KH n PH

[koiczar]

[

Do I dare say I might then be DONE building my ponds? Oooooo, the thought of it all!!!

Sue[/quote]

Sue

Careful what you wish for!!!!!

Mike

[j_iwanto]

Hi,

Have anyone here used Baking soda(sodium bicarbonate) to increase their KH... Can anyone enlightened me, if there is any side effect or danger to the kois?

Cheers, Pau

[KoiCop]

Originally Posted by j_iwanto

Have anyone here used Baking soda(sodium bicarbonate) to increase their KH... Can anyone enlightened me, if there is any side effect or danger to the kois?

Pau . . .

Why would you wish to increase it from the 9 drops you mentioned earlier?

[PapaBear]

You haven't really told us anything about your pond, fish, or filters other than the fact that you aren't confident in what you have. For us to give advice it is a bit like a doctor telling a patient how large a bandaid to put on a wound he's never seen.
Fill in the blanks. How large is your pond? What kind of filtration do you have? Do you have bottom drains, skimmers, etc...? How much water is your pump moving? How many fish do you have and how large are they?
As to the general gist of your questions...
Yes, Baking Soda works for raising kh, with no ill effects to Koi health.
Baking Soda will stabilize your ph around 8.3 when properly dosed, so it will not help you lower your ph to 7.5.
Coral, Oyster Shell, Lithaqua, are slow release kh sources that many ponders (myself included) use in their filtration systems. They are beneficial for filtration, but have little influence on kh or ph pond wide. They do their work in the filters.
Your kh is a little bit on the low side at 89, but more than adequate if you do proper water changes regularly.
Now. It is your turn to tell us what you have so we can help you achieve your goals reasonably.

[j_iwanto]

Originally Posted by KoiCop

Pau . . .

Why would you wish to increase it from the 9 drops you mentioned earlier?

A bit confused, the 9 drops is GH... IF I add the baking soda, that would increase the KH (Which mine is a bit low at 89), which is fine right?

Hi Papa Bear,

My pond is about 6.000 gallon, my filter consist of vortex and chambers(consist of 6), which is about 2.200 gallon, my filter consist of all bio-balls. Currently I only have 2 fish in it, one 65 and the other is 58cm. I have 3 pumps, 3 150w tsurumi (not sure how much water it moves )... A waterfall with bioballs inside it too, a bottom drain as well. I don't have a skimmer, but there is a top overflow where the top layer of the water goes to the filter as well.

[KoiCop]

Originally Posted by j_iwanto

A bit confused, the 9 drops is GH... IF I add the baking soda, that would increase the KH (Which mine is a bit low at 89), which is fine right?

Now I'm confused, Pau, since this was your post #12:

I just tested my KH... it takes 9 drops to turn green., 162ppm. I suppose that is moderate hardness?

Now you're saying that 9 drops is the GH reading -- not the KH reading. Is that correct?

[j_iwanto]

Now you're saying that 9 drops is the GH reading -- not the KH reading. Is that correct?[/quote]

Sorry to cause confusion, the 9 drops is for the GH reading, and the 5 drops is for the KH reading.

[moikoi]

Originally Posted by j_iwanto

Now you're saying that 9 drops is the GH reading -- not the KH reading. Is that correct?

since you only have two fish in a 6k pond.

my kh is only 71 ppm. i use to waste money on BS like adding 9 lbs after my weekly water change.

[PapaBear]

It sounds like you have modeled your pond after a traditional S.E. Asian design. Lots of ponders use them without problems and you have low stocking density which is good. Bottom line, I don't see any reason for you to add B.S.. Ordinary water changes should keep your kh level in a good operating range. That being said, there would still be some benefit to adding coral or shells to your chambers along with the bioballs.

[KoiCop]

Originally Posted by j_iwanto

. . . the 9 drops is for the GH reading, and the 5 drops is for the KH reading.

Got it. Thanks, Pau.

The way to determine whether your KH level provides sufficient buffering to your pH would be to watch how much (if any) those two readings drop between water changes. If your water changes replenish the KH sufficiently to keep the pH buffered and stable then you have enough KH and don't need BS.

Make sense?