We want to thank you all for your continuing advice and suggestions. We are in an area based on granite rather than limestone, so I believe our well water would be soft and we will certainly try BobtheG's soap suggestion today. We will keep you posted and in the meantime hope for the best.
Please keep your suggestions flowing, we are as intrigued by this situation as you appear to be.
I really don't think you have a long-term problem GD. As you know pH and water hardness are related, but different. It's likely that your well water is soft if the rocks are mostly granite and Bob's suggestion re. soap is good. If the rocks are mostly granite, then the water should also be soft. So if your water is hard, it's because of the rocks/concrete in the pond. Water hardness is measured in the UK in Clarke Degrees. Above 26 degrees Clarke is very hard - my tap water is about 45 - so exceptionally hard and I have a water softener. I think you need to find out how 'hard' you water is - forget the pH. A kit like this will tell you-
I don't really understand why you think you have a problem. You've got bugs in your pond - they'll be eating something and in time something else will come along to join in the feast. I'll take about a year for your pond to settle by which time I've no doubt it'll be teaming with life of all sorts. Let nature work her magic - she won't be hurried
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I've been keeping an interested eye on this thread and all the hard work you have put into this project!
I can't contribute anything additional to that already posted but I was interested to know what you have painted - the sealer - the rocks with? Could the chemical formulation of the sealer be influencing what you are seeing? I appreciate the 'issue' was there prior to painting it on but could this be another variable now?
Dave, the product sealant is called G4 pond sealer - sold from an aquatic shop, it was recommended by them and a couple of other people who had used the product in their ponds to paint cement. Yes, it could be another variable in the equation but I would like to think not since it was sold as specifically for ponds. What did they use in Victorian times when ponds were mainly made out of cement I wonder?
We will look into the hardness of the water but basically Guernsey water is soft due mostly to the granite our island is made up of. However I don't want to rule anything out at this point.
Again thanks for all your ideas and reassurance, and perhaps the water will level out over the coming months. I think my main concern was to watch beautiful plants slowly dying off - if they were in the garden in soil then I would feed them or move them if necessary but in a pond they are at the mercy of the water and unless we can sort out this balance problem they will continue to die off.
I would like to find out if there are pond plants that can thrive in a higher PH than 7.5 (i.e.9), as it seems that even the water cress that we plonked in (as well as the oxygenators that we bought) are dying off now. Blanket weed is thriving though!
Just give it time GD, it WILL sort itself out. Most of the plants I put in back in March died back. The Brooklime didn't and is growing very well, most of the others are now also growing to some extent. All the oxygrenators died off. Then I put elodea in and that is growing well now. The pond has lots of life in it and by next summer it should look really good, and I'm sure yours will to
Blanket weed is a start and it's a good start. You'll get blanket weed as part of the process of the pond maturing
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
It was suggested today that our PH is high due to lack of shade for the pond - it is true there is no shade for the majority of hours at this time of year - which we did wonder about at the onset. Could sunlight cause the rise in PH?
On a more positive note I am pleased to say that the water lilies do seem to be thriving - just, (also the blanket weed) and we now have our first water lily flower. I think it is called Conqueror and we noticed 5 new baby snails had hatched (is that what snail birth is called?) today.
Gorgeous colour. Shade/sun makes no direct difference to the pH of the water. Please forget pH though. Your concern (if any) should be re the hardness of your water. If you get the kit i mentioned above then you will KNOW what your pond water hardness is, and if you have a problem. And as you have a lily, snails and blanketweed it sounds like you don't. Your pH is a consequence of your water hardness. Sort out what is making the water hard, and your pH will fall.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
We tried the suggested washing with some of the well water (PH 7.5) and soap, no suds, no hardness, smooth feeling. We will try again with the pond water (PH9).
Thanks for dispelling the shade/sun issue.
I may try to add some peat or soil to the pond - which is best to use?
In the meantime I am trying to find plants that prefer a higher PH although I think I may have missed the planting season for this year now. Interestingly and disappointingly the water cress seems to be struggling to survive - luckily it was free from a nearby stream!
OK - so your well water has a pH of 7.5 (so slightly alkaline) and the water feels creamy, so it's not hard water. Your well water is good from a pH point of view and a hardness point of view.
I would add soil to your pond. BUT be careful where you get it from. Find a part of your garden that has not had fertilizers/weedkiller etc on it, somewhere that been left for a long time. Dig down a spade depth then take soil for your pond from BELOW that level. Even a few bucketfulls will help. Peat will turn your water brown and it'll likely stay that way for some time. It has no worthwhile nutrients or minerals in it and is to all intents and purposes sterile. It's used to soften water for some tropical fish (e.g. tetras) but I wouldn't use it in a pond. It will lower the pH, but only on a short-term basis.
Watercress likes moving water - if you plant it in a basket in the flow of your waterfall you may have better luck.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
Posts
You have all given us plenty of food for thought!
