Water quality is a very important factor in the health and well being of your fish and pond’s ecosystem. Most every problem with a pond, from green water to sick fish, can be traced back to the water quality. Testing the pond’s water on a regular basis, at least weekly on an established pond, will keep you on top of any changes that could cause problems. A new pond should be tested at least every other day until it has cycled. A new pond can take up to 4-6 weeks to fully cycle. Keep a log each time that you test the water of the test dates and test results. You can refer to the log and keep track of any changes in the water quality. This information can be very helpful should a problem arise.

The test kits that you should keep on hand are Ammonia, Nitrite, KH, PH, and Salt. The liquid drop style tests are the most accurate. Use the information included in the test kits only for directions on how to do the test. I have found that some of the recommended so-called “safe” levels in the information are not necessarily accurate. Nor are most of the recommended solutions accurate. What I have written below comes from years of study and hands on experience. You will find listed the water tests that should be done, what level each test should be, and what steps to take if the level is not where it should be.

Ammonia- There should be 0 ammonia level in the water.

    Ammonia is a toxin that is excreted by the fish through their gills, wastes, decaying plants, and excess fish food. Ammonia will burn the fish’s skin, gills, and cause stress to the fish. Think of it this way, if there is ammonia present in the water it’s just like swimming around in a septic tank full of pee. New ponds will have an ammonia spike during the cycling period. Any time that ammonia is detected in the water, steps must be taken to protect the fish.

· Decrease or stop feeding the fish.

· Increase aeration.

· Perform water changes of about 20% daily until ammonia level drops.

· Add an ammonia binder such as Ammo Lock2 or Amquel to bind the ammonia making it less toxic to the fish.

· Add beneficial bacteria, which eat up the ammonia. Products like Microbe Lift, Ki Nitrifier, and Crystal Clear contain live beneficial bacteria that will boost your bio filtration.

· Add salt to the water at a rate of 1 pound of salt per 100 gallons of water. Salt will help reduce stress, adds electrolytes back that the fish have lost due to the stress, and helps stimulate the fish’s slime coat.

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    Beneficial bacteria, during the Nitrogen Cycle, convert ammonia to Nitrite. Nitrite is also toxic to fish as it causes “Brown Blood” disease. Nitrite mixes with the blood cells of the fish making it impossible for the blood cell to get oxygen. In essence, the fish will suffocate. Any time that nitrite is detected steps must be taken to protect the fish.

· Decrease or stop feeding the fish.

· Increase aeration.

· Add a Nitrite binder such as Pond Prime to bind the nitrite making it less toxic to the fish.

· Add beneficial bacteria, which eat up the ammonia. Products like Microbe Lift, Ki Nitrifier, and Crystal Clear contain live beneficial bacteria that will boost your bio filtration.

· Add salt to the water at a rate of 1 pound of salt per 100 gallons of water. Salt will help reduce stress, adds electrolytes back that the fish have lost due to the stress, and helps stimulate the fish’s slime coat.

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    KH (Carbonate Hardness)/Total Alkalinity is what stabilizes the pond. Carbonate Hardness and Total Alkalinity (TA) are two names that are the same thing. The carbonate hardness level is the amount of bi-carbonates that are in the water. In other words, bi-carbonates what stabilizes (buffers) the water. The carbonate hardness of your water is not the same thing as having hard or soft water. So, please don’t confuse the two.

    Correct Carbonate levels keep the ph stable. The ph will not change throughout the 24-hour period of a day. Correct carbonate levels keep the ph from crashing, and helps the beneficial bacteria to do their job of removing toxins from the water.

    Beneficial bacteria use carbonates from the water. How quickly carbonates are depleted from the water is different in each pond. By testing regularly, you will know when to add a buffer back to the water.

    Checking the KH level in a pond is actually more important than checking the PH. If the carbonate level is correct in a pond, then the PH level will be just fine. Total Alkalinity should be no less than 80 parts-per-million (ppm). Preferably the level should be 120 ppm for regular filtration systems, and at least 150 ppm for bead filtration. If the Carbonate level is less than 80ppm, steps should be taken to raise the level. *(a word of caution here-raising the carbonate level with unbound ammonia present in the water, will cause the ammonia to be much more toxic to the fish than it already is) Adding a buffer to the pond water such as CCW’s Pond Buffer, or Crystal Clear’s Buffer will bring the carbonate level up to where it should be.

    Yep, you heard me correctly! Ph is okay at any level as long as it is stable. Folks do more harm than good when fiddlin’ with the ph, using chemicals to increase or decrease the ph to what it is “supposed” to be. This stresses the fish making them vulnerable to pathogens and parasites that are always present in the water.

    This is where the KH is actually more important. Pond water that is at the correct carbonate hardness level will have a stable ph of around 8.4. Testing the ph can be used as an indicator to depleting carbonate hardness. If the ph tests at less than 8.4, then you know that the carbonates are being used up. A KH level test should then be done to know how much the carbonate level has dropped, in order to determine how much buffer should be added.

    In normal conditions, the salinity level of the pond water should be zero. There are times when salt should be used, and having a Salinity Test kit is a must. Salt is used when fish are stressed, and as a medication when parasites are present.

    A salinity level of 0.1% is a great level for fish under stress. This level will stimulate the production of their slime coat, help to decrease the intake of toxic Nitrites, and add back electrolytes that are lost due to stress.

    A salinity level of 0.3% - 0.6% is used when parasites are detected. Instead of using harsh chemicals that will destroy your beneficial bacteria, which will cause water quality problems, reach for the salt. Seven out of nine parasites can be eradicated by simply adding salt.

    When the desired salinity level is reached, leave it at that level for 2-3 weeks. To remove the salt from the water, perform partial water changes (approximately 20%) every few days until the Salinity test shows no more salt. Remember, salt does not evaporate from the water it must be removed through water changes.

    A quick note on the chart that is included in the Salinity Test kit, the chart only goes as high as 24 drops. Which would be 0.24%. For salinity levels that are higher than that, you would just keep adding drops (and counting the drops) until the color changes. When the color changes, the number of drops of solution that you have added is the salinity level. For example, 35 drops would equal to 0.35% salinity.

1. 0.1% Salinity- For ponds, add salt at a rate of one pound of salt per 100 gallons of water. For tanks/aquariums, add one teaspoon of salt per gallon of water every day for three days.

2. 0.3% Salinity- For ponds, add salt at a rate of one pound of salt per 100 gallons of water every day for three days. For tanks/aquariums, add one teaspoon of salt per gallon of water every day for three days.

Just in case you haven’t figured it out yet, one pound of salt per 100 gallons or 1 teaspoon per gallon, is the equivalent of 0.1%. Two pounds per 100 gallons or 2 teaspoons per gallon = 0.2%, and so on.

There are other tests that can be done when necessary, but the above listed tests are the most important tests that should be done on a regular basis.

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