Chemicals
- This mixture is used to control an aphid infestation on water plants
- Wash the solution off the plants before they are subjected to bright sunshine --
the solution will "cook" the leaves in the sun
- Use this spray sparingly
- If this spray does not work, try BT -- a natural insecticide that will not harm fish
- Basic recipe
- 1 gallon water
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon Dawn (dishwashing liquid as surfactant)
- Optionally, add 1 tablespoon liquid seaweed extract concentrate for mites
- Some people dilute the mixture by using two gallons of water, instead of only
one gallon
- Buffering capacity (Total Alkalinity) provides information concerning the stability of the pH, not a pH measurement. The is also referred to as alkalinity, carbonate hardness, or KH.
The ideal range for buffering capacity is 80-120 ppm. The Total Alkalinity of Dallas water averages 54 ppm, and has a range of 24-84 ppm.
- The buffering compounds in a pond primarily consist of carbonates (CO3-2) and bicarbonates (HCO3-).
- A saturated solution can be obtained by dissolving one teaspoon of baking soda in
a 5-gallon bucket of water. The pH should be 8.3.
- Adding 1/2 cup of baking soda per 500 gallons should add about 15 ppm of KH to the
pond.
- Baking soda is broken down as follows:
NaHCO3 --> Na+ + HCO3-
HCO3- + H+ --> H20 + CO2
- Arm and Hammer (06/08)
- Water hardness is a measure of the dissolved calcium and magnesium ions in the water.
This is also known as General Hardness (GH).
- Hard water is the result of dissolving very small amounts of minerals such as calcite
(calcium carbonate) and dolomite (calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate). Water with
a hardness range of 150-300 ppm captures and holds carbonates which help to stabilize pH.
The total hardness of Dallas water averages 103 ppm, and has a range of 71-190 ppm.
- One can increase total hardness by adding CaCl, MgCl, crushed coral, crushed oyster
shells, or dolomite.
- One should add about one pound of dolomitic lime per 1000 gallons.
- Pond plants can suffer from a magnesium deficiency if the water is soft (low GH)
or if the iron level is excessively high. This theory can be tested by adding 1 ounce epsom
salt per 1000 gallons. If the plants respond, you know that a magnesium deficiency
had existed.
- If your water is hard, the pond probably doesn't need magnesium, but is
much more likely to need potassium (muriate of potash).
-
Epsom Salt in the Garden
(06/08)
- Muriate of Potash (KCl) is a source of potassium, and is described as a 0-0-60 fertilizer. If your Water Hyacinths are looking yellow and not growing, they could be
deficient in potassium. Muriate of Potash is the main ingredient in most of the
expensive solutions for pond plants.
- If your pond water is green, it is suggested that you add 1.25 tablespoons of
muriate of potash per 1000 gallons per week. After the water clears, the dosage
should be reduced to half that amount. The actual amount required will vary with
the plant load of the pond.
- These notes were posted on rec.ponds by Jeannie (socalgal@ix.netcom.com)
- Ingredients
- 6 Cups koi food (pellets)
- 4 Cups Water
- 6 Packets of Knox Gelatin
- 5 Grams of Oxolinic Acid powder
- Directions
- Put the koi pellets in a blender reducing them to powder
- Boil water in a pot and add gelatin, stir until disolved
- Cool the gelatin liquid to lukewarm
- Add Oxolinc Acid to the gel liquid and stir thoroughly
- Add the powdered koi food, mix well
- Place the mixture into a cookie tray or shallow cake pan
- Refrigerate
- You can cut it into squares and feed the fish the jello by breaking
it into pieces. They love the stuff!!!
- Feeding instructions
- Feed the fish this mixture for 7 days
- Then feed the fish regular food for 7 days
- Finally, feed the fish this mixture for 7 more days
- These notes were posted on rec.ponds by Dr. Solo (Solo@pitnet.net)
- Used for:
- Columnaris
- Gyrodactylus (flukes)
- Other external parasites and bacteria, but not treatment of choice for ich.
- Baths
- Topical treatment
- Sterilizing tanks
- Inactivating hydrogen sulfide while cleaning gravel or ponds
- Reducing organic load in ponds
- Treatment of plants before putting into tanks
- Method of action:
- Powerful oxidizer
- Not carcinogenic
- Unlikely that organisms can become resistant
- Relative toxicity:
- It is one of the least toxic treatments
- Salt dips are considered less toxic
- PP is toxic in water with a high pH since PP may precipitate out into the
gills
- It should not be used in seawater tanks
- It should not be mixed with formalin
- Where to get PP:
- Drugstores
- Water softening companies
- Farm supply stores
- Local chemical supply houses
- Fishy Pharmacy (1-800-423-2035)
- Note: must be shipped as hazardous materials
- Stock solution:
- Add 4 oz PP to 1 quart of distilled water to make stock solution
- Add 1 lb to 1 gallon of distilled water to make stock solution
- Continuous treatment:
- 1 drop of stock PP per gallon is equal to 2 ppm. This is the concentration
used for continuous treatment.
