OK, I can admit now...I didn't own a proper water quality test kit until
tonight. I bought one, and tested out OK, so I can freely admit that I had
not tested the water, ever, until now. Nedra, Ingrid, John, k30a...no
comments from the peanut gallery.

So here are my results:

pH: 8.5...It was not 8.0 and it was not 9.0, so I guesstimated at 8.5.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Salinity: .02

Any other tests I should own?

BV.

BV wrote Any other tests I should own?

Shhhh,
Looking out from under my lily pad...
I don't own any tests.
3,000 gallons and low stocking
is my secret.
Snapping lily pad back down.
I'm gonna get in trouble...


k30a

You mean your supposed to test your water????? Water is crystal clear,
fish are happy(I asked them), plants look happy (at least the parts
that haven't been eaten by predators) and there is just enough algae
for the fish to nibble on. ......... But I do a 25% water change
weekly and feed sparingly.

"Benign Vanilla" wrote in
message ...
OK, I can admit now...I didn't own a proper water quality test kit
until
tonight. I bought one, and tested out OK, so I can freely admit that
I had
not tested the water, ever, until now. Nedra, Ingrid, John,
k30a...no
comments from the peanut gallery.

So here are my results:

pH: 8.5...It was not 8.0 and it was not 9.0, so I guesstimated at
8.5.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Salinity: .02

Any other tests I should own?

BV.

Looks like it is going to be up to me, BV ... K30a and
Hank have already cashed in. ;-)

I would add KH to measure the hardness of the
water. Lee can explain "why" alot better than I can.... I just
run the tests on KH and usually have to add 1 lb of baking
soda for 1,000 for a series of 3 or 4 days. This buffers
the water and keeps the pH from those wild swings we hear
talked about. Keeps the pH at 8.4 solid on.

I am proud of you BV ... proud that you went out and bought
that test kit!!!

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

"Hank" wrote in message
.. .
You mean your supposed to test your water????? Water is crystal clear,
fish are happy(I asked them), plants look happy (at least the parts
that haven't been eaten by predators) and there is just enough algae
for the fish to nibble on. ......... But I do a 25% water change
weekly and feed sparingly.

"Benign Vanilla" wrote in
message ...
OK, I can admit now...I didn't own a proper water quality test kit
until
tonight. I bought one, and tested out OK, so I can freely admit that
I had
not tested the water, ever, until now. Nedra, Ingrid, John,
k30a...no
comments from the peanut gallery.

So here are my results:

pH: 8.5...It was not 8.0 and it was not 9.0, so I guesstimated at
8.5.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Salinity: .02

Any other tests I should own?

BV.

Peanuts Gallery? I resemble that remark Clay Boy!

--
_______________________________________
"The difference between 'involvement' and 'commitment' is
like an eggs-and-ham breakfast:
The chicken was 'involved' - the pig was 'committed'."

http://community.webshots.com/user/godwino

"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...
OK, I can admit now...I didn't own a proper water quality test kit until
tonight. I bought one, and tested out OK, so I can freely admit that I had
not tested the water, ever, until now. Nedra, Ingrid, John, k30a...no
comments from the peanut gallery.

So here are my results:

pH: 8.5...It was not 8.0 and it was not 9.0, so I guesstimated at 8.5.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Salinity: .02

Any other tests I should own?

BV.

"Nedra" wrote in message
arthlink.net...
Looks like it is going to be up to me, BV ... K30a and
Hank have already cashed in. ;-)

I would add KH to measure the hardness of the
water. Lee can explain "why" alot better than I can.... I just
run the tests on KH and usually have to add 1 lb of baking
soda for 1,000 for a series of 3 or 4 days. This buffers
the water and keeps the pH from those wild swings we hear
talked about. Keeps the pH at 8.4 solid on.

I am proud of you BV ... proud that you went out and bought
that test kit!!!
snip

I am not normally a tester. I have a 55gal aquarium that has run great for
years with no odd fish loss. When the alt.rec.fishtank natzi's got me guilty
about not doing water changes, and tests, etc. I started losing fish
constantly.

