Oyster shells are much slower to buffer than limestone. I have
approximately 1 ton of crushed opyster shells added to my pond. I only
se a ph /kh swing after a very heavy rainfall in excess of say 6 to 8
inches and thats only if my pond is low, and i retain all the water
that fell. (my pond is filled by a ratio of 4:1, so if it rains 1" my
pond raises 4", so a rainfall of 6 inches can put what is equal to 24"
of new water into my pond, which is quite a large influx of new
water.....If it is full, the majority of the rainfall does not
interfere too much and my ph and buffering stay pretty well close to
what it normally is.......Not much I can really do in adjusting it in
my pond, so i don;t normally check it, but have played around just to
see what happens with heavy rains. I know for a fact though using my
Dissolved O2 meter O2 levels are substantially reduced with
rainfalls.......

On Sun, 05 Jun 2005 23:26:33 -0700, ~ janj JJsPond.us
wrote:

===On 5 Jun 2005 17:22:55 -0700, "mos" wrote:
===
===Yesterday the ph was 8.0 today it is 7.8 and the two remaining fish
===seem fine.
===She only had tests for ph and Ammonia. No roots or any overhangs,
===seems like all the larger fish died, I suppose the dieoff of the algae
===didn't help the 02 in the water either. Unbelievable to see that much
===algae die off literally overnight....then to loose the fish. She
===hadn't checked the pH yet this year, so we had no previous number to
===compare. Thanks for everyones help. Maureen
===
===Roy hit the nail on the head, large fish dying first, usually means low O2.
===
===I would recommend those who live in areas of much rainfall have the test to
===measure KH. Rain water has no buffering, and supplemental treatments need
===to be added unless other means are in the ponds.
===
===Okay, help me out RPers, was it limestone or crush oyster shells that was
===recommended as a slower method than baking soda to increase buffering?
=== ~ jan
===
===
=== ~Power to the Porg, Flow On!~


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