Originally posted by DWR353:
I checked the water today(has been one week/pint jar). The water is still a cloudy white color. I can see my fingers(barely) on the opposite side of the jar. Should I try alum crystals or something similar? Will the alum cause any problems with fish kills etc.? Thanks.
DWR353,
Like Bill says it depends on your alkalinity if it can buffer a potential PH crash with alum. At the bottom of this post is a link to save you some searching. It explains how to do a small scale test to see how much you will need but more than you will need using either gypsum or alum.
Here's the deal with alum vs. gypsum. If your water is not hard and your alkalinity is low I would go with the gypsum. If your water is hard chances are the gypsum won't make much difference, and you should go with the alum. If you water is hard and your alkalinity is good you have a pretty good safety net with the alum and it will work better than the gypsum. However, make sure you prevent erosion, clay coming in etc. or you will be right back where you started.
Remember if you use either alum or gypsum I would contact your nearest chemical supplier in the yellow pages and not go through a middle man. It's a lot cheaper that way.
http://agfacts.tamu.edu/D11/Calhoun/Mar/Recfish/Pondmgt/mudpond.htm
