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  • Page 3 of 3 FirstFirst 123
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    Thread: Nitrite spike

    1. #41
      68bruin's Avatar
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      What worked for me with new pond syndrome: some or all of return water SPLASHING down piled up lava rock (red kind)
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    2. #42
      cookc is offline Senior Member
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      Quote Originally Posted by 68bruin
      What worked for me with new pond syndrome: some or all of return water SPLASHING down piled up lava rock (red kind)
      Wow! Beautiful pond and fish. Can we see more?

      Cathy

    3. #43
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      Thank you Noahsnana, Karl, Sue, Koin-Onia, Mary, Lee, Darlene, Lynne!!!! I am so very grateful, I would have been stuck in a ammonia-binder cycle until spring without your help. Thanks for kicking my butt into gear re. the TT. I built a 4-level TT this weekend with lava rock based on Mary's design. It works great; at least it is "showering" very well at every level.

      Ammonia and nitrite were both 0 tonight, but I think that might be due to constant water changes, amquel+, etc. ph is 7.5, kh is up to 80 and has been for a couple of days. Still working on getting the kh up higher.

      68bruin, what a great idea! Your koi are beautiful. I'll try to design something similar for the permanent head-of-stream TT.

      I hope everyone down south is doing okay, and everyone in hurricane's current path.

      -Susan

    4. #44
      auntiesue is offline Koiphen Koi Health Advisor
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      Susan, adding that amount of baking soda, watch that the PH doesn't go too high to quickly!!! You're heading in the right direction. Now that the ammonia is under control raising the PH won't be such an issue, just go slowly please.

      EDIT: Lee, I will be very interested in seeing what you find when using the Prime!!! I know your test kits are more accurate.
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    5. #45
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      I'm hoping to get my good kh tester today or tomorrow. My strip tester has been stuck at 80 for the past few days, but I'll go slow, thanks.

    6. #46
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      Quote Originally Posted by auntiesue
      Susan, adding that amount of baking soda, watch that the PH doesn't go too high to quickly!!! You're heading in the right direction. Now that the ammonia is under control raising the PH won't be such an issue, just go slowly please.

      EDIT: Lee, I will be very interested in seeing what you find when using the Prime!!! I know your test kits are more accurate.
      It doesn't work. Even as suggested, you'd need 5X the "normal" dose to begin to affect nitrItes. There is a warning on the bottle that says, and I quote:

      "To detoxify nitrite in an emergency up to 5 times normal dose may be used. If temperature is >30°C (86° F) and chlorine or ammonia levels are low, use a half dose."

      Essentially, they're telling you that if your water is warm and your ammonia levels are LOW, use a half dose for ammonia/chlorine - which kinda supports my claim that it sucks the O2 out of the water. So, if you used 5X the amount to try to control the nitrItes, your oxygen levels have been reduced to, well, nada.

      Prime is expensive; having to use 5X to control nitrItes at the cost of removing all oxygen in the water - is ludicrous. Salt is cheap and readily available. Try finding a couple of gallons of Prime on a holiday weekend in an emergency situation at $60-some-odd dollars a gallon, versus a 40 lb. bag of salt at the local store for $4.00 . . . Tell me which one you'll be able to get your hands on, and which one is cheaper, and (essentially) - which one is ultimately better for your fish?

      JMHO
      Lee

    7. #47
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      The readings are holding steady at zero ammonia and nitrite, 80 kh, and 7.5 ph. My only additions since the pond stabilized (aside from a little prime when I add water) are baking soda and koi clay, but kh is not going up.

      I received my new kh tester but don't know how to read it. I'll do a search after this post. The instructions helpfully say: if color changes after 4 drops, your kh is .4, after 5, .5. Gee thanks.

      Any recommendations for when I can turn the UV light back on? It is after the bead filter and before the TT. The TT went online Sunday, 8/28. I'm thinking it should be off for at least 2 weeks; maybe I'll just leave it off until next year.

      -Susan

    8. #48
      auntiesue is offline Koiphen Koi Health Advisor
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      If you are using the "drop by drop" test kit, each drop is multiplied by 7.9 which will give you ppm. 80ppm kh isn't bad!! You're getting there, but still have a long way to go. I would wait a while longer on the uv until you know that the filter is stable.
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    9. #49
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      Keep adding the baking soda . . . you need to get the KH up. Check your directions: if your test kit uses dGH measures, you would multiply the drops by 17.9 to get ppm.

      If you don't get the KH up, the filter won't get to proper function. You're facing winter, so you don't have much time. But it's nice to see that the clay and TT have gotten the nitrItes down!

      Lee

    10. #50
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      Ditto LeeB
      ASue has a typo
      The will of God will not take you where the grace of God cannot keep you. .....
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    11. #51
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      Hi all, kh is still 70-80, though I've been adding baking soda almost every day. Water temp is down to 66 degrees. ph is 7.5, ammonia and nitrite are still zero.

      Lee, when you say I don't have much time, do you mean that my filter should be cycled before winter? I was planning to shut it down for the winter, so wouldn't it be okay as is, since my ammonia and nitrite are at zero? I thought the trickle tower was taking over bio-filtration.

      I'm a little confused.
      Thanks,
      Susan

    12. #52
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      Well, it is . . . but I don't know if it will be enough to be your *total* bio, although many do use it as such.

      Please forgive the rantings of someone who's considered sub-tropical; getting ready for winter for you is entirely different from getting ready for me. I think in terms of reduced function and you think in terms of total ceasation!

      Keep adding banking soda - ya gotta get that KH up. If you're still adding it and it's not going up any, you're apparently only addressing the daily needs of the biobugs, and not building a "reserve" for it.

      Lee

    13. #53
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      Ok, thanks Lee, I'll resume twice daily dosing with baking soda. Will try 1 cup per dose, with test before each dose.

      I was hoping it would stay warm longer up here, but we've had a couple weeks of cool nights that will probably prevent any major improvements. I was considering a heater last week but after Katrina and the spike in energy costs, I don't know if we can swing it.

      Thanks,
      Susan

    14. #54
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      Susan are you still adding KoiClay too?
      The will of God will not take you where the grace of God cannot keep you. .....
      "I contend that for a nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle." -Winston Churchill Zone 7a
      I believe it can happen... Koi World Peace
      "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." - Margaret Thatcher
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    15. #55
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      Yes, just a little less than I was, about two small handfuls with every addition of baking soda.

    16. #56
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      Quote Originally Posted by Susan Day
      The TT is a necessity, then. I'll have to get creative with a DIY rig. And I thought everything was getting better and I could relax a bit. Any recommendations for a cheap and easy set-up?

      This is so complicated. I had read about kh and baking soda, but I didn't realize it would be such a quick turnaround; I kind of thought I could get my filter cycled and then worry about stuff like kh.....
      What is a TT??

    17. #57
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      Quote Originally Posted by Carolkoi
      What is a TT??
      Trickle Tower
      It's used to help release gases found in the pond water and is also a bio filter.

      I think.
      ,Karen
      Charter member #57
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