Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Water chemistry What do the experts think about these test results

When Jones was here Wed, I asked him if he had anything to test the water with. He had a dip strip that had different squares on one strip that changed color and he matched them up to the cheat sheet on the bottle.

He did it twice, and we averaged the numbers. Here's what the test showed:

Nitrate 0, Hardness 75-100, Alkalinity 120, Ph 7

So, with those numbers, if I wanted to fertilize with water soluble fertilizer, how much should I use for a surface acre of water, and should I do anything else to the water?

Thanks

What is your current visibility ? Do you normally get a green bloom? It is important to point out once again that many ponds (in fact way more than half) do not need fertilizer.

From the archives - http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=96127#Post96127

If you have excessive filamentous algae you probably already have the nutrients you need. Most likely if you fertilize you will end up with even more filamentous algae. Your feeding is probably doing a good job of fertilizing the pond.

Or has the filamentous algae dissipated with warmer water temps or will it? If it does go away that would be the time to fertilize.

If I had a pond that was strictly recreational I'm not sure I'd fertilize unless the pond was brand new without any filamentous algae or macrophytes.

With my productions ponds I completely drain and dry them before refilling so that filamentous algae doesn't get too much a jump on the phytoplankton. Of course that's not practical with a recreational pond.

ewest:

I'll take a reading this afternoon. Yes, I normally have a bloom. eyeballing it I'd say there's 3'+ visibility.

Cecil:

Yup, there's a good amount of FA in the pond. To keep a bloom going last year I needed to fertilize, but this year I am feeding more. This year is drier than last year so I might have less groundwater flow thru the pond, helping it to retain nutrients.

I would go very slow if at all. No more than 1/2 lb per acre and watch. I would dissolve it in a bucket with water (1/4 lb per 5 gal bucket) and slowly pour it on the surface of the water ( try to keep it on top). That way to start it is where the plankton can use it but not down where the growing FA can use it. But this is cutting a fine line ( managing at the margin / cutting edge).

Thanks ewest. This afternoon's reading didnt' happen, I just flat ran out of time.

Tomorrow it is! I won't even think of adding anything to the pond until May 10th. I'll see what the reading is then and go from there.

I have become a fan of cottonseed meal and recently ordered 150 pounds. Al Vanderhider told me about it and Overton told him about it. It's a very gentle fertilizer that small fish actually eat some of. I will get it next week and use about 50 pounds per acre per application until the bloom appears. The Feed Store where I order it takes about 2 weeks to get it.

Dave does it impart a brown coloration to your pond at any time? I ask this because I used it a couple of years ago the pond stayed a brown coloration after use. Not sure if that was the cottonseed meal or the color of the algae bloom. I got a good crop of yellow perch that year though.

No, it didn't do anything at first. Then later, after the 2nd application, I started seeing a minor bloom. It continued into a pretty nice, controlled bloom.

pH,units 7.9
Do, 10.1
TDS,mg/L 366
Ec,0.572
NH3-N, 0.41 mg/L
Good or Bad, LOL.

That looks like an odd report. Can you post a copy of the actual report?

Having a hard time getting report on here.

If you can scan it, then you can post it as a file attachment using the file manager function right below the full reply box.

Welder's chemistry report is attached. What has the group to say about the findings? I assume there is more, but this is what he sent me so far.

That's all I got.

Still not working?

Yeah, it's working. That's how attachments show up. Adding a "picture" like this is a different process that requires you to set up an online account with a service like Photobucket or Picasa and others. Your file is a .jpg, which is essentially an image, as opposed to a text or data document.

For ponds, I generally want to see ph and alkilinity levels. So far, all I can tell is that it won't kill livestock.

The test was for livestock not pond purposes. All that I have seen require you to state for fish pond in order to be tested for your needs.

Here are a water and dirt test report fyi:

Thanks Eric. I couldn't see the whole thing.

It looks doable to me.

Asked for fish got one for cows!