0 ammonia, 0 nitrite any reading of nitrate....
you wont get a nitrate cycle until you have some form of ammonia i..e. fish waste, rotting food etc....
in a lot of those photo's they have the fish in there for about 10-15 mins....
though to be honest the practice only promotes unsuitable aquariums.....
I tend to find most wild turtles are actually well loved pets that have escaped. have a list at work of 5 local ones that have owners waiting for them...
yeah, but above 10 will kill most things.
imo its better to keep a pond pH around 7.0-7.5, best for plants/fish without being overly good to algae.
then again had a customer with a major algae problem and their water was perfect.... except for the 30ppm copper reading....
goldfish normally keep it in check, also a bit of shade, if its going mental its because theres excess nutrients in the system, once you main plants take off it should slow down
i have had customers before with raw concrete ponds and the pH has risen to well over 10
all fish and plants dead etc.....
it would be easier to do a pond with crusherdust base and firestone liner imo.