Last year I lost alot of fish..I have found out it is my water. Everytime I put fish in there they would die within minutes....after doing PH test I found out everytime I add water it woul lower my ph level to 6..When I put baking soda in water it makes it ok..I have three fish I have kept all winter...I know it is getting time and my pond needs cleaning but I am scared to put any tap water in it..I don't even drink or cook with my water..just bath in it..
so what can I do??? I don't want to kill my little fishes!
I noticed it looked like they were spawning a couple weeks ago so I don't want to kill the eggs...It has alot of leaves in it...can i just scoupe most the leaves out of it and not chage the water??Thanks for your help!
First thing is first. Give us an up to date PH test on your tap water with an accurate up to date test kit.
If in fact you have horrible tap water my first suggestion is to get an Reverse Osmosis machine for your pond. But then again, I should be asking you what size pond you have!
Where do you live?
What is the PH in your pond?
How many gallons roughly is your pond?
Can you tell me about your filtration and construction techniques used to build your pond.
Definitely remove all of the leaf debris off the bottom of your pond for starters and start adding powdered beneficial bacteria until we can get to the bottom of this.
Looking forward to helping you with your problem.
By the way we are in the middle of flipping formats on our message board so if you loose us for a day or two you will know what is going on.
Respectfully,
The Pond Digger
Thanks for you help..Not sure how many gallons of water..My pond is kidney shape about 6 feet long and 3 feet wide. it is probably 2 feet deep on one end and 3 feet at the deepest...maybe just alittle deeper..
I live in Mississippi. My pond is not a fansy one..I have had a pond in my yard for years and this is the first time I have ever had this problem..I will admit it isn't in the greatest location..too much sun..in the summer I have trouble with it getting too hot..I have to cover it...
It has been several weeks since I checked the PH but think it was 7.5..
Like I said as long as I don't add water I am ok..I am just worried about summer. it gets so dry here..Could I add water then baking soda right after with the fish still in pond??
You really need to get an accurate PH test from water out of the tap. Then we can direct it from there.
The best way for you to buffer your water would be before you add the water to the pond.
I'll wait to hear for your next test results.
Respectfully,
The Pond Digger
By The Way - we have officially flipped over to our new forum. You must of got into this old forum from an old link. Please visit our new forum at this link.
http://www.exoticwaterscapes.com/pond-forum/index.php