Ammo lock will forever give you funny readings until it is out of the water via water changes. How many fish do you have? How many gallons is your pond? If you have not lost fish in 8 years without the Ammo-Lock I would say you don't need it now. Avoid taking winter readings! LOL Your fish are not active so I would not worry about it. IMO the best thing you can do before winter sets in is the following: 1. Clean the organic gunk out of the pond in the fall, including keeping out any newly fallen leaves. 2. Partial water change. 3. Keep a hole in the ice with deicer/bubbler/heater etc. 4. Reduce fish load if too heavy.

Michael - anaerobic conditions don't cause ammonia production, it is just that it can occur under either aerobic or anaerobic conditions. pH will influence the release of ammonia. The lower the pH (more acidic) the more of any ammonia that is produced will exist in the ammonium ion form rather than free ammonia. The relative amounts of those two forms is an equilibrium that is pH dependent. Looked at another way, ammonia is a base, and its production will neutralize acids in the forming compost, increasing the pH. The principle cause of high ammonia levels in composting, under either aerobic or anaerobic conditions, is high nitrogen levels (low C:N ratios). In some cases, this is sought. Producers of mushroom substrate purposely use very high N mixes, sometimes via the addition of urea, to produce a high N compost as a base for the growing medium. Typically their mixtures will have a C:N ratio in the range of 10-20. Some recommended formulations are published by Penn State University, see link below. Note the point under V., Phase I is considered complete when as soon as the raw ingredients become pliable and are capable of holding water, the odor of ammonia is sharp and the dark brown color indicates carmelization and browning reactions have occurred ... Here is a link that might be useful: Substrate Preparation for White Button Mushrooms

Thanks for the replies. Another poster mentioned adding ammonia to miracle grow and fish emulsion to promote blooming and I was wondering what the ammonia did.I googled it and could not find any info. I pinched off the tips this morning and I hope I did not pinch off too much. I pinched right beyond the first cluster of buds which was about 2- 3 inches.I hope I did not screw up.:(

I think you're right about seeing things differently re your #1 "You've mentioned several times that coffee grounds contain only 1.5% nitrogen. And that's more or less true, as far as it goes. But that number doesn't tell the whole story. According to Elizabeth Stell in "Secrets To Great Soil," the NPK values of coffee grounds are 2 - 0.3 - 0.3, respectively. That is, N is about 2% by weight. Looks small, but compost is 1-1-1. Alfalfa hay is 2.5 - 0.5 - 2. Alfalfa meal (one of the best organic nitrogen sources aside from blood meal) is only 3-1-2 (3% nitrogen vs coffee grounds at 2% nitrogen)" Starbucks analysis: 1.45-0-.008 [roughly] I have no idea where Stells' analysis comes from, I have seen that amount cited only on Primal Seeds website, who also don't indicate where the analysis was done - as Starbucks says, N is more likely to be closer to 1.5%, maybe slightly over half that of alfalfa or mixed veg waste, meaning grounds aren't a high N scource - 1/2 point may see a trivial difference, but the "whole story" isn't what other nutrients are present, but how much carbon is - high N sources have a C:N ratio well below the 20:1 grounds have, which may be a good ratio for composting if the other necessary factors are present, an even moisture level and good air infusion - if alfalfa meal [closer to 15:1] dried out and repeled water as well as grounds do, it wouldn't heat up in isolation either, but as wet material it definitely would, with no carbon addition, and if wet enough, the N loss would be in leachate more than ammonia gas I understand basic composting theory well, on a very practical level, as I've made many tons of it, pimarily of food waste with C:N ratios closer to 12:1 .... I know that the addition of the proper amount and type of carbon is necessary to prevent loss of N via either offgassing or leaching, and lab analysis of my finished compost shows I've achieved the sequestering of that N in finished compost that will no longer heat, even tho' the 16:1 C:N is below what is the "proper" ratio for heating although carbon is necessary for hot composting to be maintained for a long enough period to complete the decomposition process, it is NOT carbon that causes the heating in a compost bin, but nitrogen - N is the 'protein' that allows microbial action [reproduction & healthy growth] to happen, carbon is the carbohydrate that allows the microbes to work and digest - if you use "too much" carbon in composting, there will be no, or less heating, and the decomposition will be less bacterial, more fungal, and take longer in commercial composting, like with biosolids, the carbon addition is called "bulking agent", for a good reason: it's a coarse material [usually wood chips, I use coarse sawdust] that insures the necessary air infiltration and prevents both excessive moisture or drying - at the same time, it captures the N which might otherwise be lost in a wet pile, through leaching as for lime and acidity, as I said, lay a few worms on the ground and sprinkle some lime on them and watch'em squirm - not quick lime, dolomite lime .... and not eggshells, which are an excellent source of very slow acting calcium, and if ground finely, also a good source of grit for worms .... worms are largely water, the lime will immediately dry their surface enough to suffocate them - same for wood ash, probably worse because even faster acting if you looked at my whole page I linked above, you saw a of fat healthy worms that had been filled with finished compost [C:N about 16:1] and then had layers of mixed grounds [about 20:1] and carrot pulp (probably also about 20:1] added, covered with wheat grass mats ..... no heating, no offgassing "I agree with you that the reason my compost is heating up in the worm bin is because I probably had a bit too much carbon in the hot bin when I made it, so there's still excess carbon in the finished stuff." but then: "When I add usable carbon to the bin, it goes away." as I said above, an excess of carbon will prevent heating, so if your hot compost actually got hot and maintained that temp for awhile, it's a lack of carbon that resulted in the offgassing, as you indicate by you last sentence .... and I've never said that a pile that's strongly acidic would offgas, in fact I'd expect it would be so wet [and high N] that it would lose the N via leaching .... you should be aware of the logarithmic nature of the pH scale, and the fact that even 6 is slightly acidic .... below 5 your worms wouldn't thrive, but a hot compost pile could easily be as low as 5, without offgassing [sometimes mine are heavy on citrus] .... and adding dolomite to the worm bin could bring the pH up well above 7, which also wouldn't be best for worms - should never be necessary or desireable to add lime to worm bedding unless you've done a proper pH test, although if you've got potworms in it, it's definitely more acidic than needed for worms try a pH test on the grounds - I don't think you'll find them below 6.5, which could hardly be called "acidic" sorry, don't mean to be writing a book here :) Bill