utsuri
Koi Lover
Jun 15, 2006, 4:38 AM
Post #3 of 3
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Re: [Gouri] Checking water quality
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Think of testing as both diagnosing and monitoring. In a mature ecosystem, Ph and Nitrate are the only ones that need monitoring. When testing for Ph always do it the same time of day. Plants greatly change the Ph of water throughout the day. Thats the only way to get a consistent reading.
If you have a symptom of something going wrong like scratching fish, cloudy water or foam on the surface, then you need to diagnose the problem. Thats where Ammonia and nitrite come in.
There is another test that has not been mentioned. In direct relation to Ph is Kh. Kh is the waters ability to keep Ph up. It should be used as a diagnosing tool for low Ph problems.
To help you learn about what is going on, always log your results. The more you log, the more regularity you will see. Patterns will develop in your log and you can learn from them.
make notes like
8/1 added 3 koi
8/4 ammonia .25 ppm
8/8 ammonia 0 nitrite .10 ppm
8/12 ammonia 0 and nirite 0
There is a small pattern there. You added fish and the ammonia spiked to a non harmful level. Then went away and nitrite went up. Then it away and all is normal again. Now spikes cam around so you have to watch Ph until things settle down. If ph is lower than normal, diagnose with Kh test. The added bioload (more fish) may make it harder to maintain good Ph. Until everybody grows or changes are made to the pond no need to monitor those anymore. Just watch for the symptoms of arising problems.
Hope this is helpful
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