Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Silly Idea? (not my first one)

I like it.

I like it too. That's a prime example of why I like this forum.

7 ft. is only 3 psi; most any small air pump will deliver at least 1 cfm at that depth. I have a gast I got at a surplus store for $55 bucks. It has no problem supplying my homemade co-active diffusers(sorry, Vertex) to 12 ft. It is 55 watts; much more efficient than moving water.

If I didnt have it, I would look into an air brush compressor, which is oilless, rated for continuous duty, and not expensive. This is if you have no power at the pond.
I also have a piston gast, that kicks butt, but I have it off duty to overhaul it.

Sorry, folks, the last post makes no sense. I missed reading the whole last page of posts. See how stupid I look when I try to stay on topic?

As for a secchi disk, my white coffee cup with carrollers with black hair and colorfus attire, works for me.

I love Old Bay seasoning. I was stationed in northern Md. in the navy in the 70s. Seafood coming from the bay ws owesome., Clams, shrimp, fish, oysters.

THOMAS 2619 compressor vacuum pump 3.5 cfm 115 vac RBLT

Does anyone have an opinion on this model pump for aerating a .35 acre pond, 150 ft across by 18 ft deep. With qty 5 soaker hose lines at 4 ft each. Home made project for sure.

This is an Ebay item and from all my reading, appears to fit the bill.
Thanks, Ken

I would hold off on buying that system until you hear from the experts Ken. I'm certainly not one of the experts but from what I've read here I do know that it takes about one half of one PSI (or .5) psi per foot of water depth to push air to the bottom. So at 18 feet deep the compressor would need to have enough air flow at 9 PSI to run a bottom diffuser. Also from my reading my understanding is that soaker hoses work ok in shallower water but are not as good in deeper water. A nice bottom diffuser would probably work better in the deep part of your pond.

What is the basic shape of your pond?

Hang on and I'm sure one of the experts will give you good info (as opposed to my ignorant speculation).

Hi Ken, although we use various different Thomas compressors for different applications, I have never used this one. However, this style is exactly the same as what we usually use. What I can tell you is that you should check the pump curve and find out what CFM you are getting at 9 PSI plus whatever the pressure requirement is to open the slits in the tubing. I would suggest shooting for at least 2 CFM @ 10 PSI. Thomas pump curves are notoriously difficult to find without calling a distributor for a spec sheet so good luck. $75 is a great deal if it does what you want it to, which I would suspect it would. For the price I say give it a try.

Be prepared to rebuild this pump every 12-18 months depending on sight conditions and filter replacement frequency. A rebuild kit will probably run about $100-$125 and is simple enough that a kid could do it in half an hour. It takes me about 3 days.

Finally, these compressors come from the factory with a ridiculously undersized and fragile filter assembly. So, if you want to upgrade it I would recommend a Solberg filter model #HFA-S-10050

Wow, $100 to $125 per year. That makes a cheap pump sound not so cheap anymore.

Yeah, especially when you consider the rebuild kit comes with about 5 dollars in materials. They're great compressors for this application though.

Thanks guys for the feedback. So, I got the pump in (3.5 cfm @40psi)plus my 5 lengths of soaker hose at 4' each. 150' of 5/8" garden hose and about 40$ worth of fittings and PVC, some glue...etc. Put all together and tried it out in the pool. Needed about 25lbs of rock to weigh it down. Wow, gotta say it worked very well. Good amount of small bubbles and allot of water movement. Since I have no restriction (regulator) or flow control in the line, I assume I am putting the whole 3.5 CFM at 40 PSI to work. I can't complain right now. I put legs on the diffuser to keep it 2.5ft above the bottom and will start the process of putting it together in the pond sometime next month. All in all, very satisifed. $200, not bad. I would have liked to purchase a new one from one of the local vendors, but presently out of a job at 55 years old, after 30 yrs with the same company. Not complaining, saw it coming, good time for a little time off before hitting the old work world again for another 10 yrs. Thanks again for the feedback.