i cant keep the ph up on my pond.
ive added ph up chemical and it still is reading the lowest ph.
guppy mentioned using oyster shells to keep the ph up.
so with his help and the internet ive come up with all this info.
im going to do a write up because all this info is scattered around the internet.
i tried to get crushed oyster shells from a feed store but they were out.
plus its 11 bucks a bag,not sure how much is in a bag.
plus i couldnt find small enough meshed bags for anything to fine and they said the feed is very fine.
so heres how i did it for free.
called a local seafood restaurant early in the day.
they were nice enough to save them through the day and i picked them up at closing time.
got about 20 lbs of shells.
first i soaked them in buckets for a few hours
then i had to scrape the lil bit of meat that was left on the shells.
plus i removed any lil clams attached to the outside of the o's.
rinsed them off good.
then it was time to bake them.
i read you can also boil but no clue on that.
i baked them for an hour at 350 degrees.
open the house up and turn on some fans, this part stinks!!
after they were done i dropped the hot shells in buckets of water.
nothing like a lil shock to kill anything left.
then i got a towel that can get destroyed,and will.
on concrete or anything hard,crush a few shells at a time.
i just broke them up more then crushed them.
reason is i hear it works better when water can flow through it easier so i figured bigger chunks = better flow.
after its crushed i sifted out all the bigger chunks so no lil pieces get through my bags.
i might find small meshed bags for the tiny stuff.
then it was time to rinse rinse and rinse till the water stayed clear.
then i used some nylon netting i got from a fabric store.
i double layered it cus o's are sharp.
tied them up with zip ties.
now about the amount to use.
not very much info online.
ive read a few things,
10kg for a few hundred gallon pond,
2.2kg for a 100 gallon pond,
10kg in general,
more cant hurt.
so with that info,
i got about 20lbs of shells,about 10kg
i probably put 3/4 of that in my filter.
"the rest is the fine stuff"
i put the bags of shells around the pump.
"the other bags are gravel in my pix"
here are my pond readings,did a few water changes in between tests
tap--ph 7.6
3/4/08--ph 6.0
3/16/08--ph 6.8
3/27/08--ph 7.2
next project is doing this to all my aquariums.
will post those results when i do it.
ive added ph up chemical and it still is reading the lowest ph.
guppy mentioned using oyster shells to keep the ph up.
so with his help and the internet ive come up with all this info.
im going to do a write up because all this info is scattered around the internet.
i tried to get crushed oyster shells from a feed store but they were out.
plus its 11 bucks a bag,not sure how much is in a bag.
plus i couldnt find small enough meshed bags for anything to fine and they said the feed is very fine.
so heres how i did it for free.
called a local seafood restaurant early in the day.
they were nice enough to save them through the day and i picked them up at closing time.
got about 20 lbs of shells.
first i soaked them in buckets for a few hours
then i had to scrape the lil bit of meat that was left on the shells.
plus i removed any lil clams attached to the outside of the o's.
rinsed them off good.
then it was time to bake them.
i read you can also boil but no clue on that.
i baked them for an hour at 350 degrees.
open the house up and turn on some fans, this part stinks!!
after they were done i dropped the hot shells in buckets of water.
nothing like a lil shock to kill anything left.
then i got a towel that can get destroyed,and will.
on concrete or anything hard,crush a few shells at a time.
i just broke them up more then crushed them.
reason is i hear it works better when water can flow through it easier so i figured bigger chunks = better flow.
after its crushed i sifted out all the bigger chunks so no lil pieces get through my bags.
i might find small meshed bags for the tiny stuff.
then it was time to rinse rinse and rinse till the water stayed clear.
then i used some nylon netting i got from a fabric store.
i double layered it cus o's are sharp.
tied them up with zip ties.
now about the amount to use.
not very much info online.
ive read a few things,
10kg for a few hundred gallon pond,
2.2kg for a 100 gallon pond,
10kg in general,
more cant hurt.
so with that info,
i got about 20lbs of shells,about 10kg
i probably put 3/4 of that in my filter.
"the rest is the fine stuff"
i put the bags of shells around the pump.
"the other bags are gravel in my pix"
here are my pond readings,did a few water changes in between tests
tap--ph 7.6
3/4/08--ph 6.0
3/16/08--ph 6.8
3/27/08--ph 7.2
next project is doing this to all my aquariums.
will post those results when i do it.
