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Thread: Envirex part 2

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    Senior Member Rank = Mature Champion smartin's Avatar
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    Envirex part 2

    Treated the pond on Wednesday with a full dosage of Envirex 160g which is for a new pond even though mine is 17 months old, i have had Ammonia between 0.5 and 1 with zero nitrites which was down to CT knock back and previous Lernex and other fluke treatments used this year, the assault of treatments this year for Flukes and Tric have taken there toll plus blanket weed treatment, FMG x2, Flukasol x3, Lernex x2,Fluke M x1, CT x1, all double doses plus Aquasolve...... too much i feel over the spring and summer, quite why Flukes have been so hard to get rid of i just do not know, i know others have had the same, anyhow back to Envirex, so gave a full dose and a day later did an Ammonia test the result was 1.0, did a 35% / 40% water change, treated again with a full dose of Envirex and today did another Ammonia test the result 1.0 ! no change at all...... now i appreciate things take time but 3 days in and no change, my filters do not look like anything has changed there is not even any sign of Nitrite so with falling temps this is not good.....


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    Last edited by smartin; 26-09-2020 at 10:05 AM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by smartin View Post
    Treated the pond on Wednesday with a full dosage of Envirex 160g which is for a new pond even though mine is 17 months old, i have had Ammonia between 0.5 and 1 with zero nitrites which was down to CT knock back and previous Lernex and other fluke treatments used this year, the assault of treatments this year for Flukes and Tric have taken there toll plus blanket weed treatment, FMG x2, Flukasol x3, Lernex x2,Fluke M x1, CT x1, all double doses plus Aquasolve...... too much i feel over the spring and summer, quite why Flukes have been so hard to get rid of i just do not know, i know others have had the same, anyhow back to Envirex, so gave a full dose and a day later did an Ammonia test the result was 1.0, did a 35% / 40% water change, treated again with a full dose of Envirex and today did another Ammonia test the result 1.0 ! no change at all...... now i appreciate things take time but 3 days in and no change, my filters do not look like anything has changed there is not even any sign of Nitrite so with falling temps this is not good.....
    unfortunately i'm not surprised mate,
    i've been keeping koi, rift valley cichlids, and marine reef systems since 1990 and have seen many different products over those years that purport to quickly reduce ammonia, nitrite, and establish biological filtration....

    imo it simply doesn't exist.

    the best any product will do is provide an infinitesimally small amount of bacteria (less than 0.000001%?) in a suspension to 'seed' the filter.
    that at best may speed ammonia cycling up by a day or so,
    at worse make no difference at all.

    i suspect most just contain enzymes bacteria can utilize, to help in the breakdown of various things like solid waste in clogged dirty ponds.
    and in that very limited way have a minute effect on overall production of ammonia, compared to leaving great lumps of festering rubbish at the bottom of a very dirty unmaintained pond.
    so will have very little or no benefit for your scrupulously clean pond.
    i think of the term 'cycling' for the inital start up of ammonia reduction, as it it takes years of problem free running to get a fully biologically diverse 'mature' filter imho.

    but the best way to quickly reduce ammonia for your pond i can think of.
    is either large scale water changes every day like you are doing, but obviously not ideal.

    chemically with zeolite and lots of it (plus it needs regenerating)
    or some other method of chemically locking the free ammonia into a form that is safer until it can be later biologically filtered like ammo lock.
    but at the rate ammonia is probably being produced, you would need a ridiculous amount of it. so it is unfeasable.

    or adding a substantial amount of fully mature filter media from another pond filter.
    assuming you are satisfied that pond is disease free and are willing to take the not inconsiderable risk, it is not.

    that is how i rapidly matured my brand new pond and filter last year,
    i bought three fish from the same pond at the dealers,
    and cajoled/bartered/begged them into giving/selling me several sticks of fully mature shower media from that same pond.

    my desicion for that was based on the fish were from that pond, and as my pond was empty,
    i wouldn't be possibly introducing anything the fish were likely not to already have anyway.

    i wouldn't lightly take that risk now though.....
    i hope you get it sorted soon though mate
    Last edited by davethefish1; 26-09-2020 at 01:12 PM.

