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Alkalinity

Alkalinity is the ability of water to resist (buffer) changes in pH. Alkalinity (also known as Carbonate Hardness or KH) is the measure of carbonate and bicarbonate ion concentrations.

Sources of product that can be added to the pond is ordinary baking soda, purchased at any grocer store and crushed oyster shells which can be purchased at farm supply stores, sold as chicken feed.

Ammonia

Fish live and respire, giving off ammonia through the gills as they accept oxygen. Fresh water fish also urinate constantly, in order to eliminate the water forcing its way in through simple osmosis. Other wastes, like dead plants are subject to decay, adding their substantial volume of ammonia to the water solution. More importantly, excess food also rots and produces an enormous amount of ammonia. nitrobacter bacteria

This is the lithotrophic bacteria that nature has created to reduce nitrite after it has been produced by nitrosomonas bacteria. One problem that nitrobacter have always had is that they are inhibited by the presence of ammonia in the water solution. This means that nitrobacter cannot become active in the new pond until the population of nitrosomonas bacteria has thrived enough to remove all ammonia as soon as it is produced. Until this does occur, the nitrite in the pond will simply rise in concentration while ammonia is still evident.

nitrosomonas bacteria

Nitrosomonas is the first bacteria the Nitrogen Cycle produces, to remove the organic waste product ammonia from concentrating in a pond. nitrosomonas is a lithotrophic bacteria that requires clean, hard surfaces to attach its population to. It is aerobic, requiring an adequate supply of oxygen to sustain its life cycle as well.

pH

The pH level of the water is a measurement of acidity and ranges from 0 to 14. The most important issue relating to PH levels is not necessarily the PH reading itself, but the consistency – stability of the PH. PH that “bounces” can cause your fish more problems than a PH that remains at 8.5. Fish can easily tolerate PH levels at 8.5-9.0 as long as that level remains stable and doesn’t “roam”. Test your PH both in the early morning and later that same evening to see if your PH is stable. If not, you need to add carbonates (buffering) to the pond. (see KH readings) It is commonly accepted NOT to attempt to adjust your PH down with chemical products, but instead by ensuring that the KH levels are high enough to hold the PH at an acceptable level.

Sue Emerick is a hobbyist who lives in the south suburbs of Minneapolis (Savage). She is a member of the Minnesota Water Garden Society.