We want to thank you all for your continuing advice and suggestions. We are in an area based on granite rather than limestone, so I believe our well water would be soft and we will certainly try BobtheG's soap suggestion today. We will keep you posted and in the meantime hope for the best.
Please keep your suggestions flowing, we are as intrigued by this situation as you appear to be.
I really don't think you have a long-term problem GD.
As you know pH and water hardness are related, but different.
It's likely that your well water is soft if the rocks are mostly granite and Bob's suggestion re. soap is good. If the rocks are mostly granite, then the water should also be soft. So if your water is hard, it's because of the rocks/concrete in the pond.
Water hardness is measured in the UK in Clarke Degrees. Above 26 degrees Clarke is very hard - my tap water is about 45 - so exceptionally hard and I have a water softener.
I think you need to find out how 'hard' you water is - forget the pH.
A kit like this will tell you-
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Water-Hardness-Testing-Kit/dp/B004R1344M
I don't really understand why you think you have a problem. You've got bugs in your pond - they'll be eating something and in time something else will come along to join in the feast.
I'll take about a year for your pond to settle by which time I've no doubt it'll be teaming with life of all sorts. Let nature work her magic - she won't be hurried
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
I've been keeping an interested eye on this thread and all the hard work you have put into this project!
I can't contribute anything additional to that already posted but I was interested to know what you have painted - the sealer - the rocks with? Could the chemical formulation of the sealer be influencing what you are seeing? I appreciate the 'issue' was there prior to painting it on but could this be another variable now?
Dave, the product sealant is called G4 pond sealer - sold from an aquatic shop, it was recommended by them and a couple of other people who had used the product in their ponds to paint cement. Yes, it could be another variable in the equation but I would like to think not since it was sold as specifically for ponds. What did they use in Victorian times when ponds were mainly made out of cement I wonder?
We will look into the hardness of the water but basically Guernsey water is soft due mostly to the granite our island is made up of. However I don't want to rule anything out at this point.
Again thanks for all your ideas and reassurance, and perhaps the water will level out over the coming months. I think my main concern was to watch beautiful plants slowly dying off - if they were in the garden in soil then I would feed them or move them if necessary but in a pond they are at the mercy of the water and unless we can sort out this balance problem they will continue to die off.
I would like to find out if there are pond plants that can thrive in a higher PH than 7.5 (i.e.9), as it seems that even the water cress that we plonked in (as well as the oxygenators that we bought) are dying off now. Blanket weed is thriving though!
Last edited: 19 July 2017 16:55:25
Just give it time GD, it WILL sort itself out.
Most of the plants I put in back in March died back. The Brooklime didn't and is growing very well, most of the others are now also growing to some extent.
All the oxygrenators died off. Then I put elodea in and that is growing well now.
The pond has lots of life in it and by next summer it should look really good, and I'm sure yours will to
Blanket weed is a start
and it's a good start. You'll get blanket weed as part of the process of the pond maturing
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
It was suggested today that our PH is high due to lack of shade for the pond - it is true there is no shade for the majority of hours at this time of year - which we did wonder about at the onset. Could sunlight cause the rise in PH?
On a more positive note I am pleased to say that the water lilies do seem to be thriving - just, (also the blanket weed) and we now have our first water lily flower. I think it is called Conqueror and we noticed 5 new baby snails had hatched (is that what snail birth is called?) today.
beautiful photo GD.
Gorgeous colour.
Shade/sun makes no direct difference to the pH of the water.
Please forget pH though.
Your concern (if any) should be re the hardness of your water.
If you get the kit i mentioned above then you will KNOW what your pond water hardness is, and if you have a problem. And as you have a lily, snails and blanketweed it sounds like you don't.
Your pH is a consequence of your water hardness. Sort out what is making the water hard, and your pH will fall.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
We tried the suggested washing with some of the well water (PH 7.5) and soap, no suds, no hardness, smooth feeling. We will try again with the pond water (PH9).
Thanks for dispelling the shade/sun issue.
I may try to add some peat or soil to the pond - which is best to use?
In the meantime I am trying to find plants that prefer a higher PH although I think I may have missed the planting season for this year now. Interestingly and disappointingly the water cress seems to be struggling to survive - luckily it was free from a nearby stream!
OK - so your well water has a pH of 7.5 (so slightly alkaline) and the water feels creamy, so it's not hard water. Your well water is good from a pH point of view and a hardness point of view.
I would add soil to your pond. BUT be careful where you get it from. Find a part of your garden that has not had fertilizers/weedkiller etc on it, somewhere that been left for a long time. Dig down a spade depth then take soil for your pond from BELOW that level. Even a few bucketfulls will help.
Peat will turn your water brown and it'll likely stay that way for some time. It has no worthwhile nutrients or minerals in it and is to all intents and purposes sterile. It's used to soften water for some tropical fish (e.g. tetras) but I wouldn't use it in a pond. It will lower the pH, but only on a short-term basis.
Watercress likes moving water - if you plant it in a basket in the flow of your waterfall you may have better luck.
Billericay - Essex
Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.