"Priscilla McCullough" wrote in message
...
I bought a new kit.
My readings are Amonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Total hardness 10
Total alkalinity about 60
PH is between 6.5

Priss

Hmm. Total hardness indicates that the water is very soft. It should be
in the range of 60-100 ppm. Alkalinity is low, and would indicate low pH.
Your pH measurement (6.5) bears this out. You need to slowly raise the pH
and alkalinity over time (severla days to a week) to get it up to
acceptable levels. Ideally, your alkalinity should be between 80-100 ppm
for optimum buffering capacity. There are several ways you can do this.
The best/easiest way is to slowly add sodium bicarbonate over a period of
days to slowly raise the alkalinity, which should also help raise the pH.
In addition, you should add epsom salts to keep the magnesium/calcium
levels balanced, and raise total hardness. And finally, if you can get it
in your area, I would add some limestone rocks to any waterfall (or other
area of strong water flow) you might have. The limestone will help with
the buffering capacity, and slowly add calcium and trace elements to the
water.

This will help balance the water in your pond, but it may not have a direct
or immediate affect on your algae. Frankly, I'm a little surprised that
your nitrate reading is so low. Another possible culprit for your algae
problem would be high phosphorus (phosphorus can cause algae blooms), but
considering your other readings, this may not be an issue. The only advice
I can give you is to try to get these parameters balanced out and keep them
within acceptable levels. That is not as hard as it sounds if you execise
a little diligence and patience. I have found that having limestone in my
water flow helps maintain the alkalinity, general hardness and
calcium/magnesium levels over a long period of time, which will also help
maintain a stable pH. I believe you were the one who was using water from
your water softner to use as make up water in the pond. You should bypass
this softner and use straight city water (add de-chlor), which should have
more balanced buffering capacity, have a higher general hardness, and, one
would hope, a higher pH. Test your city water before it goes into your
softner to see if this is the case. I hope this helps.