Q: Do I really need to adjust my water’s pH level?
Terry – Bishopville, MD
A: Sure, you’ve seen those pH tests, like the Pondcare® Master Test Kit, online or at your local pond supply shop, and you’ve overheard veteran pond keepers talking about pH level adjustments. But what in the world is pH and why would want to monkey with it in your water garden or fish pond?
pH Defined
In super simple terms, pH, which stands for potential hydrogen, is a measure of how acidic or alkaline a water body is on a scale from 0 to 14. Pure water is neutral. It has a pH close to 7.0 at 77 degrees F. Blood is also close to neutral. Ammonia’s pH is ~11, which is high on the alkaline charts, while stomach acid’s pH is ~1, which acidic enough to burn through your chewed-up chow.
pH in Your Pond
So why is the pH level in a pond or water garden such a hot topic? Because pH affects the health of those things swimming around in the water. Fish love a liquid environment that strikes the right balance between acid and base. Your pond’s pH level affects their ability to reproduce, to fight disease, to metabolize their food – to do just about everything. The pH level also affects the health of your plants, frogs, turtles and any other living critters that call your pond home.
Adjusting to a Proper pH
Don’t worry: You don’t have to keep your pond at a perfect 7.0 pH all the time. In fact, an acceptable pH reading for a pond is 6.5 – 8.5. But you should use caution when adjusting it because doing so rapidly can harm your aquatic life. If you absolutely must adjust your pH using a pH Stabilizer like pH Lift or pH Drop, apply enough treatment to shift the levels 0.5 at a time, wait several hours before re-treating, and test the waters often with your Pondcare Master Test Kit.
Pond Talk: How often do you test the pH in your pond?