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    Senior Member Rank = Mature Champion smartin's Avatar
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    Hi Dave,

    good to hear from you, thanks for your reply.... yes i was clutching at straws and in the hope that this might of helped to re generate my filters as after all they are quite mature now at 17 months well they were !! any how i am just going to sit on my hands now, from good source 1.0mg is not disastrous for a while, hopefully the filters will start to recycle and reduce the Ammonia ongoing, i am not in favour of huge water changes as i think this also does not help, fingers crossed they start to recycle soon and the ammonia drops, been Ammonia free for months and to have it now and for over a week is concerning me...cheers mate, Steve
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    To be honest I think a few kegs of zeolite in mesh bags would be a good option for you to get you over this problem (which will be temporary, although it never feels it at the time!).

    Have more than one bag of the zeolite so you can swap them out to recharge every couple of days in a drum of salt water (then rinse).
    Hang the bags near a filter return so flow goes through them.

    Its a way of just mopping up enough of the excess ammonia to keep things comfortable for the fish without stopping the filters recovering.

    Realistically your zeolite is not going to reduce ammonia to zero. But by mopping some of the ammonia up it reduces the amount of nitrite being produced also so just gives things more time to get back where they need to be. You can buy more bags of it if you find you need to, and afterwards just store them in the shed (recharged) to deploy in any future emergency. I’ve even used them as the sole filtration in an emergency QT in the past.

    What Dave said above about ‘borrowing’ some mature media from the filtration system of a fish you are buying is something I have also done in the past- Mark at Cuttlebrook was happy to give me a bag of mature K1 when I bought a fish from him a few years back when my filters were not yet fully cycled (of course ~I just couldn’t help buying the fish even though I should have waited ).

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    Senior Member Rank = Mature Champion smartin's Avatar
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    Hi Feline,

    thanks for your email and advice, i will look into Zeolite, never used/heard of this before so will be interesting to broaden my knowledge..... thanks Steve.
    Last edited by smartin; 27-09-2020 at 10:11 AM.
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    Senior Member Rank = Mature Champion smartin's Avatar
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    still no change Ammonia at 1.0.
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    Quote Originally Posted by smartin View Post
    Treated the pond on Wednesday with a full dosage of Envirex 160g which is for a new pond even though mine is 17 months old, i have had Ammonia between 0.5 and 1 with zero nitrites which was down to CT knock back and previous Lernex and other fluke treatments used this year, the assault of treatments this year for Flukes and Tric have taken there toll plus blanket weed treatment, FMG x2, Flukasol x3, Lernex x2,Fluke M x1, CT x1, all double doses plus Aquasolve...... too much i feel over the spring and summer, quite why Flukes have been so hard to get rid of i just do not know, i know others have had the same, anyhow back to Envirex, so gave a full dose and a day later did an Ammonia test the result was 1.0, did a 35% / 40% water change, treated again with a full dose of Envirex and today did another Ammonia test the result 1.0 ! no change at all...... now i appreciate things take time but 3 days in and no change, my filters do not look like anything has changed there is not even any sign of Nitrite so with falling temps this is not good.....
    Quote Originally Posted by smartin View Post
    Hi All,

    well after some positive reviews both on here and online i purchased some of this, albeit 400g delivered at £21.95, anyhow after cleaning my filters and then adding CT at 15% prior to adding Fluke M has resulted in my filters taking a big hit, Ammonia has been at 0.5 / 1.0 all week, food has been cut back and water changes have taken place, Ammonia drops to 0.5 but within a day rises to 1, i added Envirex yesterday at the same dosage as if a new pond, today i checked my water parameters and they are exactly the same as yesterday so no change at all.
    Now i appreciate there is no miracle product out there for Ammonia but this product does claim to reduce Ammonia and Nitrates...... it does not claim how long it will take however and i appreciate its only been 24 hours but the Ammonia has not changed at all and there is not a trace of Nitrite so the filters do not look remotely ready to start converting but appear stable to cope with some Ammonia hence holding at 1....... i have a trickle going, i also turned the pumps right down and had the UV off for the Fluke treatment and for the Envirex to get into the media, i will let you know when my Ammonia starts to reduce and the Nitrites show then we can all take a view if this product has helped or not, it is my belief however that this product does contain a flocculent of some description as my water does appear to be clearer today so maybe floc / clay based ?? watch this space...... thanks Steve.

    I'll put this comment on this thread and the other Envirex thread in case it isn't noticed on this one:

    When I do product tests or evaluations, an important point I make sure is that the product is being used strictly according to the design specifications or manufacturer's instructions.

