Originally Posted By: Rentzlaw
Originally Posted By: DonoBBD

Phosphates are very good acids for high PH for Potassium and Calcium and I am betting this is what is in your well water. If you could lay your hands on Calcium Carbonate this is the best buffer anyone can have for water. It will bring your PH up and it will bring it down as well to sit at a PH of 7.2

Cheers Don.


Hey Don,

Just to follow up and make sure my non-chemistry mind is on the same page, are you saying to buffer the phosphates with Calcium carbonate when added or that the Calcium Carbonate will help bring PH down to 7.2.

I also understand that you are making no representation on impact to fish, more a question of how this would work. Since I live in an area where most of the impact on my pond is acidic, the basic component is the well water alone, it has a PH of right about 9. I am considering the idea of modifying my pump line to address the PH before it hits the pond so I am affecting a smaller amount of water and thus using less chemicals/minerals to do it.


Yes calcium carbonate is really the best product for your in feed water and it is very cheep. If your water has a high PH of 9 you will see it go down with calcium carbonate added.

You can find it at and ag story but you must make sure it is calcium carbonate not dolomite lime. BIG difference between the two.

Your high PH could be from the suspended cation exchange capacity of the suspended clay too. ITs just soluble to be tested by PH test strips.

Same thing as the alum grab a jar and drop in a pinch of calcium carbonate stir it up and watch what happens. Check PH with a hot tub strip too. You will see when the water flips it will all at once and it will look like snow flakes in it. Alum is very good at this but can take some time depending on how high your PH is. If it is up you may need four or five days to see any change. The alga bloom will tie up micronutrients as well and as the alga die or reproduce they will flocculate out too. This is where the muck on the bottom comes from.

Muddy waters with a high level of nutrients can be a hand full when water temps get up.

Cheers Don.

P.S. see if you can find calcite soft rock. I bet you could build a barrel that your well water can run through to help balance it before you add to your pond. See crayfish and some shrimp need calcium or a higher than neutral PH to live.

Last edited by DonoBBD; 07/02/13 08:08 AM.
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