I set up my first pond about a month ago. It went through a
heavy algae bloom about two weeks in, that lasted about a
week. I set up my water filter as a pseudo veggie filter
and it cleared to the bottom within three days. I filled
the waterfall form with anacharis and fixed two small barley
bales to the front so that the water has to pass through
them before passing into the spillway. I had low ph, around
6.2 last week. I read that baking soda raises it, but
couldn't find a chart showing how much (even if I could I
have no idea what size my pond is... LOL) I put in about
1/8 cup (I THINK my pond is around 300 gallons? so I
guestimated) Within two days the ph was almost 9 so I did
some frequent small water changes and today is about 7.5.

It's nice being able to see the fish. The water was
completely green when I put them in, and it was almost two
weeks before I saw them again. Apparently a pond full of
tadpoles and diving beetles do a fish good. When I finally
could see through the water again, all previous inhabitants
were gone and the fish were noticeably larger.

My dog thinks the pond is a huge water trough just for her,
and has been drinking alot of water. Today she was grazing
on grass like a cow and threw up a couple of times. The
only things in the pond is fish, plants, a mechanical
filter, some barley bales, and that 1/8 of baking soda. Is
there anything that develops in pond water that could make
her sick?

Robin
http://community.webshots.com/user/robinandtami