Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Water chemistry .25 ppm Ammonia, concern?

Thanks for the link QA.
The "perfect storm" has occured in my BOW.
All the following have contributed to the ammonia buildup.

- Little to no rain in over a month.
- PH is at a record high. (7.6 +/-)
- feeding heavier than ever before
- high temps
- high biomass

I (incorrectly) thought that aeration helped with ammonia buildup.
The pond has always struggled with low PH due to excessive watershed, but this drought has allowed it to "percolate".
Definitely a learning moment for me.

My first clue was lethargic acting fish.
Just to pass along my newfound knowledge, ponds with low PH rarely have ammonia buildup issues. This is probably why I have never had this problem before.

On a positive note, I'm seeing what I *suspect* is a slight alge bloom. This will be the first time in 15 years this BOW has had anything close to a bloom. The low PH, combined with turbid water have never allowed it to be what I would call fertile.

I am crossing my fingers for rain.
Crazy that I would add thousands of lbs of ag lime to raise the PH...Then when it gets
To the ideal level, I want to lower it again!