QA, I am hoping some others chime in but your late afternoon surface readings seem (IMHO) to be indicating lower than they probably actually are. These readings of surface water should be near saturation IHMO (saturation would be about 8.4). Are you confident in the instrument's calibration?
With regard to muck, I don't think you have much ... if any ... though the mud may well be very soft and hydrated on bottom. My son found a crayfish on fishing trip about 3 weeks ago and took it home for his aquarium. Quite remarkable the clean up it has done in such a short amount of time even recycling fish waste. I would have never guessed they could make use of that kind of food but it has grown noticeably and has already molted. We have supplemented his diet with a very small chunk of hotdog every 2 or 3 days ... so he has had some meat too. I mention the crayfish shredding activity only to highlight that they effectively recycle detritus and thatmuck will be slow to accumulate because of them.
Thinning the crawdads appears to be making a big difference on your water clarity.
Last edited by jpsdad; 09/20/19 06:13 PM.