    The initial dose of Envirex that you put into your pond proved that it works exactly as it should.
    " Ammonia drops to 0.5 but within a day rises to 1"

    It isn’t supposed to be a daily ammonia blocker for the ammonia that fish exhale with every respiration cycle whether they’re being fed or not. That’s why the first dose reduced the level as it’s supposed to do but the fish continued to respire and caused it to rise again because there isn’t a working biofilter to remove it and Envirex isn’t supposed to re-start a dead biofilter.

    Envirex will make ponds far more hygienic and reduce the chance of disease by providing competitive exclusion for disease causing bugs and secondary opportunistic bugs or fungi. It degrades all types of solid waste matter whilst lowering ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate and other unwanted substances in the water.

    Envirex is a mix of enzymes and micro-organisms that work together to lower the bacterial count and reduce the levels of unwanted substances and degrade waste. It doesn’t contain nitrifying bugs that will re-seed a dead or damaged biofilter. You either have to wait for a damaged biofilter to remature from any surviving bugs that haven’t been killed or from the nitrifying bugs that are ubiquitous in the environment. In the case of a fully stocked pond, where you need it to remature more quickly, you should use a filter starter. Envirex won’t speed up either natural maturing or the action of a filter starter.

    The best strategy until the biofilter has rematured is to conduct daily water changes of sufficient size to reduce the current level of ammonia and any future spike in nitrite to acceptable levels.

    I spoke to Paula about this when she phoned about some other stuff and she said you may have been wrongly advised about Envirex by whoever sold it to you. She said that she would be happy for you to phone her as she obviously knows far more about Envirex and its uses than dealers so she can give you correct advice.

    The product information detailing what Envirex is manufactured to do is on the link below and you can go from there to the contact page for Paula’s contact information:
    Products

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    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai jphamill's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Manky Sanke View Post
    I'll put this comment on this thread and the other Envirex thread in case it isn't noticed on this one:

    When I do product tests or evaluations, an important point I make sure is that the product is being used strictly according to the design specifications or manufacturer's instructions.

    The initial dose of Envirex that you put into your pond proved that it works exactly as it should.
    " Ammonia drops to 0.5 but within a day rises to 1"

    It isn’t supposed to be a daily ammonia blocker for the ammonia that fish exhale with every respiration cycle whether they’re being fed or not. That’s why the first dose reduced the level as it’s supposed to do but the fish continued to respire and caused it to rise again because there isn’t a working biofilter to remove it and Envirex isn’t supposed to re-start a dead biofilter.

    Envirex will make ponds far more hygienic and reduce the chance of disease by providing competitive exclusion for disease causing bugs and secondary opportunistic bugs or fungi. It degrades all types of solid waste matter whilst lowering ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate and other unwanted substances in the water.

    Envirex is a mix of enzymes and micro-organisms that work together to lower the bacterial count and reduce the levels of unwanted substances and degrade waste. It doesn’t contain nitrifying bugs that will re-seed a dead or damaged biofilter. You either have to wait for a damaged biofilter to remature from any surviving bugs that haven’t been killed or from the nitrifying bugs that are ubiquitous in the environment. In the case of a fully stocked pond, where you need it to remature more quickly, you should use a filter starter. Envirex won’t speed up either natural maturing or the action of a filter starter.

    The best strategy until the biofilter has rematured is to conduct daily water changes of sufficient size to reduce the current level of ammonia and any future spike in nitrite to acceptable levels.

    I spoke to Paula about this when she phoned about some other stuff and she said you may have been wrongly advised about Envirex by whoever sold it to you. She said that she would be happy for you to phone her as she obviously knows far more about Envirex and its uses than dealers so she can give you correct advice.

    The product information detailing what Envirex is manufactured to do is on the link below and you can go from there to the contact page for Paula’s contact information:
    Products
    My technique was several pond sized doses over a week then non measured sprinkles into the media chamber, daily about a heaped soup spoon, about as scientific as touching the ground and turning around twice, my feeding was less than minimal to minimize any solid waste . I stopped brush "cleaning " the stuff stuck the walls and bottom. Realising I was ruining biofilm.
    The readings improved fractionally daily. I was testing twice a day with 2 different test kits.Envirex part 2, the kids even knew purple and pink were bad for Dad.
    I'm assuming my system was on the cusp of maturing to its current bioload and I took some of the pressure off the fish. Might have happened all by itself.

    Anyhow I'd like to say that today is the first day I've not water tested the pond even once, since testing daily since June.

