Your pH value at 8 - 8.5 is perfect for Koi ... Fish expert is
flat wrong!

Nedra in Missouri
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Pines/4836
http://community.webshots.com/user/nedra118

"Steele family" wrote in message
...
Thanks to the suggestions given for this problem. looked at the sites
mentioned and learnt a great deal about all sorts of fish diseases!
I went along to the local garden centre/aquarium and asked for advice too.
I
think it is probably Carp Pox as Lee suggested. Was sold some pond salt
to
help with water improvement and hopefully, fish that become more
stress-free!
We also did a ph reading as we do now and then. It was quite highly
alkaline, about 8/8.5.
Last year we had a similar reading and my other half talked to a 'fish'
expert who said he was surprised the fish were still alive with such a
high
ph. Is this correct?
Why is our pond ph so high anyway? The pond plants have been looking
sickly
over the last year or so, never looking like other people's from what I've
seen. It's not just seasonal as in the spring when the plants should be
putting on lots of growth, they don't. Lots of sludge and weed seems to
collect around the base of the plants.
The water lilies never seem to flower well either. Only things that seem
ok
are the irises. Is that because they don't mind the ph so high?
regards,
Liz.