Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations suspended lime??

My 2 acre pond is now 3 years old. I added 5 tons of lime within the first year and had a good bloom up until this year. The water has been stained looking this season, like something has it stirred up or like it should appear after a large rain. my old pond would get a phyto bloom of some type that would cause the water to be brown, but I am almost sure this isn't the same. I have fertilized 2 or 3 times this year and haven't had a bloom yet. Yesterday i added 5 tons of lime. we shoveled it out of the back of my dump trailer and threw it as far as we could. i was surprised as how far it seemed to float away from the edge. this morning it looks like the entire pond is the same color and way different from the dirty color i have been seeing. almost like coffee with heavy creamer. is there a chance the lime is suspnded? i never recall it taking this long for lime to settle.

One other thing, i have a good bit of fa around the edges. should i wait a while before i fertilize again? should i spray the fa? i don't want to kill a potential bloom by spraying, and i don't want to have the fa explode from fertilizing.

i have reduced feeding down from 5 times a day to 3 times a day.

i kinda feel like i should wait and see what happens from the lime. possibly bloom without more fertilizer????

What is your alkalinity ? Blooms can be brown - see link below.


I would wait a couple of days before I did anything else.


Plankton pic thread -

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Main=20172&Number=259527#Post259527

Is the pond aerated so the fertilizer and lime can mix well?

PH is funny where you can add and add and add then just add one more bucket and bang it flips and flips hard. Waiting is hard too but you should.

I personally use hydrated lime on FA that is close to shore. I use gloves and hand spread it right on the FA. It will burn it down and the calcium will tie up the nutrients when it sinks and rots down. Keeping the water temp low and treating the FA this way we have no problems with FA.

i havent checked the alkalinity yet. i will do that soon if i still have the kit.

no, i do not have aeration. the was a moderate wind yesterday that made a little chop on the water.

i just checked and i do not have anything to check alkalinity. i thought i did from my old pond. I have a kit for my aquarium for ph, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate and that's all. what is the best test for alkalinity? something i can get at a pet store?

Scott I don't know what is best. I see some on here using test strips for a pool. I went to the pet store and got an alkalinity kit that uses the test tubes and drops like your ph kit.
The one I have does hardness and alkalinity.

Hatch has some basic (inexpensive) alkalinity kits using drop count method. They test for total alkalinity.

i just got the api test kit. it says to put the drops in until the blue water turns bright yellow. im not sure where they get the "blue" water part from?? i'm guessing this won't work for pond water..

could someone send me a link to a reliable tester?

thanks

Are you sure it's not a two part test? Some of my API tests require putting two different drops for some tests. Maybe the first drops turn the water blue?

that's what i thought also. i have a set for my aquarium and several are 2 part test. this one is just one bottle of chemical.

i talked to the folks at API. it is a one chemical/solution test.. you add the drops until water turns blue. then start counting drops until it turns yellow. At first my water never turned blue, but after the lime was in there for a week the test started working. still looks like the alkalinity is real low.

how soon will the lime do its job?