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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 32
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OP
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 32 |
Anyone know who carries/delivers Ag Lime or a substitute near Baton Rouge, LA?
My pH is low ~6.8. My pond is between 1/2 and 3/4 acre. The water is very muddy. I sticked the pond late summer last year with HBG, this spring with FHM. When the pond was nearly 3/4 full I put in ~100 lbs of regular lime and it cleared the water up and raised the pH to about 8 but as I guessed, this did not last long.
My fish are stressing and a high percentage of them have red sore disease. I am still waiting on the Farm Service Agent to come by and help but in the mean time I am trying to line up the Ag Lime.
Mook
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 201
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 201 |
Most any Garden supply or Farm supply should carry ag lime.
Why do you want to raise the pH? 6.8 is about normal for a 'woodland' pond.
What has probably stressed your fish is the abrupt and quite large change in pH. The use of "regular" lime may also have contributed. What is the Alkalinity level of the pond?
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,474 Likes: 264
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Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Posts: 21,474 Likes: 264 |
In a pond with less than 200 ppm alkalinity I have never heard of a negative consequence to adding ag lime. The higher the alkalinity up to and above 200 ppm the less daily ph fluctuation and the less stress on fish. https://srac.tamu.edu/index.cfm/event/getFactSheet/whichfactsheet/112/Fish and other vertebrates have an average blood pH of 7.4. Fish blood comes into close contact with water (1- or 2-cell separation) as it passes through the blood vessels of the gills and skin. A desirable range for pond water pH would be close to that of fish blood (i.e., 7.0 to 8.0). Fish may become stressed and die if the pH drops below 5 (e.g., acidic runoff) or rises above 10 (e.g., low alkalinity combined with intense photosynthesis by dense algal blooms – phytoplankton or filamentous algae). A desirable range of total alkalinity for fish culture is between 75 and 200 mg/L CaCO3
Last edited by ewest; 05/17/11 10:17 AM.
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 32
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OP
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 32 |
I am not patient enough to wait on the Farm Service rep - about to head to the pond and collect samples to have analyzed - what tests should I have performed except pH and alkalinity? I did the pH with a pH stick and I know that is not very accurate so I am going to get whatever tests I need run at a local lab. The pond is not a woodland pond - it has some pasture runoff but is mostly open without trees very close.
Also, I do have an aerator for this pond going since it was 3/4 full. I had a huge algae bloom in the begining possible due to high nutrient level from runoff or muck from previous pond. My guess is the crash of this bloom did not help either.
If I can get a list of test to have done, I will post the results for all you experts to ponder.
Mook
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 32
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OP
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 32 |
OK, the results are in and I was hoping that one of you many experts could give me some ideas on what to do next.
I am in south Louisiana with a pond between 1/2 and 3/4 acre. The soil is relatively fat clay. The pond has average depth of about 8-9 feet. It is about 4-6 feet on the shallow end and it slopes down to 12-15 feet. It is about 100 yards long and has 2 sets of aerators going (since pond finished filling about a year ago). Since the filling we have had quite a drought and the pond is about 1.5 feet low.
The pond is still very muddy and has gone through quite a transition over the last year. It started to clear up and then it had a big bloom. It still has a little FA along the sides but I think the bloom crashed over the winter.
I have HBG,RES and FM so far but I noticed that a very high perctage of the HBG have red sore disease so that is why I ran the tests. I am hoping there is something that I can do to clear up the water and make the fish happier/healthy at the same time. I wanted to add LMB soon but not until I get everything right and healthy first.
The neighbor has a pond about 1/3 the size of mine and he added gypsum a few weeks ago and his seems to be clearing up a bit.
Below are the test results: Ca - 11.6 mg/L Cu - ND Hardness - 42.4 mg/L Mg - 3.27 mg/L K - 2.56 mg/L Na - 4.83 mg/L Zn - ND Specific Conductance - 115 umhos/cm Ammonia - 0.43 mg/L-N BOD - ND Chloride - 5.5 mg/L DO - 7.66 mg/L Fecal Coliform - ND Nitrate - 0.032 mg/L-N Nitrite - 0.022 mg/L-N Sulfate - ND Sulfide - ND Total Alkalinity - 39.7 mg/L CaCO3 pH 7.16
Any and all thoughts, suggestions are welcome.
Mook
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 32
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OP
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 32 |
Yes, the diffusers are on the bottom. Very good reading about the Alum etc - looks like I am going to have some fun chemistry tests to run - I did not see anything about pH bufferring (with Lime I assume) should this coincide with the Alum application? This pic is an aerial of my pond from 2010 that shows the diffusers. The diffusers are two per pad in two locations - one in about 14-15 feet and the other in about 6-8 feet. Thanks for the input! Mook
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,474 Likes: 264
Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Posts: 21,474 Likes: 264 |
Try moving the diffusers off the bottom a couple of feet and/or place them in tubs so as to reduce the circulation of clay. Threads here on the topic.
Yes if you go the alum route you will need to use hydrated lime to offset the effect. Threads also here on the subject.
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 32
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OP
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 32 |
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Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,474 Likes: 264
Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
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Moderator Hall of Fame 2014 Lunker
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 21,474 Likes: 264 |
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