I know have the 55gal with just a few natural plants, because my barbs eat
everything. So a few fish, and one or two pieces of anacharis, and the
occasional watercress treat, and the tank is healthy as heck. No fish loss
in the past year or so, and I don't think I have changed the charcoal
filters in 3 months. I checked them last night, and they are still white.

So I am trying to keep the same logic on my pond. Get it rolling, and let it
roll. I bought the test kit just to be sure everything was starting off
well. BTW, my aquarium has perfect numbers as well.

KH, eh? I think my pool kit does that. I'll have to check it out.

BV.

"Just Me "Koi"" wrote in message
...
Peanuts Gallery? I resemble that remark Clay Boy!
snip

I can't argue with that.

BV.

K30a wrote:
BV wrote Any other tests I should own?

Shhhh,
Looking out from under my lily pad...
I don't own any tests.
3,000 gallons and low stocking
is my secret.
Snapping lily pad back down.
I'm gonna get in trouble...


k30a



--and I only test in the spring before the pond temp activates the
bacteria once it hits 60 i quit testing unless I see somthing that
indicates a amonia problem





John Rutz
Z5 New Mexico

never miss a good oportunity to shut up

see my pond at:

http://www.fuerjefe.com

o2, phosphate, and nitrate, and iron if you dose fert into the water column.



"Benign Vanilla" wrote in message
...
OK, I can admit now...I didn't own a proper water quality test kit until
tonight. I bought one, and tested out OK, so I can freely admit that I had
not tested the water, ever, until now. Nedra, Ingrid, John, k30a...no
comments from the peanut gallery.

So here are my results:

pH: 8.5...It was not 8.0 and it was not 9.0, so I guesstimated at 8.5.
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Salinity: .02

Any other tests I should own?

BV.

"Sam Hopkins" wrote in message
.. .
o2, phosphate, and nitrate, and iron if you dose fert into the water
column.
snip

I haven't seen these test kits in any store. Are these more of 'fancy' test
product, I'd need to get on-line?

BV.

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


"Nedra" wrote in message
arthlink.net...
Looks like it is going to be up to me, BV ... K30a and
Hank have already cashed in. ;-)

I would add KH to measure the hardness of the
water. Lee can explain "why" alot better than I can.... I just
run the tests on KH and usually have to add 1 lb of baking
soda for 1,000 for a series of 3 or 4 days. This buffers
the water and keeps the pH from those wild swings we hear
talked about. Keeps the pH at 8.4 solid on.

I am proud of you BV ... proud that you went out and bought
that test kit!!!

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

o2 and phosphate are at LFS pet stores. Iron I've never seen at an LFS.
Online they cost about $10.00 each.


"BenignVanilla" wrote in message
...
"Sam Hopkins" wrote in message
.. .
o2, phosphate, and nitrate, and iron if you dose fert into the water
column.
snip

I haven't seen these test kits in any store. Are these more of 'fancy'
test
product, I'd need to get on-line?

BV.

"Hank" writes:

You mean your supposed to test your water????? Water is crystal clear,
fish are happy(I asked them)

Mine don't talk (to me) but I can see them smile...

"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.

I think it is a good idea to test the water almost daily for ammonia and
nitrites when you first start feeding the fish. The added load on the
filter cannot be accommodated readily. As the numbers go up, the feed rate
comes down, and then as the numbers come down, the feed rate can go back up.
It is also good to have measurements immediately after a spawn. I routinely
test the pond about once a week.

As Lee said, worry about KH, not pH. I have the pH pen, that gives easy
readings, but the color charts on the test kits is hard to discern, but if
the KH is good, the pH will also be good.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html


"john rutz" wrote in message
...


K30a wrote:
BV wrote Any other tests I should own?

Shhhh,
Looking out from under my lily pad...
I don't own any tests.
3,000 gallons and low stocking
is my secret.
Snapping lily pad back down.
I'm gonna get in trouble...


k30a



--and I only test in the spring before the pond temp activates the
bacteria once it hits 60 i quit testing unless I see somthing that
indicates a amonia problem





John Rutz
Z5 New Mexico

never miss a good oportunity to shut up

see my pond at:

http://www.fuerjefe.com