- PP is usually used for 3 days, or every other day for 4 treatments.
- If water is not clear in 24 hours (looks yellow), change 25-30% of the water before adding another dose.
- Light inactivates PP. After adding the PP, watch for a minimum of 15 minutes
to make sure there are no adverse reaction. Then turn off lights or cover the
tank.
- Some water seems to inactivate PP rapidly. It should be pink when you put
it in, and stay pink for at least 4 hours to be effective. Noga recommends
at least 8 hours.
- If it is quickly inactivated, move fish to a bucket of same temp fresh water
and try again. If the PP still decolorizes too quickly, it may be necessary to add
more than 2 ppm of the PP to keep the water pink. Experimentally find this dose
by drawing a gallon of water to be treated and without fish, add up to 4 drops of
the PP and see if it remains pink overnight.
- If the water still does not hold the color, a bath
may be the only option. Heavy algae on tank walls, heavily loaded filters
or gravel will react and decolorize PP.
- Burke uses a capful of hydrogen peroxide (0.3%) precipitate inactivated
(brown) PP in a 20 gallon tank.
- Bath:
- Use for 30-60 minutes at twice the normal dose.
- The tank can be drawn down 50%, the PP added and then refilled with fresh water when the bath treatment is done.
- Be sure to have the bucket of untreated tank water sitting next to
the tank in case of adverse reactions.
- Topical treatment:
- Stock PP can be used on a swab on small wounds or patches of white "crud"
on fins.
- It is like a chemical burn and turns the area dark.
- Do not use near the eyes or mouth.
- Use as a one time application, followed by
neosporin creme or Panalog (by vet prescription).
- Hydrogen peroxide is preferred for topical application.
- Sterilizing tanks:
- This is done with no fish or other live things in the tank.
- Remove air stones. Clean the tank and filters.
- Put enough PP in so that the water is purple and let the filter circulate for 24 hours.
- Put in a capful or more of peroxide.
- Clean the filters after a couple of hours and wipe down the tank walls.
- Inactivating Hydrogen Sulfide while cleaning gravel or ponds
- Start with 1 drop per 2 gallons of water (1ppm).
- When light pink turns yellow, add more PP, 1 drop per 2 gallons, up to 3 drops per gallon (6 ppm).
- If pond/tank is yellow after adding 6 ppm, stop cleaning and either
do a water change or remove the fish before continuing the cleaning.
- Reducing organic load in ponds
- Start with 1 drop per gallon (20 drops per ml, 1 ml per 20 gallons).
- If water turns yellow in less than 15 minutes, add up to 3 drops (6 ppm).
- Do not do this if the pond has a high pH.
- Treatment of plants before putting into tanks
- No idea what works here or which plants could be harmed.
- More information/experience is requested from those who have done this.
- Cautions:
- Potassium permanganate crystals must be handled with care. It should
not be inhaled as it is toxic to lungs. For this reason, it is a good idea
to wear a mask when handling the crystals.
- Using a funnel, slowly pour the amount of crystals to be used into a
dark container (either brown glass or plastic wrapped in tin foil since light inactivates PP). Slowly add water half way, cap and turn the bottle over to
wet thoroughly. Fill the bottle to bring it to the correct volume. For a quart of
stock solution, a whole quart of water will not be needed.
- Stock solution of PP is safe to handle, although it will oxidize your skin
if it comes in contact. PP was used as an anti-fungal remedy for athletes foot
only a few years ago. Wear gloves when handling the stock solution.
- The stock solution must be mixed (bottle turned upside down several times)
right before use. Do this over the sink with running water and rinse the
outside of the bottle before and after opening. Stock PP stains clothing
permanently, and everything else if not wiped up immediately.
- PP is good for removing organic crud (or algae) in a pond or tank, but
then the crud starts breaking down and polluting the tank. It is necessary
to clean the filters after the water has cleared.
- Continuous treatment levels do not harm established biofilters. PP will
oxidize the outer layers of algae in the tank. A light cleaning of the tank walls
will expose the live algae underneath.
- I once added PP to a tank with too much organics and "something" toxic
was given off. I had to quickly remove 1 fish to fresh water. Always have
a gallon of the tank water in a separate container drawn from the tank
before adding anything to a tank, just in case fish have a bad reaction.
