Pond Water Testing

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I spoke with several pond owners in the last few weeks and in those visits I was reminded once again that it’s not a bad idea to test your pond water from time to time.

I have always viewed water testing to be of importance, particularly because certain elements in the water are very influential on how beneficial bacteria and other natural treatments may work. Along with that, keeping an eye on certain readings may ward off a problem (like rising ammonia levels that can be lethal to fish) and keep your pond out of trouble.

In the video below we offer tips on the most simple and affordable ways to test your water and what elements to test. The most common one’s might include pH, alkalinity, water hardness, nitrites, nitrates, and ammonia.

I’ll cover some of these in more detail in upcoming videos, for now, enjoy the video tips below where we get our discussion on water testing off and running.

[youtube width=”425″ height=”355″]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Rp9Vb940c4&feature=youtube_gdata[/youtube]

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5 thoughts on “Pond Water Testing”

  1. Hi Mark,

    Just want to say, thank you for all the information that you provide for our ponds, big and small.

    While listening to this latest video, I had a thought and wondered if you have given an answer to this on your web site…. sorry, I haven’t taken the time to look yet.

    Anyway, my thought caused this question: Does the amount of salt in the pond hinder the function of the bacteria we add? And, would we need to add more bacteria depending on the amout of salt in the pond?

    I will thank you now for your answer.
    Take care, Linda

  2. Hi Linda,
    Not so much. Of course we’re dealing with fresh water and not salt water, so the amount of salt is still pretty low.

    In reasonable and what might be described as heavily diluted amounts, a bit of salt won’t be detrimental.

    Take care,
    Mark

  3. Hi, great video about testing,
    I have been testing everyday, because of problems that I had when I first set up my pond, and everything appears to be going great now.
    I bought my test strips at Walmart pet dept.
    and they are good for both salt and fresh water.
    thanks for all the great information
    take care
    Gwen & 6 gold fish

  4. Hi Mark,
    I have a 3200 gal koi pond that is hard water and a high PH of around 8.2. My lilies and floating plants are now dieing out, could it be from the high PH? How do I lower the PH and keep it there? I have a 1% salt content in it but nothing else should be effecting the plants.
    Thanks.

  5. Hi Karen,
    I would not say that 8.2 is really high on pH. It’s probably pretty normal for most ponds.

    Are you on municipal water or anything?

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