Laguna Test Kit help

[Dave in Innisfil]

I promised Jackie I'd do more indepth testing of our pond water than just ammonia and pH, but somewhere the guide for the procedures for testing nitrates and nitrites has gone missing. I fired off an e-mail to Hagen, who claim to respond to questions in 3 to 5 days, but haven't heard back yet.

Can anyone tell me how many drops of N03 #3, NO2 #1 and N02 #2 and the procedure for testing using the Laguna Master Test Kit for Ponds ?

So far, I have gotten the following readings.....

Ammonia ...... 0
pH ...... somewhere around 7.5, which is below our normal 8.5
GH ...... 120 mg/L....same as in summer
KH ...... 110 mg/L....marginally higher than summer
Salt ......0

With the pond solidly frozen over now, excluding my modified Bickal-inspired vent, I can turn my attention away from those pesky mink above the ice and start worrying about what's going on below it.

[Jackie Ramo]

Sorry I missed this post yesterday but I don't have a hagen kit on hand to read the instructions and each kit is different. 5 drops 8 drops ....

Glad to see you are testing the water. Its a good habit to have especially in the winter. So many die offs could be prevented by keeping an eye on the water.

[TASSAJARA]

Hi Dave,

I found these instructions for the Laguna mini test kit. I would think they use the same products in all their test kits. Go to the link I pasted below to see if you can confirm. I also pasted the directions just in case.

Hope this helps.

http://www.thatpetplace.com/MainPro/Itemdy00.aspx?T1=W55AX+0171+1004



Instructions:
For nitrite/nitrate:
For nitrate:Take a sample of the water to be tested with the pipette. Use it to fill a clean test tube to the 5ml line. Add 5 drops of reagent #1 and 5 drops of reagent #2 to the test tube. Insert cap. Hold cap in place with finger and shake well to mix. Always Shake the reagent #3 bottle vigorously (5 seconds) and add 3 drops to the test tube. Insert cap. Hold cap in place with finger and shake well to mix. Wait 5 minutes for color to develop, hold cap in place with finger, shake again and match the test color to the closest color on the chart. After use, rinse the tube with fresh tap water to ensure it is clean for the next use.For nitrite: Take a sample of water to be tested with the pipette and use it to fill a clean test tube to the 5ml line. Add 5 drops of reagent #1 and 5 drops of reagent #2 to the test tube. Insert cap. Hold cap in place with finger and shake well to mix. Always use the cap. Avoid skin contact. Wait 2 minutes for color to develop and match the test color to the closest color on the chart. After use, rinse the tube with fresh tap water to ensure it is clean for next use.

[Dave in Innisfil]

Thanks for posting that. But unfortunately, I would need the colour chart at the back of the booklet to interpret my reading, and since I don't have the booklet I'm still SOL....LOL

Finally the people at Laguna responded to my e-mail, and are mailing me a booklet. When I last looked thru my pond vent, I saw what I'm hoping wasn't dead fish. I figure if I can discount water quality being an issue, I can rationalize it as unconsumed fish from my mink attack, and not worry about it until the ice is gone. If water quality is an issue, I'll be posting for advice before I start panicing and doing a mid-winter water change/disruption unnecessarily.

[Dave in Innisfil]

The people at Hagen/Laguna finally got around to sending me a booklet.

Glad to report...
Nitrite .... less than .01
Nitrate.... less than 5.0

Funny thing was that when I lifted the lid on my vent to draw some test water, there was Roy the Koi basking in the warm water under the lights. He moved kinda slowly away, but looked none the worse for wear. The ice in our pond is at least 18" thick now, and covered with about 10 inches of crusty snow. The live trap is still set and baited, but no return mink visits as of late.

[Jackie Ramo]

Good news that Roy is still there! Worried that the mink may have got him. Even better that there have been no further mink sightings.