Koi pond water ph crash
What are the two life supporting elements in your koi pond that can be related to your home?
A home without a solid foundation will fall. Your koi pond water pH will fall without a solid foundation of carbonates (KH). Good koi care means keeping the (KH) at a safe level in your koi pond.
A safe KH (carbonate hardness) reading would be 140 to 180. Caution: You never want a KH reading of less than 100.
A fall of your koi pond water pH can stress your koi and pond fish and if pond pH drops low enough can even kill them.
A big drop in your pond pH is called a “pH crash”. Most pH crashes happen at night because your pH always drops at night.
pH is measured on a scale of 1 to 14. A reading of 7 is neutral.
Below 7 your koi pond water is “Acid”. Above 7 your koi pond water is “Alkaline”.
Koi and pond fish thrive in alkaline water. A good reading for your koi pond water pH is 7.5.
The carbonates (KH) in your koi pond determine how stable your pond water pH is. Your koi and the good bacteria in your pond filter, need and use up the carbonates in your koi pond everyday.
Without a good carbonate base in your pond water, your pond water pH will fall below 7 and your pond water will be in the “Acid” range. If your pond water pH falls way below 7 your have a “pH crash” that can be deadly. And your pond filter will fail to remove the deadly bacteria from your water.
If you are in a middle of a pH crash, you can raise the pH very quickly by adding baking soda without hurting your koi.
However, if your pond water pH drops even two points, from 8 to a 6 (pH crash) over a few hours, your koi and pond fish will become very stressed and could even die.
NOTE: A high pH in a koi pond with a high ammonia reading can be a problem, because ammonia is more toxic with a high pH.
But dropping your koi pond water pH will not solve your problem and can be deadly to your koi and pond fish. A massive water change to bring down the high ammonia reading is the answer to your high ammonia problem not a pH reducer.
For good koi care: You want a high enough reading of KH (at least 100) in your koi pond to maintain your pond water pH at 7.5 or higher between pond water changes.
If your pond water pH continues to drop below 7 you must add a buffer like Aqua Meds Buff-it-Up which contains life supporting carbonates and more to give your pond water pH a good foundation of KH.
A good solid foundation of carbonates will keep your pond water pH stable. Plus, it will protect it from a deadly pH crash.
Aqua Meds Buff-it-Up will keep your pond pH in a safe range and boost KH (carbonate hardness) in your pond water.
