Here in the UK I have 4000 gallon (18000l) pond stocked with goldfish &
orfe. It is very rarely clear, it almost made it briefly in March, and
as usual has been pretty murky since.

I have a couple of filter boxes shifting 1800g/hr, which are very
effective biologically, ammonia & nitrite never measure anything other
than zero. There's also a 2x9W UVC.
There's a good selection of marginal plants & lilies, and I got some
WH's last week.

In previous years I've tried adding potash (a product called LoSalt, 66%
KCl, 33% NaCl), which helps a bit, but didn't really clear the pond. The
plants all seem to be lacking in the vigour one expects of aquatics.
I finally got some time to look into the details, re-read loads of notes
taken from this news group and the 'net over the years, and decided to
check if I had some other limiting nutrient to plant growth.
PO4 measures ~0.5ppm, Nitrate ~3ppm.
Plant behaviour hinted at iron problems, so I got an iron test kit,
which confirmed absolutely zero free iron, zero chelated iron.
As the pond is generally topped up by rain water, I also suspect other
trace elements may be zero too.
So I bought a box TE, the contents of which a
Boron 0.1%
Copper 0.25%
Iron chelated EDTA 3.3%
Magnesium 7%
Manganese 3%
Molybdenum 0.005%
Zinc 1%

So the question to any experts out there is,
1) Are any of those TE's a problem / toxic to fish at these levels?
2) Recommended dose rate, I've been working to 0.1ppm iron, although the
test kit suggests 0.25-0.5ppm for chelated iron.
Whatever I add is back to zero the next day.

If I want to add iron only, is FeS04 any good? (I suspect it just
precipitates out straight away?)
Or do I need to get some chelated iron and keep dosing until the level
stabalises?


Other parameters are pH=8.0 rock steady, KH=100ppm, GH=120ppm,
salt=0.03% (I've moved away from salt dosing in general, all the fish
are happy & healthy without)


Cheers
--
steve

"Steven Briggs" wrote in message
...
Here in the UK I have 4000 gallon (18000l) pond stocked with goldfish &
orfe. It is very rarely clear, it almost made it briefly in March, and
as usual has been pretty murky since.
===================
Here in the USA some people use Ironite mixed in the pond plant soil. It
really greens the plants, and in only days. I've already just thrown the
granules over the pots and let them disintegrate........
--
McKoi.... the frugal ponder...
EVERYONE: "Please check people's headers for forgeries
before flushing." NAMES ARE BEING FORGED.
My Pond Page http://tinyurl.com/cuq5b
~~~ }((((o ~~~ }{{{{o ~~~ }(((((o

"Steven Briggs" wrote in message
...
Here in the UK I have 4000 gallon (18000l) pond stocked with goldfish &
orfe. It is very rarely clear, it almost made it briefly in March, and as
usual has been pretty murky since.

I have a couple of filter boxes shifting 1800g/hr, which are very
effective biologically, ammonia & nitrite never measure anything other
than zero. There's also a 2x9W UVC.
There's a good selection of marginal plants & lilies, and I got some WH's
last week.

In previous years I've tried adding potash (a product called LoSalt, 66%
KCl, 33% NaCl), which helps a bit, but didn't really clear the pond. The
plants all seem to be lacking in the vigour one expects of aquatics.
I finally got some time to look into the details, re-read loads of notes
taken from this news group and the 'net over the years, and decided to
check if I had some other limiting nutrient to plant growth.
PO4 measures ~0.5ppm, Nitrate ~3ppm.
Plant behaviour hinted at iron problems, so I got an iron test kit, which
confirmed absolutely zero free iron, zero chelated iron.
As the pond is generally topped up by rain water, I also suspect other
trace elements may be zero too.
So I bought a box TE, the contents of which a
Boron 0.1%
Copper 0.25%
Iron chelated EDTA 3.3%
Magnesium 7%
Manganese 3%
Molybdenum 0.005%
Zinc 1%

So the question to any experts out there is,
1) Are any of those TE's a problem / toxic to fish at these levels?
2) Recommended dose rate, I've been working to 0.1ppm iron, although the
test kit suggests 0.25-0.5ppm for chelated iron.
Whatever I add is back to zero the next day.

If I want to add iron only, is FeS04 any good? (I suspect it just
precipitates out straight away?)
Or do I need to get some chelated iron and keep dosing until the level
stabalises?

People add the Trace Elements to their aquariums all the time, with no ill
effects. I try to shoot for .1 ppm FE, but up to .25 shouldn't do any harm.
You might also find that the Magnesium is lacking, as there are not enough
in the TE to do you much good. Some Epsom Salts will aleviate this problem.
For a pond your size you would need 50 to 100 tablespoons to achieve 5 - 10
ppm.

In message , Bill Stock
writes

"Steven Briggs" wrote in message
...
Here in the UK I have 4000 gallon (18000l) pond stocked with goldfish &
orfe. It is very rarely clear, it almost made it briefly in March, and as
usual has been pretty murky since.


People add the Trace Elements to their aquariums all the time, with no ill
effects. I try to shoot for .1 ppm FE, but up to .25 shouldn't do any harm.
You might also find that the Magnesium is lacking, as there are not enough
in the TE to do you much good. Some Epsom Salts will aleviate this problem.
For a pond your size you would need 50 to 100 tablespoons to achieve 5 - 10
ppm.


Thanks Bill. I have thrown some Epsom Salts in occasionally.
At the moment my gut reaction is make up a mix of 2-3 parts chelated Fe
& 1 part the above TE mix, and dose with that, Epsom & LoSalt.


--
steve