jeff, when you come visit next, the four of us will be standing over my beleaguered low water level weedy pond, after about the third beer, you can pipe up and say "hey dave, you REALLY need a new well up there above the pond"
by all means, lets get back on track here
actually, i believe the true meaning of this thread is 1) to celebrate the birth of a west coast BG pond, and 2) a place for DIED to post whatever the heck he wants to (within the family-friendly, albeit not necessarily PC confines of the web site of course). the pic that still haunts me is the one (i think heybud) posted of the gal with three....ummm...pectoral protrusions...wow!
that said, thanks for the rec's bruce. i'm acutally aware of the misgivings of pH measurements, but am fairly comfortable using the values for comparison purposes. my sampling protocol remains the same for all measurements which have all been taken at roughly the same time of day, after lunch (when i'm home). electrical conductivity (EC) and total dissolved solids (TDS) have tracked perfectly with the pH measurements (although maybe this is because EC and TDS change alot during the day too, but i think these are more stable parameters than pH). i averaged out some of the variability by averaging together readings from all portions of the pond whether in the shade or in the sun. and i calibrate the meter before each use to known standards. i believe the trends to be accurate for the general condition of the pond...but i believe in santa claus too, so... :rolleyes:
