacinth ( pricey in my area ).

You work the night shift? I don't know how you do it! My pond water is down to 7.7 now so I'm not going to add more pH down myself. I'm now thinking that a pH of 8 or even 8.5 that I had wasn't why the fish were hanging at the surface. They're still doing it. The oxygen is at saturation and everything seems fine otherwise. My one comet who had growths on his head for a year and was laying around popped out of the plants when I was in there today; he was dead. He is the only fish to have died since they've acted strange. Half of my pond is basically open water and yet it's totally clear. I think it's the water celery that's taken over the entire falls area. It's a super filter. I can't see any rocks or anything through it. I can tell it's about to crash (die back and seed) since it's starting to yellow. Then what?

I checked the ph of my tap and it shows 6.5. Quite a difference. I am suspecting that some brick that I used to set my pond plants on might be the problem. I bought some ph down to lower the ph but it is for aquariums. It was all I could find. Instructions say 1 drop per gallon. I added 50 drops to the pond over the weekend. My pond is 100 gal. I was afraid to follow the package instructions for fear that it would change it to much to fast. It didn't change the ph very much so I will have to add more. I broke the darn beaker that comes with the ph test kit so I couldn't check in the am. I will have to find something else to use. My husband suggested that I let the garden hose run in the pond at a trickle to "flush" the pond to start over, is that a good idea?

I've used bricks (aged outside for almost 30 years though) in my pond to set pots on and never seemed to have a problem (as opposed to cinder blocks which are a problem). My 153 gallon is my "brick pond" as it's got probably 100 bricks around the edge that are sitting in the water. To test if your bricks do cause problems, fill a bucket with tap water. Test the pH. Add a brick. Wait a day. Test the pH. Repeat for a few days. If it goes up a lot, then it's the bricks. Some bricks may leach more than others. If you're not sure, remove the bricks for now until you can test them.

pH down for aquariums and ponds is the same thing, sulfuric acid. It's just more concentrated in the pond version so you don't have to add as much to get a pH change.

I wouldn't change more than 50% of the water. If you do, be sure to add dechlorinator in you have chlorine/chloramine in your water. Also, if the pH changes too much too fast, it will shock the fish. Daily water changes for a few days of say 10% would be safer. If the pH down is working, you don't need to do the water changes. Once your pond's pH is down below 8, don't add any more pH down but monitor the pH to see if it continues to go back up. Always test the pH at the same time of the day as the pH is usually lower in the morning especially if you have a lot of plants or algae.

Ok, I feel a little better now that I understand what I need to do. I think that I will try more of the ph down first like you suggest before changing any water and test the bricks at the same time. I don't have anything else to put my plants on right now or I would just remove them.

Thanks Robyn :D

I have added a total of 200 drops of ph down to my pond since Saturday (and the ph has not dropped. The instructions say 1 drop per gallon for an aquarium so for a 100 gal pond that would be 100 drops. Should I up the number of drops that I would add to the pond tomorrow to 200 to see if I get a change?

I did take one of my bricks and put it in a bucket of water so I can test the ph. Now I wait, wait, wait :rolleyes:

I have some shale rocks that my pond spitter sits on. My husband told me tonight that he thinks the rocks contain limestone. Does limestone affect ph?

Continue to add the recommended dosage (100 drops) once a day after testing the pH. Once the pH is 8 or below on your daily pH testing, then don't add any more pH down.

If there is limestone in contact with the pond, that will absolutely leach and raise the pH. How much is in contact with the pond? Can you test a piece of that in a bucket as you're doing with the bricks?

The rock (limestone?) is submerged in the pond. If you look at the picture of my pond you would see that the frog spitter is sitting on top of the stack of rock that that my contain the limestone. I think I may have another piece of this rock on the property that I can test. If not then I will remove one from the pond.
I guess I was hoping that the stone wasn't the problem....

It is good though that you have something to test. Once you do the bucket test and monitor the pH in there, you will know if either the bricks or rocks are contributing to the problem. It would help if you could put in brand new versions of the bricks and rocks when they are the most leachy. Once aged, they don't leach as much. You should monitor the buckets' pH's for at least a week to see if they go up and how much.

I checked the ph of the bucket that has the brick and it is up. When I first put the (new) brick in the bucket on Monday, I checked the ph and it was 6.5. I checked it again tonight and it was about 8.5 so it leached out what I think is quite a bit. I did get one of the (new) rocks and put it in a bucket to test. I will see tomorrow if I have any changes there.

That is quite a change.

I forgot to mention, before measuring the initial pH of the tap water without anything in it, aerate the water. Tap and well water both usually have some compressed carbon dioxide in it like a minor soda pop. Once that gas is driven off, the pH will go up. The carbon dioxide dissolved in the water like in soda creates carbonic acid. Once the water is aerated, it's gone and the pH may be 0.5 to 1 pH points higher. You can still test this by filling up yet another bucket and measuring the pH right away. Then, put in an air stone for a few hours and test again. Or, better yet, aerate for a day or even just let it sit with nothing in there. The change shouldn't be too much. My well water goes from about pH 6.5 to 7 once aerated.

