"Lee Brouillet" wrote in message
...
Gee, thanks Nedra.

BV, how much rain do you get? Normally, I mean. Around here, we get a
lot -
and it's usually acid. I keep my KH high because I have a bead filter and
a
lot of rain. If you can keep the KH more or less in the 150 range, you
will
have the buffering needed to keep your pH stable, even during the acid
rain
deluges. If you had a bead filter, you'd have to keep it above 200 . . .
Biobugs like the higher KH and replicate themselves better and work
harder,
so it's good for the filter. The fish like it, because it stabilizes the
pH,
no wild swings AM/PM. You will end up - even heavily planted - at about
8.2
AM and 8.4 PM, and the water has no choice but to be there. Once you get
the
KH where you need it, you only need to test the water and replenish the
baking soda when you get heavy rains or do a major water change, or as the
filter uses up the baking soda, etc. And for you color-challenged males,
you
won't have to worry about what "shade" the pH test kit is. KH test kits
are
unmistakeable.

As far as what test kits you need, well you need one for ammonia (the 2
part
kind, not the Nessler's. BTW [for others reading this post], the 1-part
Nessler's is not long for the market: the EPA has targeted it because of
the
mercury used in the testing) If your water supply has chloramines and you
use a water conditioner to address that, then the 1-part ammonia test will
give you a false positive; nitrIte, but if you don't have ammonia then you
usually won't have a reading for nitrIte. NitrAte is a good test to have,
because it will tell you how much ammonia/nitrIte has been processed. pH
and
KH tests. Salt test (not one of those hydrometers they sell at pet stores
for reef aquariums - salt water tanks use salt in the X. range, and ponds
use salt in the .X range). A GH test is nice to have.

In the beginning, you need to test regularly to establish what is normal
for
your pond and to determine when it's settled in. After that, you only need
to test after you've done water changes, or if something seems "off".
Under
normal circumstances, I check full water parameters weekly. If something
seems "off", I test daily to establish trends. If I may make a
suggestion,
there is something on the market called AmmoniaAlert; it's a card made by
SeaChem and costs about $6 or so. You can chuck one of those in your
filter,
and then you only need to glance at it to see if there's ammonia present
or
not. It's compatible with the chloramine neutralizers, and won't give a
false reading. It lasts about a year, then you can replace it (or just buy
the little dot). Then the only thing you need to test is the KH.

If you need more clarification, let me know.

Lee
Well done.