Acalisity high

[rsramsey]

I have a problem with my pond.  It is 1000 gal.  Established 5 years ago,   In the past 10 days I have lost 20  fish 3 to 4 inch in size.  The ph is hi  and the alcalisity is hi.  Not to woried about the ph but would like to get the alcalisity down.  Any body know how to do this.     Thanks   Steve

[reddad35]

Hey there Steve,

 I am not sure how to help with the problems you are having but wanted to re-assure you you have come to the right place. I am sure you will get some great advice here. You might want to share your pond specs, like size, depth, fishload, filtration and any changes that might have happened recently. Take care and have fun.
Jim

[Missy]

I wonder about your fish load-if you've lost 20, how many did you have in there? 1,000 gallons isn't very big to have so many fish.  Have you checked the nitrites/nitrates? Maybe your fish load is too high. What is your pH reading?

[rsramsey]

Thanks Jim  for the info.   My pond is  1000 gal.  it is a plastic preformed livestock water tank,  came from Rural King Supply.    It is eight feet across and two and half feet deep.   I have a 2250 gpm pump.   I do have alote of fish in it most of them are small.    Im sure it was overloaded but did fine for so long.  Funny tho the big fish are O.K. its the smaller ones that died.    Ph is hight about 8  to  8.5 area.

[rsramsey]

Hi  Missy
I thought I had about  22 fist.  Over the last year they really multiplied.   I sure there was to many just was a shock the tweenty of them died in  just over a week.  The ones that died were all around 3 to 4 inch  in size.  Two of them were about  6 to 7  inches.

[reddad35]

Steve your alkalinity spikes can be caused from a green algea bloom. This Bloom raises the levels to its highest just before dawn. If your pond is in full sun with no plants or shade then the green bloom has its best opportunity to grow and flourish. Carbon Dioxide levels raise to their fullist in the night time when you think your pond is getting a break. The best cure for this is a Microblift type bacteria additive, shade and plants. I hope more chime in for you. Good luck.

Jim

[rsramsey]

Hi Jim,
You  seen the pond and how much sun I was getting.  So trying to get shade in it thanks to you.   Had allot of long string alge in it to,  finally got it taken care of.  Just need to get more shade on it.

[miguynmkoi]

I'm no expert but I do know what works with my pond.  I have a small koi 500 gal pond in full sun until 4 pm.  When it gets really hot (not yet) I open a large patio umbrella over it.  I have floating plants and a small bog in there.  Lots of filtering and water exchange!  Too many koi - shhh, don't tell nobody plus I don't check the water parameters, yikes! 

Never have string algae anymore since I started using the umbrella a few years ago.  Hope you find the cause for losing so many fish.