    "Hi, my name is Jim and I'm an API-aholic."

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    Last edited by jphamill; 01-10-2020 at 05:03 PM.
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    Senior Member Rank = Mature Champion smartin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Manky Sanke View Post
    I'll put this comment on this thread and the other Envirex thread in case it isn't noticed on this one:

    When I do product tests or evaluations, an important point I make sure is that the product is being used strictly according to the design specifications or manufacturer's instructions.

    The initial dose of Envirex that you put into your pond proved that it works exactly as it should.
    " Ammonia drops to 0.5 but within a day rises to 1"

    It isn’t supposed to be a daily ammonia blocker for the ammonia that fish exhale with every respiration cycle whether they’re being fed or not. That’s why the first dose reduced the level as it’s supposed to do but the fish continued to respire and caused it to rise again because there isn’t a working biofilter to remove it and Envirex isn’t supposed to re-start a dead biofilter.

    Envirex will make ponds far more hygienic and reduce the chance of disease by providing competitive exclusion for disease causing bugs and secondary opportunistic bugs or fungi. It degrades all types of solid waste matter whilst lowering ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate and other unwanted substances in the water.

    Envirex is a mix of enzymes and micro-organisms that work together to lower the bacterial count and reduce the levels of unwanted substances and degrade waste. It doesn’t contain nitrifying bugs that will re-seed a dead or damaged biofilter. You either have to wait for a damaged biofilter to remature from any surviving bugs that haven’t been killed or from the nitrifying bugs that are ubiquitous in the environment. In the case of a fully stocked pond, where you need it to remature more quickly, you should use a filter starter. Envirex won’t speed up either natural maturing or the action of a filter starter.

    The best strategy until the biofilter has rematured is to conduct daily water changes of sufficient size to reduce the current level of ammonia and any future spike in nitrite to acceptable levels.

    I spoke to Paula about this when she phoned about some other stuff and she said you may have been wrongly advised about Envirex by whoever sold it to you. She said that she would be happy for you to phone her as she obviously knows far more about Envirex and its uses than dealers so she can give you correct advice.

    The product information detailing what Envirex is manufactured to do is on the link below and you can go from there to the contact page for Paula’s contact information:
    Products
    Hi MS,
    Appreciate your input, my email may not of been clear but my ammonia was fluctuating between 0.5 and 1 whilst performing water changes however within a day went back to 1, i stopped water changes and used Envirex but it made no difference at all.... understand what you are saying however the product blurb does signify that Ammonia and Nitrites can be helped using the product.......any how onwards with the zeolite in the hope of seeing an Ammonia reduction, will report back tomorrow, many thanks Steve.
    Last edited by smartin; 01-10-2020 at 04:59 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by smartin View Post
    Hi MS,
    Appreciate your input, my email may not of been clear but my ammonia was fluctuating between 0.5 and 1 whilst performing water changes however within a day went back to 1, i stopped water changes and used Envirex but it made no difference at all.... understand what you are saying however the product blurb does signify that Ammonia and Nitrites can be helped using the product.......any how onwards with the zeolite in the hope of seeing an Ammonia reduction, will report back tomorrow, many thanks Steve.
    I don’t argue with people on forums but your post can only be interpreted as a negative comment on a product manufactured by Lincolnshire Fish Health Laboratories and I cannot let that pass without pointing out that you have not used the product for its primary purpose. These are the first two sentences of the product information on Paula’s website:

    Envirex
    400gms 1Kg & 2Kg

    Envirex was created to make ponds far more hygienic and less chance of disease developing in the fish. Envirex degrades all types of solid waste matter whilst lowering ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and phosphate and other unwanted substances in pond water.

    The first sentence clearly states that the primary purpose is to promote pond hygiene.

    The second sentence says that it degrades solid waste whilst lowering ammonia, nitrite, nitrate etc. but it would be wrong to assume that putting Envirex into a pond with a dead biofilter was its correct or primary use or that it would somehow make the continuous ammonia excretions from a pond full of fish go away.

    You say that within a day the result went back to 1 mg/L. What do you expect from a pond full of fish in a pond without a working biofilter? An active koi exhales 33 mg of ammonia per hour per kilo of body weight into the water. You really should have used a filter booster not a pond hygiene product. However, despite the inappropriate use of Envirex, if it had done nothing at all, the ammonia would have been much higher on the second day.

