Ideal water conductivity for fish and plants?

[kmk2307]

Hi there,

I was wondering if any of ya'll tested your water conductivity and what you thought was the best conductivity to keep your pond at. Can you refer me to any literature on this topic? I don't want to add too much salt as it has a negative impact on FW plants but I want the fish to be healthy and have sufficient NaCl.

Thanks,
Kevin

 

[RogerMcAllen]

Interesting question. I am not really sure what conductivity is, do you know how it correlates to standard salinity measures?

Also, what kind of fish are you keeping?

 

[kmk2307]

Hi Roger,

Thanks for the reply. I keep common goldfish, shubunkin goldfish, and a few koi. Alltogether there are 25 fish and all of them are around 5" long except for two koi which are around 12" long. I have a pond that is around 500 gallons.

I believe the relationship between salinity and conductivity is:
Conductivity (in microsiemens/cubic centimeter of water) = 1590 * salinity (in parts per thousand)

The problem is conductivity is a measure of all ions while salinity is a measure of just salt concentration... Since salt is the primary ion I guess it is a good enough conversion. Right now we are using a little less than what the pond salt package recommends but I fear that the manufacturer might have an inclination to suggest a heafty dose so more of the product is used. I feel that is the case on a lot of reef aquarium products.

Thanks,
Kevin