Water - Key Factors
Overview
A pond can easily be filled with tap water. Even well water can be used. In both cases,
however, a review of water quality is recommended. Many values have to be considered.
The most important values are:
Ammonium / ammonia
Nitrite
PH-value
Hardness of water
These values should be regularly (2 times per week) checked, because they can have a direct
or indirect toxic effect on fish. Generally one can say that a sudden change of water levels
has a more harmful effect on fish, as when the key figures slightly run outside the norm.
That does not mean that in case of a toxicological increase of the values, you must not
take measures immediately.
General
Water (H2O) is a strong dipolar solvent, which consists of oxygen and hydrogen. A noteworthy feature is that water has the highest heat capacity of all fluids. That means water can store relatively much heat and keep it for a long time. This has an impact on the pond with time delays in the thermal adaptation of the water against the environment. Pond water has a lot of Figures to be observed. Most of these figures can not be considered solely, since they interact through complex processes, and are interdependent.
Figures
Ammonium/ammonia:
Ammonium is a metabolic product, which is the conjugated acid to highly toxic ammonia Base.
Ammonia is highly toxic and must be at 0 mg / l.
Nitrite:
Nitrite is an intermediate product in the conversion of ammonia nitrate. Nitrite is
very toxic and must be at 0 mg / l
Nitrate:
Degradation product of ammonia. It serves as a plant nutrient. Ideally, the value
should be at 0 mg / l. In this case, there is a balance between the excretion of the
fish and the nutrients absorbed by the plants.
pH value:
The acid-base value. pH 7 is neutral. It varies throughout the day, but it should not be
very different from the neutral condition. You can see a direct effect of a strongly deviating
pH at the Koi by gill damage, indirect effects by influencing other chemical processes.
Total hardness of water (GH) / Carbon hardness of the water (KH):
The carbon hardness is decisive for the pH value of the water. Carbon acts as a pH buffer.
The total hardness of the water should not fall below 4, because the osmosis, and thus the
regulation of water balance will affect the cells.
Oxygen:
First of all Kois need oxygen to live. In the literature a value of> 5 mg / l is specified.
However, oxygen is needed by other operations in the water, e.g. of nitrification. To supply
all the oxygen needing operations a saturation of 6-10 mg / l should be ensured. The oxygen
content varies with the temperature of the water.
Carbon dioxide:
Carbon dioxide is compensated by water from the air and introduced by aquatic species.
Carbon dioxide dissolved in water, affects the pH to acidic range, but will be driven out
again by circulating the water. The value should not exceed 20 mg / l.
Phosphate is introduced into the pond by feeding. Tap water can contain small amounts of phosphate. This is removed by plants as nutrients. Low fish stocking and sufficient planting can compensate the phosphate value.