    I have known Paula since c2002 and, where my area of experience can complement her area, we have collaborated on projects, so I know a great deal about her research centre and I can assure you that LFH do not sell snake oil. All their products are extensively tested in their research labs and Envirex was subject to the full range of tests for an extended period in the 80’s with accurate photometers and other electronic laboratory equipment (not cheap manual kits). It is still extensively used in their research centre where national and international manufacturers send products for evaluation and where Paula conducts her own research.

    I could go on but, if you read the product information on the link below and feel that Envirex doesn’t work in the way you expect or that the product information is wrong, I invite you to phone Paula on 01205 723413 and tell her.
    Products

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    Senior Member Rank = Mature Champion smartin's Avatar
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    Consider myself told off ...... i don't think your reply is quite worthy of all that but each to their own, i do not think what i have said really deserves that, as i always say i appreciate your input on all matters that i post, i am not going to argue with you, BUT i am perfectly entitled to report back my findings on this forum, i am sure the Envirex is a very good product for pond health, hygiene etc as the blurb states, others on here had reported back a positive result on their Ammonia when using this hence why i tried it but for me it did not lower it all, but it did as i reported back provide clearer water......I can see that Paula has a great reputation and not once did i mention her or rubbish her product in a derogatory way.
    Last edited by smartin; 03-10-2020 at 01:04 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by smartin View Post
    Consider myself told off ...... i don't think your reply is quite worthy of all that but each to their own, i do not think what i have said really deserves that, as i always say i appreciate your input on all matters that i post, i am not going to argue with you, BUT i am perfectly entitled to report back my findings on this forum, i am sure the Envirex is a very good product for pond health, hygiene etc as the blurb states, others on here had reported back a positive result on their Ammonia when using this hence why i tried it but for me it did not lower it all, but it did as i reported back provide clearer water......I can see that Paula has a great reputation and not once did i mention her or rubbish her product in a derogatory way.

    Steve,

    I don’t enjoy correcting people in public and I’m trying to be as gentle as possible but you just said for the second time on a public forum that Envirex made no difference to your ammonia level and I cannot let that remark pass unchallenged.

    Too many casual negative remarks about products are made on forums and Social Media when the correct procedure should have been to have firstly reported any concerns to the manufacturer/supplier for their comments or advice. These remarks frequently get picked up and endlessly repeated across Social Media and give products or the manufacturers a bad reputation. Envirex does not deserve that especially when you used it inappropriately. You should have used a filter starter to restart the filter you killed instead of a pond hygiene product.

    Paula spends huge amounts of time giving good free advice and I told you that you should phone her to discuss your concerns about Envirex. However, instead of doing that, you tried to justify yourself by repeating that it didn’t work despite the fact that I made it clear that it must have done.

    You said your ammonia levels were falling after water changes to 0.5 mg/L but rising again to 1.0 mg/L the next day. You said you “were clutching at straws in the hope that Envirex would regenerate your filter” when you stopped the water changes and added Envirex but the ammonia level stayed the same.

    Firstly, the assumption that Envirex would restart a dead biofilter was misguided. There is no indication in any literature that it would restart a biofilter. Secondly, surely you should have realised that the ammonia level after three days with no working biofilter would have risen substantially if Envirex had done nothing. From your figures, prior to using it, the ammonia was rising from 0.5 mg/L to 1.0 mg/L each day after lowering it with a water change. I.e. the fish were adding 0.5 mg/L per day so, three days after adding Envirex, and without water changes to reduce the level, it should have risen from 1.0 mg/L to 2.5 mg/L but you didn't find that to be the case so, although you didn't realise it, Envirex must have helped.

    I don't know if you've added a filter starter yet but that's what you should do. As I said, koi exhale ammonia with every respiration cycle (33 mg/L per hour per kilo of body weight). You can't stop that entirely but you can reduce it by stopping feeding altogether. Water changes or Zeolite will help reduce the ammonia level until the biofilter begins to mature.

    You might also take the invitation to phone Paula and ask for her help.

    You might call this a second “telling off” but I would call it setting the record straight about an incorrectly made negative remark while, at the same time, giving you the correct interpretation of your results and information about your situation.
    Last edited by Manky Sanke; 04-10-2020 at 07:21 PM.

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    Very nice......
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    Quote Originally Posted by jphamill View Post
    "Hi, my name is Jim and I'm an API-aholic."
    That's one of the funniest things I've seen on here recently. I'm still testing every day like an addict too - it's a really hard habit to break when you've done it for most of the year!

