Testing your Pond Water
Testing the water in your pond should be a regular part of your maintenance routine. Bad water quality will hugely affect the health of the pond and is the cause of many pond and fish problems. Water quality problems are the most common causes of fish stress and disease so should be avoided at all cost.
The main tests you’ll need to do regularly are Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and pH which are all naturally occurring in your pond as part of the Nitrogen Cycle. To really understand how and why these chemicals occur, and also why they fluctuate, it is important to understand the pond environment.
Testing regularly will highlight any abnormalities in your pond which can lead to an unhealthy environment and outbreaks of disease. Results can be used to prevent problems and find solutions to worrying changes in your pond. Once you have tested your pond you can find advice on your next steps by using the Diagnose What’s Wrong page.
The below explains how to use Blagdon Complete Pond Dip Test Kit to monitor levels of Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH, Carbonate Hardness and General Hardness in your pond.
Ammonia
1. With dry hands, remove 1 strip from the tube without touching the pads.
2. Dip test strip into the pond for 5 seconds.
3. Wait for one minute, then compare strip to results chart on the packaging.
5-in1 Mixed Test
1. With dry hands, remove 1 strip from the tube without touching the pads.
2. Dip test strip into the pond for 1 second.
3. Compare strip to results chart on the packaging:
Immediately:
KH Hardness, Nitrite and Nitrate
After 1 minute:
pH and GH Hardness.
Results
Nitrate
Nitrite
Water Hardness
Low pH
High pH
Treatment dosage Calculator
Testing your pond water
Seasonal pond maintenance
Understanding Your Pond
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