*Air Stones* - Retailers sell electronic pumps which force air through tubing into a porous stone. The air emerges as a column of tiny bubbles in the water. This carries water upward for gas exchange ....
Carbon dioxide is produced by most life forms in the process of respiration. When you (and the fish) "breathe out" you're releasing Carbon Dioxide. Even plants respire, at night in the absence of light. They ....
Hydrogen Sulfide is not a common problem in fish ponds, as far as we know. What this means is; people don't test for Hydrogen Sulfide much, so we don't really know whether it's common or ....
Nitrate When the cycle nears completion, you know that the Ammonia has been reduced to Nitrite and the nitrite reduced to Nitrate. So let's talk a bit about nitrate. It's basically one of the most ....
Ammonia is reduced by a bacteria called "Nitrosomonas" into Nitrite. These Nitrites are toxic at very low levels. People often test 0.25 (a quarter) part-per-million of Nitrite and disregard it as a problem. "Oh, that's ....
Recall from the "cycle" discussion that Ammonia is the primary waste product of the fish. It's mostly excreted through the gills by osmosis*, and some is excreted through the kidneys. This is important because you ....
The Cycle is the natural process in which the fish excrete wastes (fish poop and pee) into the pond water and Mother Nature has to deal with these wastes before these compounds pollute the water ....
To keep things really simple; pH is basically just a "test" you run to get a result you need to have. And you need to run it. That bears repeating. You need to run pH ....
Oxygen is essential to almost all living things. Water carries a pitifully small amount of oxygen but fish have been designed to make the best of it. The only way oxygen can mix with water ....
Chlorine (You better know about this). When water comes out of your hose, in most areas, it's "city water". This means that it is accumulated by and "made drinkable" by the city. Then the water ....