    But, getting back to this hot topic of Envirex... I feel I can see both sides of this situation from Steve and Syd's perspective, so bear with me a short while ...

    I, like many here, have tremendous respect for Paula and Syd and am grateful for the time they both give in sharing their wealth of knowledge, research and experience. I am learning tremendous amounts from them both, and Paula has spent many hours on the phone and exchanging emails with me. Fish are pretty much the only pets for which owners don't readily have veterinarian support, and as such, we have to turn to each other via forums, and the likes of Syd and Paula for help. This can often result in some confusing and conflicting information, but in the absence of 'fish vets' that is what we have - and thank goodness we do.

    During my conversations with Paula, not only have I learned a lot about fish, but also about her background. For those who may not know, she has lectured and written on all aspects of koi welfare and health, contributing to numerous books and magazines for decades, including Koi Carp Magazine for 25 years until it closed. Her articles are still published in several languages, and BKKS members can access them online. Whilst her work is predominately piscine disease research, she sits on various committees for fish health and welfare, and works with agencies in the UK and several koi producing countries. Her biosecure laboratory carries out investigations for dealers and hobbyists, research projects for organisations and the government, and also handles legal cases when misunderstandings on koi medication issues escalate. I was particularly impressed to learn that she was instrumental in the revision of the Animal Welfare Act 2006 that extended legal protection to fish for the first time. Paula wanted to take this a step further, and form a trade association to regulate higher standards in fish quarantine, welfare and health to improve the industry as a whole and protect not just the fish but us, the hobbyist buyers, too. She mentioned that a number of dealers supported this scheme, including Avenue Fisheries in Bedford, but that it did not obtain sufficiently widespread support to become official, which to me seems a real shame. Besides all the work she is doing, Paula still finds time to make herself accessible to the public, and has even called me in response to an email on a Sunday afternoon! I honestly don't know many specialists of her calibre that would do that.

    With all this in mind, when the subject of Envirex first came to light for me it was on @SamuraiJack's Nitrite thread and it caught my attention as I too had NPS and, knowing it was an LFH product, had great faith it would be good. Google searches reveal a lot of very positive reviews, many reporting it was key in overcoming poor parameters, but whilst I could read for myself what it claimed to do on the LFH website it, like many products we use in ponds, didn't state exactly what was in it nor how it worked, and this is what I wanted to understand so I could ascertain if it would help my situation. I raised this very question in post No.41 from which followed some lively and often humorous debate about the manufacture of the product, what it contained (the so-called KFC secret recipe!), and what actions it performed in the pond. At my request @jphamill kindly posted photos of the packaging of his Envirex so I could see if there was anything different on the tub as opposed to the website, and there was. The label states:

    "Envirex is not a chemical, it is a combination of naturally occurring substances harnessed to benefit all ponds. Based on enzymes which have been incorporated into a base of bran and yeast, Envirex is totally harmless to all pond fish and aquatic plants. Envirex encourages the reproduction of the microorganisms in the pond filter system that are responsible for the breakdown of all waste products such as ammonia and nitrite, which can both be very harmful to fish. The product works quickly to lower ammonia and nitrite, this can save fish in new ponds when the filter is not fully mature, or when filtration performance has been lost in a mature pond due to a major disturbance. Envirex inhibits the growth of algae by removing the nutrients that allow it to flourish. Clearer water should result from the regular use of the product. The stability of the pond is vital to health. Koi and goldfish prefer a pH between 7.3 and 8.4. Envirex can balance out the fluctuations in acidity and alkalinity that some ponds experience. Sudden changes in pH can kill fish or the stress debilitate them".

    On the dosing instructions, it even talks about using Envirex in unfiltered ponds, something I'm sure makes most of us all shudder at the thought


    So, to me, this would indicate that there are a number of components in this product that perform:

    1) Boosting of filter media microorganisms by encouraging their reproduction. From Syd's explanation I'm guessing this is not nitrifying bugs (like the filter gels), but rather an enzymatic bacterial libido booster... 'biagra' perhaps
    . I'd love to know what these enzymes are and how they work.

    2) Suppression of algae by removal of nutrients. Which ones? Nitrates and Phosphates? How?!!
    Does the bran and yeast have a part to play in this, or are those components simply the delivery system for the enzymes?

    3) Clearer water - is this achieved via flocculation that allows the fines to gather and be removed by mechanical filtration?

