How much baking Soda to add to raise PH?

[An Ly]

a friend of mine has a 1000g pond, ask me to test his water quality, since he notice his ochiba is lethargic and resting on bottom of ponds, not coming up to eat like the rest of the fish. When I tested the PH, it was around 6.2, all the rest of the other test, like ammonia,nitrite,nitrate were fine "0" reading. Was thinking of putting in some baking Soda to raise his ph, but not sure how much to put in. Anyone can let me know how much of the baking soda to put in, to make sure this is the baking soda we put in refrigerator to keep frig. fresh right? thanks any suggestion or advice is apprecited. thanks inadvance

[saratogatan]

Yes, that is the baking soda. However, you should not be adding baking soda for PH. Test KH. KH will help prevent PH swing, which could be
bad/deadly.

I will say net the koi and take a good look to see if it is suffering from parasites attack, illness or wound. ALso check the slime coat while you are at it.

If you really want to add baking soda, get a KH measuring kit. mix 1/2 pound of baking soda, add it to the pond, then measure the KH again. repeat if needed.

You can also use plaster of Paris. I have used both, both worked well.

stan

[MikeM]

Before adding baking soda, etc., a thorough review of the pond's systems is needed. What is the pH of the source water? How often are water changes performed? ... & how much? Is pH fluctuating from early morning to midday? What is KH level? What is total hardness? AND do not make any sudden changes in pH. It should be gradual to minimize stress.

BTW, I suspect your friend is dealing with relatively soft water with minimal or no water changes. If that is true, then a series of water changes over a period of a week can get your friend's water in shape. Start 10% day one, 15% day two, 20% day three, 25% day 4 and each day thereafter until pond tests same as source water for KH, total hardness and pH. Then need to address ways to buffer the water if low in KH... like oyster shell.

[An Ly]

thanks all, just got back from the local pond shop, we took the ochiba and another fish he had in the pond just to make sure the fish are free of parasite, it turns out that the pond gentlemen did some scraping and saw some parasites on both fish. Not sure what the name of the parasite is but he showed it to us, it was round and had cilia all around it, so his suggestion was to treat the whole pond. he recommend Proform C, for the treatment, with 50% water change and treat for three consecutive days. we were surprise that he has this bugs, had not bought any new fish for over a year and has no plants, just surprise that his kois were infected with it, Scary, now I have to go and have my koi check out as well just to be save. Oh well, in trying to fix PH, we stumbled upon another problem, so now pH issue is not priority but getting rid of the parasites, and in doing so with the water changes hopefully it will take care of his PH. Men, this Koi business is hard work, taking care of pond,koi, filter ect. but it is rewarding after a hard day at work to go home and enjoy the peace and tranqulity of hearing waterfall and beautiful fish swim away, takes stress away. anyway thanks all for help, stan and mike.
AN

[saratogatan]

ProformC is good for the bug. However, I wil go with QUickCure MGF, which is a lot cheaper.
Before you dose the pond, l like to ask you about the pond water, do you see debris in the pond ? how much ? do you see foam on the water surface ? I am trying to guess the desolved Organic (DOC) in the pond.

Doing 50% change is good, do it before the first dose, and be a litle stringent on the dechlorinator. The dechro wil consume Formalin, making ProformC not as effective.

treat 3 consecutive day, skip 4th day, dose the 5th day. scope the koi, you may need another doses the 7th and 9th day.

stan

[An Ly]

hi Stan, thanks for your help, his ponds looks very clear, no debris, no foams, very nice and clean, with a nice thick algea growing on the side wall of his liner. He bought the Proform C already at the pond shop, he is currently doing 50% water change, I will let him know about the declor. making formalin less effective. Hey Stan thanks for your Help. Hope to talk to you in the near future.
An

[Steve Nguyen]

if the fish is on the bottom and not joining the rest of the gang, it's a good indication that the fish is sick.

Steve