I have 3 mud ponds , I need to put some air in them , Has any body used Thomas 2650 compressors 115VAC, 60 Hz. 3.9 amps 3.73 cfm, 40psi max . I see them on E bay for $75 Re built. I see a system on e bay not sure what model the pump is (Item number: 190278221963) if you can itentify .Please help me .

Thanks in advance

Hi Joe and welcome to Pond Boss. It's good to have another California member here. I highly recommend that, unless you are knowledgeable about aerations systems, you consult with an aeration expert prior to purchasing a system. A poorly designed or improperly used system can cause a host of problems including causing a fish kill.

The experts will probably want to know:

(1) how deep are your ponds?

(2) what are the shapes of your ponds?

(3) how much air hose will you need to run?

Joe, welcome to the forum!

Virtually all of the Thomas and Gast 1/3 Hp compressors will do a fine job and last a long time. They do make a lot of noise though. I use "whole house" style water filters to filter the air and the expansion chambers they provide are excellent mufflers.

The ebay item is probably similar to the 2650 and is not a great deal if you can build your own system. If you want a GREAT system, Sue Cruz from Vertex Water Features and Ted Lea from Forever Green can and will design the BEST system for each pond (or one to operate all three ponds) for more money, but their expertise and designs are more than worth the extra bucks!

Welcome to Pond Boss Joe,JHAP and Rainman have you off to a good start.I sent you a PM to get some additional info from you so a proper aeration system system can be sized for your pond(s)

Thank you for all the info,
My ponds are 75 ft long x 20 wide .
About 7 to 8 ft at deepest points.
ponds are close to each other
about 20 foot of hose will be needed.
I raise koi for fun only
I have a web site http://www.redwoodgardenbridges.com ponds can be seen in the back ground of some of the pic.
at this point I am pondering on getting the 2650 rebuild pump with some 12 inch airstones with sinking hoses maybe have $200 invested .open for input .
thank s
again.
Joe

I dont know much about the 12 inch airstone as far as rec cfm range ie 1-3 or how much water it may lift.Most airstones lift from 1/4 to 1/2 what a proper rubber membrane bladder will.(not a wasterwater unit) Airstones seem to require a lot of maintenance and plug somewhat easily.I prefer a membrane that will stay dry on the inside and never be in contact with the water,airstones will be wet on the inside when the system is off even with a checkvalve thus the reason they start to plug from the inside.If you start out with a med pore stone after a few acid washings the particles become unbound and supply larger bubbles which inturn lift less water.Keep in mind the bubbles for the most part will not aerate your water but act as a lifting device to expose bottom water to the oxygen in the atmosphere.Think of diffusers as circulators creating verticle current.In 7-8 ft of water I suggest no less than 1.25 cfm at the diffuser and a diffuser that will lift at least 2000 gallon per minute.Some diffusers do have independent published data to show lifting capacities at various depths and cfm's.Try to stay with a "tested" diffuser. Koi ponds tend to have a high nutrient and organic load and a higher BOD (biological /biochemical oxygen demand) over time."Under" aerating can lift nutrients into the water column and cause excessive algae growth Aerating all three ponds off a single compressor is not a problem and that 2650 may do the job, we use Thomas 2680 CE 44 models for your type of application,but a Gast 0523 would work also if you can find that pump at a good price.You may want to get two of those systems and put 2 stones in each pond and manifold the pumps together if you want to stay with airstones.If you do go with airstones be sure to put a good liquid filled pressure gauge inline to see how fast they are plugging so you know when to clean,you should have an initial startup pressure of approx 4-5 psi in 7-8 ft of water with 3 stones per pump.Stay with feeder tubing at least .375 ID and no bigger than .625 needed, If you end up with a rotary vane stay with the larger ID tubing.The heartbeat of any aeration system are the diffusers so keep doing your research and keep us informed how the project works out for you.

If you do not already have airstones, I suggest that you begin with membrane diffusers. Maintenance will be less in the long run and produce just as good or better circulation.

Thank you very much, I want to do this right the first time LOL.
I would hve gotton the stones but know it sounds like it best to go with the branes.with a rebuild 2660 or a 2650 .Thanks again for all the info.

I have ordered a rebuilt 2660, and looking at diffures at http://www.lagunakoi.com/subcat103.html . Can I use 3/8 air line ? 20 foot is the farest I am running them from the pump?
Well am I headind in the right direction ?

1/2" would be a lot better, but I' think 3/8" will work. Twenty feet is a pretty short run. I'd bet you'll end up with at least a fifty foot run (probably more) and the 1/2 can handle that just fine.

Having never installed airstones myself, I can't say for sure, but I would imagine that due to the fact that airstones require little or no back pressure to release the air, there would be restrictions on the depth variance of airstones running off the same manifolded system. That is, if one diffuser is running in 10 feet of water and the other in 6, there would be a head pressure difference of 1.7 PSI. Depending on how much pressure is required to emit the bubble, you may end up getting all the bubbles coming out of only one airstone. This would be common to all types of diffusers that are running off of a single air source but some require more back pressure than others making them better candidates for ponds with large depth variations. Double check your pond depths and the psi requirements of whatever diffuser you use. Head pressure is about 0.43 lbs/ft of water depth. Be sure that your head difference does not exceed the pressure requirements to emit the bubble.

I plan on using a valve on each line to equeal things out to each diffuser .Plan on hooking up system next week Thomas 2660 and 3 diffusers in 3 ponds .Got my fingers crossed.

Wow ! pumps works great ! using 1/2 hose.I would be glad to take some pics for all to see .
Not sure how to post them .