To go from a pH of 6.5 to 8.5 in just a few days does sound like the bricks are leaching. Perhaps my bricks aren't a big problem because, as I said, they've been outside since our house was built in 1977. Thirty years of rain has flushed them out pretty well.

The ph of the test bucket with the new brick was 9.0 yesterday. I took that brick out of the bucket since it had "pegged" the test chart and then took out a brick that had been in the pond and put it in the about 6.5 starting out. I checked it this morning and it tested about 7.5. I tested again tonight and it tested 8.5. I took all the bricks out of the pond. I just couldn't stand it anymore. Adding ph down every day and not seeing any change. I think that the bricks were my problem. I got to looking at how they are made and they are not made of clay, they are made of cement :rolleyes: Maybe if mine sit around in the rain for 30 years like yours has Robyn then they may not leach. All I know is that I will sleep better tonight.

I checked the ph in the test bucket that had the rock in it yesterday and it was at 7.5. I checked it again today and it has not changed at all. My guess is that they don't contain very much if any limestone. I hope that the stay at the same ph level b/c I really liked how they looked in the pond.

Hey Robyn,
Can I add muratic acid to my pond to reduce the ph? I've got a gallon of it that I used to clean some morter off some bricks. Is that type of acid the same as 'ph down' cause if it is, it's about 1/10 of the cost of 'ph down'
cf

It sounds like your bricks were really mini cinder blocks in disguise. I'm glad that you've found the source of the problem! Things should get better now.

Muriatic acid is hydrochloric acid (HCl). For some reason, pool people call it that. The acid in pH down is sulfuric acid (H3SO4) which is a stronger acid. If your muriatic acid contains nothing else but HCl and water, then you can use it to reduce the pH of your pond. You don't want to add too much and lower the pH too much so start with only a tiny bit. It would help to know the concentration. It is probably safe enough to start with half a cup of it per 1000 gallons unless it's nearly 100% acid. In that case, I'm not sure; maybe try 1/4 of a cup per 1000 gallons. Mix that in a bucket of water and add it equally around the pond. Test the pH before you add it and again in 24 hours. Repeat if needed. Hopefully, the pH will go down slowly.

All the testing that I have now done on the rock and brick is completed. The bricks (made of cement) were the problem for sure. The ph in the test bucket with the rock didn't change from the 7.5. I did have a problem getting the ph in the pond down below 9.0 after the bricks were removed. I purchased Beckett ph lower, and used 1 capful (5mil) and the next morning the ph tested at 7.5!! I then tested again that evening and the level was about 9.0 so I added another capful. The instructions say 1 capful per 25 gallons so I am not adding much to get the change. I never did get a change with the ph down for aquariums. On a sad note, I found one of my fish dead. When I looked at the dead fish I saw red dots on the body that looked like broken blood vessels :unsure: So far the other fish seem to be doing fine. That evening I started with the ph lower. The water does seem to be a little clearer. Less of the long string type algae. Things are looking up!

I'm sorry that you lost a fish. The visible blood vessels are common with fish that are sick or stressed. It's called septicemia but does not always mean there is bacteria in the blood but that the blood vessels are obvious. It is often due to water quality issues so all the water pH changes may be a factor. I'm glad the pH is starting to come down. If it goes down and then back up, it may mean that there's still things in the pond that are buffering the pH up. If the bricks are gone, I'm not sure what that might be. Keep in mind that the pH of a pond at dawn will be lower than at dusk due to the natural fluctuations caused by plants and algae. At night, plants release carbon dioxide which puts carbonic acid into the water and lowers the pH. During the day, they use carbon dioxide, and the pH goes up. For comparitive purposes, test the water at the same time each day.

Thank you for your sympathy. It is much appreciated :)

Your reply makes me think of a couple of questions.

If the ph levels are different at dawn and dusk then which reading should be used to make the ph adjustments?

Would the fertilizer that I am using for my lilly be contributing to the higher ph level?

I can't think of anything else in the pond that would be raising the levels. All the bricks are gone and I only have the filter, pond hose from the pump to the spitter, rocks that have been tested, plants in plastic pots (the kind you get from the nursery) with weed block fabric and pea gravel inside. I guess I will have to take a closer look....

I use the evening pH measurement because that's when it's the most high. Since I don't bother to continue to adjust the pH down once it's at 8, it's not likely that it would be below 7 at dawn. I suggest testing your water both at dawn and dusk to see how different the readings are. If they're close, just be consistent as to what time of the day that you use. Ponds with more algae and submerged plants will have a larger pH swing. My pond has little of either so it doesn't change pH that much.

I don't know what's in your fertilizer but in general, there's so little of that added, that it usually has little effect. If you want, you can do a bucket test with the fertilizer as well. I assume it's a pill sort of fertilizer and not liquid?

You might want to test your pea gravel. It should be fine but you never know. I thought your bricks would be fine because mine seem to be.

The fertilizer is the big horse pill type that you stick down into the pot. I will have to dig out the test buckets and start up my outside lab again to test that pea gravel :)

I am finding that the morning ph is right at 7.5 and the evening is between 8.0 to 8.5 so far. Almost all of the string type algae is gone. The pond does look much better.

Thanks for all your help Robyn, you sure know a lot!