Hey there, fireant.It most likely isn't anything to worry about but to avoid worry you should have a good test kit and use it often. In this case it is probably air. Scoop out a glassful and let it sit an hour or so. It will probably clear up. If it doesn't, check your filters,and add some activated charcoal. If it is still cloudy, then you can start to be concerned. Sandy

Hi Sandy,
Thanks for answering so quickly. This morning I tested, nitrite-0, PH-8.5, and ammonia-between 0 and .25. Before the water change ammonia was 0, a very pale yellow on the test. If the cloudy water came from air bubbles wouldn't they have cleared in an hour or two? I changed the water at 9 o'clock in the morning and it was still cloudy at 6 that evening. I watched it cloud up as I was adding new water. The water is very clear again. But the ammonia is up because of a 10 percent water change? (the 7 commets are eating algae in about a 3000 gallon pond) It makes me wonder what we are drinking.

I agree and wonder too. In a 3000 gallon pond those 7 comets could not possibly be producing that much ammonia. So, you need to look elsewhere. I would look at the filters. They may be overwhelmed with residue from dead bacteria and other debris.
Did you do a test for buffering capacity? That would be KH. My new test kit for some reason calls it High Range PH. Maybe I need a different kit. KH measures the capacity of the water to resist changes in PH. This is important because rapid change is harmful to the fish. I learned a little from a former poster who I really wish would come back. He would know in an instant what was going on while I am simply looking at my own experience. Fill a container with the new water from the tap. Allow it to sit overnight to let some of the gassy chemicals like chloranimine to dissipate. Add pond water. If it was something added to the tap water it should remain clear. That means KH is high enough to cause the pond water to react to the chemicals in the new tap water by forming a precipitate. All will probably be well in time. To eliminate the problem or reduce it you can add air with a bubbler or a fountain, increase turbulance, let the tap water sit overnight or use a chemical to counter the chemicals in the tap water.
If the KH is too low, there are chemicals you can add but a little trick I learned is to put slugs of Plaster of Paris in the pond. It will react to the PH of the pondwater by slowly disolving. The term is something else but to the eye it looks like disolving, so that is the term I will use. The POP is being reformed by the pond water to achieve a certain level of PH. If the PH is too high, the POP will disappear quickly and the PH will get lower until it reaches a balance which by happy chance is the best level for the fish. Once a balance is reached there is no more or a reduced level of reaction. Leave the slug in the water so it will react to changes you don't notice. It won't be harmful and ammonia levels will also be reduced.
I mold POP in the shapes of bubbles or starfish just to make them look like decorations. I don't have any problems with PH since I started doing this. If you use this trick make sure the POP does not have any additional chemicals added. Dap sells one that is pure POP.
I wish someone else with a better handle on chemistry would post, please. I am not the best person to expain all this. A forum search on POP or plaster of paris should be helpful. Sandy

Hi Sandy,
Thank you for your help.
The filters are for the most part clean, nothing mucky or smelly. We have pretty hard water here, limestone everywhere. Water is 8.5 right out of the tap. We didn't use limestone when we built this pond because we run a small pond with a waterfall made out of limestone in our greenhouse. The limestone made the PH very high and even a small amount of ammonia in that water made 3 tiny comets sick. I now have 2 little rosy minnows in that pond just to keep mosquitoes out and I never feed them. I thought that with a different kind of rocks and a liner maybe the PH would come down a little but it has stayed at 8.5 so we just live with it. That is why I don't have many fish and no koi. Too much ammonia in this water is like poison. I am confused tho, would Plaster of Paris help even with all this limestone? I wish we had a pond supply store around here. Do you know of something that will neutralize the ammonia?

The POP acts as a buffer that prevents rapid changes in the PH which is what can kill the fishies. In very alkaline water POP simply would not break down as quickly but if there is limestone it would act as a buffer too.
Ammonia can be neutralized with a number of products sold in the pet store. I use Ammo Rock. If the water is exposed to the air ammonia will disapate. Fountains and waterfalls and bubblers all help. BTW, most fishies prefer alkaline water. I still don't think the number of fish you have in the water could produce that much ammonia.
Thinking sbout the cloudy water it occurs to me that it could very well be suspended lime if the hose water is a different PH. Sandy

Hi Sandy,
I appreciate all your help with this. I have been trying to do a little research also. I think all that ammonia came from our tap water and the dechlorinate I was using, AquaSafe, (I have ordered Pond Prime now) only broke the bond between chlorine and ammonia. The chlorine goes away but the ammonia stays in the water. With our high PH water and the fact that we are coming out of winter with the plants just now starting to grow and filters low on bacteria the, (and who nows how much) chloramine in the new water, that small water change over powered the pond. I have been reading up on chloramine and it's some scary stuff. Because of our high PH I will have to make sure to use a dechlor that really gets rid of all the ammonia our water company puts in our tap water. Now I'm wondering if I should use the declor in our drinking water too.
Yes, you may be right about the suspended lime clouding the water. I hadn't thought off that. We have a waterfall adding oxygen to the water so I hope the pond will be back to normal soon.
Thanks again,
Michelle

I don't know where my head is some days. I cannot for the life of me get this right. I said it wrong in this sentence "If the PH is too high, the POP will disappear quickly and the PH will get lower".
The correct wording should have been "If the PH is too low, the POP will disappear quickly and the PH stabilise at a higher PH".
I apoligise. The POP will not harm anything in the water. It is designed to maintain PH (alkalinity)in a range that is good for your fish and plants. Sandy

sleeplessinftwayne....you said about adding activated charcoal to help clear up your pond water. Will this hurt the fish at all? I am a new pond owner and have tried everything to clear my water from the tea colored look. I have not heard of this before. Where I can buy activated charcoal??
Thank you!
Jeanne

I cannot explain this technically, but I remember when first keeping fish and testing my water after my complete cycle, I forgot to test before change so I tested afterwards and was surprised to find ammonia showing up in my water. I took my water to pet store to have them test it and it showed up there. After explaining to them they explained to me that after adding AquaSafe, the product breaks down the chloramines and the broken down chloramines show up as positive ammonia in the water, however, this ammonia is not harmful to the fish and will dissappear in a short time. You'll definitely have to confirm my information as to the specifics as this was over 10 years ago, but I was assured it was harmless and sure enough I never had any problems with the fish, even had small fry in the tank.

As far as the cloudiness, even when cleaning the bottom good, Im sure there is some debree in the water, right, which is going to be stirred up while adding water but would settle overnight.

Hi hbwright,
Our pond seems to be back to normal now. I researched this and found alot of information on aquarium boards. I understand about some dechlorinaters changing the ammonia into a safe-for-fish type but if it doesn't specifically say it does on the label I won't use it. Most brands only break the bond between the chlorine and ammonia and if your water has a high Ph reading even a little ammonia can cause problems. I am still pretty new to this and would rather be safe than sorry. After changing to Pond Prime the water hasn't been cloudy. I don't know if that has anything to do with it or not but I feel better.
Michelle