What is pond liming?

Liming is one of the important steps in pond preparation and treatment. Most of our pond soil has acidic characteristics which affects the pond hardness and alkalinity. Liming is an application of various acid neutralizing compounds like calcium and magnesium to make the pond environment cleaner & healthier. 

Uses of pond liming:

• Increase and stabilize the PH which swings widely throughout the day.
• To enhance the efficiency of fertilizers.
• Increase the plankton productivity for fishes.
• Provide important minerals (calcium & magnesium) 
• Increase the alkalinity and hardness of the pond.
• Increase the transparency of the water.
• Remove/Decrease the toxic gases from the pond.

Liming materials:

• Agriculture Lime - CaCO3 and dolomite [CaMg(CO3)2]
• Hydrated lime - Calcium hydroxide (Ca(OH)2)
• Quick lime - Calcium oxide (CaO)

Points to remember:

• Soil and water PH, alkalinity, hardness determines the quantity of lime. Check these all before applying the lime.
• Don’t dump the lime. Lime should be distributed all over the pond properly..
• Due to availability and cost effectiveness Agriculture lime is desirable than the Quick lime, Hydrated Lime. 
• If pH is near to neutral, agriculture lime will be best. If pH is at very low level, quicklime and hydrated lime would be correct to increase the pH quickly.