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Home: KOI Talk: Pond Water Quality:
Adjusting PH value

 





 


neutokoi
Koi Lover

Aug 15, 2006, 2:28 PM

Post #1 of 9 (1727 views)
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Adjusting PH value Can't Post
Dear all,
Recently I have problem with my well and has dig a new well, the problem is the PH of new well is much more lower than the previous one, the old one around 8, the new one is around 6.5, yesterday morning I checked the ph in the pond is 8.3, very high but the kois are all fine.
Since I am going to use the water from new well permanently, I was thinking of slowly lowering the ph in the pond with new water, anyway I think the kois will be okay with the ph value of 6.5 - 7. The question is how long should I do this, if I make 30% water changes daily, will it be too fast, or should I make 10 to 15% water changes daily, any input is appreciated.
Btw I don't plan to use any chemical to increase the ph value of the water from new well, but more on making the kois to adjust to the water with lower ph, I may need to compensate on the sumi development now.

rgds,
Edo


zoul
Member

Aug 16, 2006, 1:27 AM

Post #2 of 9 (1711 views)
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Re: [neutokoi] Adjusting PH value [In reply to] Can't Post
Dear neutokoi


Personaly i wouldn't. If you do water changes on a regular basis say 10% per week, Just stick with that. that way the water quality will remain good and the ph will lower over a longer time as it would be less shocking to the fishes system.

No rush take your time not to stress your fish.


Koi38
Senior Member


Aug 16, 2006, 7:13 AM

Post #3 of 9 (1707 views)
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Re: [neutokoi] Adjusting PH value [In reply to] Can't Post
Hi Edo,

I agree with the Zoul manWink

Koi can tolerate up to 8.5PH, weekly water change of 10% to 20% is fine. This will avoid shocking your pond environmentSmile

rgds,
Jon

"DuKu Friendly"
_____________________________________
"No one is ever too old to know better"

http://s3.photobucket.com/albums/y63/Koi38/


neutokoi
Koi Lover

Aug 16, 2006, 9:06 AM

Post #4 of 9 (1706 views)
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Re: [Koi38] Adjusting PH value [In reply to] Can't Post
Thks to cifu Jon & cifu Zoul,
I think I will just stick to my normal water change as before 10 - 15% changes twice a week and just let the ph value slowly adjusted by itself without shocking the environment, one of my koi hurt itself alreadyPirate, maybe due to different ph and water chemistry UnsureUnsure



utsuri
Koi Lover

Aug 17, 2006, 12:07 AM

Post #5 of 9 (1683 views)
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Re: [neutokoi] Adjusting PH value [In reply to] Can't Post
A suggestion about the Ph of your new water source. If the Ph is low, the well is likely to be deep. That forces the water hold high CO2 and low O2. This forces the Ph down. It has to do with the relationship of carbonic acid in the water. It is not a harmful acid. It only causes low Ph.

Try this test to see how your water change plan will work. Take a bucket of that well water. Put an airstone in it and wait a few hours. Then test the Ph. The outcome of that test will tell the true Ph value of that well water.

A word about Ph. Keeping Ph in the range you desire is really hard to do in most koi ponds. To do this the building blocks of Ph Carbonates (tested by Kh) and Calcium (tested by Gh) are likely to be really low in that water. This may cause the Ph to swing if you get any kind of algae bloom. That is dangerous for the whole system. The japanese maintain thier ponds with soft water and Ph just as you describe. That requires a lot of attention to successfully as most ponds have high stocking densities.
Ph, Gh and Kh also are very benificial for helpfull bacteria in your filter. With a Ph of 7.5 - 8.0 Gh of 80 -120 ppm and kh 80 - 120 ppm your filter will be working at its prime.
Those are the water parameters I would recommend. The factors of Gh and Kh that I have given will help to keep your Ph stable. That is the most healthy thing for your system and your koi.

I would treat that wound on that koi. If possible catch him carefully. Clean the area with paper towel unitl dry and swab with iodine or even liquid bandage. That may prevent it from getting worse. Watch for signs of fungus or ulceration on this guy.


neutokoi
Koi Lover

Aug 22, 2006, 9:19 AM

Post #6 of 9 (1636 views)
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Re: [utsuri] Adjusting PH value [In reply to] Can't Post
Hi Utsuri,
Thks for your suggestion, I will follow your suggestion to test the ph value, will update the result later.

The injured koi alse been treated with iodine and the wound is slowly recovering now and so far no sign of getting worse, thanks again for the input.

Rgds,
Edo


neutokoi
Koi Lover

Aug 30, 2006, 1:34 PM

Post #7 of 9 (1531 views)
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Re: [utsuri] Adjusting PH value [In reply to] Can't Post
Hi Utsuri,
Last weekend I performed the testing as recommended and you are right Cool, the true ph for my new well is actually 8.5 instead of 6.5. Luckily that last time I didn't try anything stupid to increase the ph. Angelic

What I did for testing:
- Measure the new water => ph = 6.5
- Measure the ph of the water from the pond => 8.2
- get some new water and put airstone in it for 15 minutes => the ph = 8.5
- get some new water and ozonize (O3) it for 15 minutes => ph = 8.5

It means the true ph of the water is 8.5 and somehow the had adjusted it to 8.2.

Btw, when I ozonised the water, the water turn from clear into yellow (tanned), any idea what has caused this?

Thks again for your information.

Rgds,
Edo


utsuri
Koi Lover

Sep 2, 2006, 8:00 PM

Post #8 of 9 (1478 views)
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Re: [neutokoi] Adjusting PH value [In reply to] Can't Post
One thing you should keep in mind when adding well water like yours to the pond. Spray it in. That will raise the Ph as it is going into the pond. Otherwise the Ph will drastically change when you add fresh water then raise. That may stress your fish. Spraying it in will introduce that oxygen to it add will raise the Ph some before it goes in.

O3 tricky stuff. It will zap anything it comes into ciontact with and leave you with crystal clear water. The yellow may be comming form a number of sources. Lack of contact time and large compounds could be one. Preciptating Iron. hat means that something has caused any iron to preciptate out of solution. The other could have been introduced into the water by outside elements. I have never seen this happen with ozone. So not really sure. Could be that carbon should be used when ozone is applied to help remove any residuals. That is how I used it reef aquariums for years.


larz1
Koi Kichi


Sep 4, 2006, 11:14 PM

Post #9 of 9 (1453 views)
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Re: [neutokoi] Adjusting PH value [In reply to] Can't Post
It sounds like its all pretty well sorted out, except for the change in water color after ozone treatment. I would guess that a mineral of some sort oxidized and began to precipitate out. I've experienced that with water wells with high mineral content and/or steel casing or tubing. In any case, the advise to do small water changes with a surface spray is definitely the way to go no matter the wate source. It not only allows any change in ph to be minimized, it also provides good aeration at the time of the water change. Submerged filling replaces well oxygenated water with zero oxygen water. Not a very good trade off.

 
 
 



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