I have a 2 acre pond (20 ft max. depth) that was built 3 years ago. I bought an aeration pump back in October and have been running it for about a month. I have been reading that you don't put the airstone deep in the winter. Is that true? I sunk mine at about the 15 ft area. Not the deepest but of course I have more shallow areas too? Should I move it? Does running aeration deep in the winter hurt the fish? I also read a post on here that said they don't even aerate in the winter. This pump is harder on the electric bill than what most people say they're going to be. If it stays below freezing (here in SE OHIO) it only occurs for a week or two.

Hi Randy ~ you don't need to aerate in the winter. Your pond is plenty deep ~ shallow weedy ponds are in danger of winter fishkills. Plus you are in SE OH so your winters are not too harsh. I would shut it off and start it back up in the spring gradually.

Where were you last winter?

Im near Dayton and just 2 days ago unplugged the aeartor based on lots of research I have done. If we get aan exceptionally hard/cold winter like last 2 years, where we had snow covered ice for almost 30 days, Ill fire it up and melt a hole in the center of the pond to open it up. My problem is i like ice fishing and therefore that s the primary reason I unplugged it. Have skim ice today...another 10 days of this and Ill be on 3.5" of good clear ice, ( thats about a 7 on the pucker scale though..I prefer 5+" to keep the nervous twitching down.. LOL)

Salmonid

I live in Columbus, Oh. It's has been a cold winter! I'm in the process of adding an aeration system to my 1 acre, 8-10 ft. deep, pond in the near future. I like to waterfowl hunt so I plan on keeping some ice open for ducks and geese. I've heard that running an aeration in the cold winter can really decrease the water temp and harm the fish. I understand that you're supposed to run it in shallower water in the winter?

You are correct. WHen I'm running my winter diffuser, I floated it in 10' of water at the 5' depth level. My pond, depending on the ground water level will have betwen 12' and 18' in the deepest spot. I put the diffuser in that area because it will thaw the ice all the way to the shore. I almost lost my 2 Springer Spaniels a few years ago when they decided to chase geese that were in the open water. They got so cold that they couldn't climb back up on the ice. With the ice thawed all the way to shore, that won't be a problem any more.

I have the same question. Do I need to aerate in winter. I have a one acre pond in NJ. 8FT.max with 5Ft average. I aerate in two locations, one deep , one 4.5FT. what is best for the fish. I just turned it off and now have complete ice cover.

I would just keep the shallow one running to keep an area open for air exchange, if you have warm or cool water fish you wouldn't want to get your pond too cool, but they also need adequate oxygen, sometimes it's a balancing act.

Welcome to the forum JR.

Hey John,

I have a one acre pond myself with a 8 foot max! Where you live I would run yours like AP said. Keep it shallow though. I live here in Arkansas so my pond don't freeze over for to long if it does so I just turn mine off. But where you live your could go weeks with ice over and it would help to have the air going to keep an open spot. You may even pull it in a little more to about 3 feet if you can. All your trying to do is add a little Oxy. and keep a hole in the ice.