- Hydrogen peroxide will oxidize and clear the PP out of a tank in a
couple of minutes. However, PP forms a precipitate that could irritate the
gills of fish. If the fish are already having problems with oxygen uptake,
adding the peroxide is not a good idea while the water is pink.
- High pH water will also precipitate the PP out of solution.
- Program is a prescription medication for the prevention of fleas in dogs. A vet quoted
a price of $43.50 for a 6-month supply (6 pills).
- It is an Insect Development Inhibitor (IDI), and does not kill adult fleas.
- People have used this drug to kill anchor worm in ponds. The dosage was one white
pill (for large dogs) per 1000 gallons.
-
Program (06/08)
- Articles on salt
- These notes were posted on rec.ponds by Dr. Solo (Solo@pitnet.net)
- What salt dips do:
- Helps fish that have been shipped recover their electrolytes
- Strip off the slime coat and chemically knock off a lot of parasites..
it seems to be more of a shock to parasites than the fish
- A fish that has been dipped is more susceptible to medications once the
slime coat protectant is gone, the remaining parasites are exposed to
medications
- What low concentrations of salt does:
- Provide needed minerals (if solar salt is used)
- Stimulates the slime coat. Fish have few antibodies, those made are
excreted into the slime coat where they bind to parasites.
- Appears to protect fish against nitrite poisoning
- Concentrations:
- A solution of one teaspoon per gallon is 0.132% salt. So 1 tablespoon per 5
gallons is around 0.1%
- Low concentration (up to 0.1%)
This concentration will not hurt most plants and is what is typically used in
ponds and tanks.
- Medium concentration (up to 0.5%)
Addition from 0.1% up to this point should be gradual over a couple of days.
- High concentrations (up to 0.9%)
A concentration of 0.9% is isotonic or the concentration within the fish.
This concentration is used for medical reasons for shorter periods of time (days).
- Suggest concentrations
- Mild nitrite protection = 0.1% (3/4 teaspoon per US gallon)
- Preventive and nitrite protection = 0.3 % (2 1/2 teaspoons/gallon)
- Supportive for fish with ulcers, etc. = recommended strength 1.0
percent [7 1/2 level teaspoon per US gallon]
- What kind of salt
Noga recommends "solar" salt. It is salt with minerals, not purified.
This can be bought in food stores, in crystal form, no additives for water
softening in big bags for cheap. Rock salt dissolves slowly. This means
it will not flash burn the gills or skin like adding finely crushed table
salt will. Almost all GF books specifically say no iodine.
- Salt dips
- Indications:
- Flashing or flicking
- Coming out of the summer pond and into an aquarium
- The fish just arrived in a box or just brought home from the store
- The fish isn't looking "well" or hasn't responded to topical treatments for
"fin rot or dots"
- Under a microscope, parasites are seen in substantial numbers
- The fish has a resistant case of fin rot
- Contraindications:
- The fish are very small or fry ****** see caution
- The fish have never been in "salted water" (like Israeli koi or shubunkins)
- The fish is very toxed out from ammonia or other toxins (gills are dark red
or bloody looking)
- Materials:
- 1/2 cup salt with no additives per gallon of tank water (no temp shock)
- Methods:
- Put the fish into the salt water and start timing the dip
- The fish will come up to the top, generally on its side, poke the fish
and the fish will dive and swim
- When the fish doesn't dive or doesn't dive quickly, take the fish out
and put back into the tank or better, into a bucket with aged water
- Take even a still active fish out after 5 minutes, leaving them in the
salt dip longer will kill them
- For SMALL FISH, when they come up to the top and start rolling even
slightly, they must be removed immediately no matter what the time limit.
This means their gills can't handle it. Even if it has only been a few
seconds.
- Cautions:
- The fish may dive to the bottom of the tank and sit there, this is usual
- The fish will "purge", both feces and ammonia from the gills, so the
water must be tested and the tank cleaned
- This is not a "stand alone" treatment, for pathogens, it must be
followed up by appropriate and specific treatment
- These notes were posted on rec.ponds by Cornel Huth
- Sodium thiosulfate (Na2S2O3)
- Is a photographic fixing agent and a reducing or bleaching agent
- Is the only active ingredient in the dechlor you buy for your pond
- Making a stock solution
- Ingredients
- 500 gm Na2S2O3 (about 1/4 pound, or 4 ounces)
- 1 gallon water jug
- Directions
- Mix the solution
- That one gallon jug treats about 40,000 gallons of water
- You can't really overdose anything using this solution
Bonnie's Links
created by Bonnie Lee Hill,
blhill@mfire.com
last modified on July 29, 2009
URL: http://www.webspace4me.net/~mikehill/pages.aux/pond/chemicals/chem.html
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