    4) Stabilization of pH - so does Envirex also contain bi-carb which we know to use to raise KH to regulate pH, or something else?!!

    As I said before in post #41 "enquiring minds wanna know" (hommage to Lost Boys )

    Given that the above label was shared in the Nitrite thread, which preceded this thread, and Steve had partaken in it, I honestly don't think he was wrong in hoping Envirex may help his situation with the ammonia by boosting his damaged filter. I can also understand why he felt he was at the point of 'clutching at straws' - many of us have been there! Thanks to Syd, we now know for certain that Envirex is not an ammonia binder (like Seachem Safe or Prime, which I personally don't like to use in ponds), nor an absorber (like zeolite, which I think is the best solution and I'll be buying some to have in stock thanks to this thread), so it didn't perform well enough in Steve's situation. I can understand how Steve may have been disappointed with this, given that the tub does say it "works quickly to lower ammonia and nitrite". However, as Syd points out - the ammonia levels did actually come down so there could have been some action taking place from the Envirex, but other factors could have been at play (such as feeding), that caused it to go up again.

    I'd still like to understand more about Envirex and how it works, and I'm guessing Steve would too having paid out to try the product! It would be really good to bring this thread to a positive conclusion by gaining a greater understanding of this product. To that end, I will contact Paula myself, but in the meantime may I ask Syd - are you able to share any insight in line with my points 1 to 4 above from a water chemistry perspective?

    Fingers crossed,
    Wendy
    11,440L Raised Pond, BD, Oase ProfiClear, Bitron 55W, 2x10k Aquaforte Varios, Skimmer to Waterblade

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  26. #15
    Yes I will Wendy, but I hope you will excuse me if I don't do that for a couple of days because I'm fully involved doing an important job at the moment.

    Also, as I said above, I spoke to Paula about this when she phoned me last weekend about another matter. We talked at length and she then sent me an email to give me more information but, out of politeness, I'll phone her first before I share that.

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  28. #16
    Senior Member Rank = Kyusai Koiz's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Manky Sanke View Post
    Yes I will Wendy, but I hope you will excuse me if I don't do that for a couple of days because I'm fully involved doing an important job at the moment. Also, as I said above, I spoke to Paula about this when she phoned me last weekend about another matter. We talked at length and she then sent me an email to give me more information but, out of politeness, I'll phone her first before I share that.
    Absolutely Syd, any input is appreciated whenever you have the time, and I understand perfectly that you'd want to check with Paula before sharing the contents of a private email about her product
    11,440L Raised Pond, BD, Oase ProfiClear, Bitron 55W, 2x10k Aquaforte Varios, Skimmer to Waterblade

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    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion RS2OOO's Avatar
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    Smartin,

    Sorry if you have done this and I've missed it, but have you used your test kit on tap water?

    I find API ammonia kits can give dodgy readings and I've had it on a few of their kits, for example my current API kit shows filtered tap water as 0.25 mg/l where other kits show as zero.

    A 0.5 reading on my pond (which sadly is a common occurrence lately) is actually a 0.2 reading on other kits.

    Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

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    Really good point, RS. The API test kit is known to be tricky to read at low levels of Ammonia (often showing as 0.25 when it's actually zero or close to it). I've been experiencing this myself lately. Don't know if it's just that it more sensitive than other test kits, but NTLabs gives me zero and API, well - anything from trace to 0.25, and it used to show zero. Still within date as I'm testing every day so getting through it pretty fast! Well worth trying another test kit and testing your source water too. And don't forget, that API reads both NH3 and NH4 the non-toxic ionized ammonium conversion. This is one of the reasons I'm still debating whether to bite the bullet and go for a digital test kit.
    11,440L Raised Pond, BD, Oase ProfiClear, Bitron 55W, 2x10k Aquaforte Varios, Skimmer to Waterblade

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  34. #19
    Senior Member Rank = Supreme Champion RS2OOO's Avatar
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    I've often wondered about the NH3/4 thing as well.

    Out of all the kits I have only the API one mentions NH4.

    So if I'm getting 0.25 from the API kit and 0 from others, have I got a faulty kit or is my NH3 too low to register on other kits because the API kit is giving a combined reading?

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    And JBL tests only NH4 Envirex part 2

    Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk
    11,440L Raised Pond, BD, Oase ProfiClear, Bitron 55W, 2x10k Aquaforte Varios, Skimmer to Waterblade

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