Many of us have pH values around 8.4 and some as high as 9 with no effect on
the fish.

A larger pond would be helpful in many ways. More consistent water
parameters, slower swings in toxics, more room for oxygen for fish and
submerged plants. As for size, bigger is better, as big as you can afford.
Deeper is better than wider and longer. You can really add quantity of
water with a little depth, much more so than increasing surface area.

The veggie filter is very reasonable in price, just a little more liner and
some plants. One of my pond club members is growing leaf lettuce for the
table, spinach, collards, and is starting some herbs in her veggie filter.
Fewer bugs, cleaner plants, better growth are some of the benefits that she
mentioned as compared to soil grown.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html
"Pond Diver" wrote in message
news
Thanks to everyone for their quick input.

Let me clarify a few things:

1. I misstated my pH. It was OVER 8.0

2. Yes the pond got VERY warm for several days. I don't have a
thermometer
but I commented to my wife that the water felt like bath water.

3. I've got a Cyprio Bioforce 250UVC filter, pondmaster 1000 prefilter.
I
do have a filter that shoots to a water bell as well as circulates the
water.

4. I have lilies in my pond (3 pots of them). They were flourishing.
But
now seem to be holding pace and possibly dying off. The larger pads are
yellowing and the smaller ones are turning brown around the edges.

It wouldn't surprise me that my ponds are too small. I suspected there
was
a problem when the temperature shot up so quick. Unfortunately there
isn't
any real shade for the pond. Its in full sun from the dawn till dusk.

So what is the solution? A larger, and deeper pond? Maybe expand it to
750
to 1000gal range? What kind of filtration is easy on the pocket book.
I'm
going to back to school and that takes up a large portion of my budget
anymore.