Some of you may have followed the recent post on my bosses pond that has trout turning up left and right. I have just installed my aerator this morning and have everything in place but my bosses recent mess has me severely frightened about running our aerator.

I started this morning and place 2 diffusors on opposite ends of the pond both in 6-7' of water. 1 diffuser is on the end we have been running the venturi air at night, the other diffuser is on the opposite end which stays fairly stagnant except for windy days.

After placing both diffusers I started it up and ran it for about 3 minutes until the stagnant end started sliding down the dropoff and was emiting the most vulger smell I have ever tasted.. yeah.. it was so bad you could taste it. So we shut it down immidiately and moved the diffuser back up to the 6-7' range and then tied it off with a shore line to keep it from sliding down the dropoff. The diffuser on the previously aerated end had no odor and very little if any change in water color .

We were previously using the venturi system from dusk to dawn and experience tells me if I don't do that the trout start to come up from the deep within 2 days so I know I have to aerate at night. I have been cycling the new aeration system since 9:30 AM this morning running it for 10 minute intervals every 3 hours.

My goal is to simply run it dusk to dawn and eliminate the venturi pump that is so costly to run. Is there a way I can determine it's safe to run it at night ? I know now is a bad time of year to be starting it up but I also know dollar for dollar the venturi we were using is not very efficient or nearly as effective.

I guess I'm looking for some advice on running it tonight or should I continue the timed intervals for a week during the day and continue the old venturi at night while I cycle the new system ? I would think trying to do just the top half isn't as risky but after that smell from this morning I know there is a risk if that stuff is being kicked up everytime I cycle it.

TIA



P.S. now 7:00 PM, and maybe I'm a little naive or oberly optimistic but the feeding activity just now was better than it has even been. fish are hitting top water in the stagnant end which almost never happens. YP, LMB, and BG were all eating in harmony at 2nd feeding.. hopefully it's the aeration and not just the switch back to AM500.

Last edited by Attica Farmer; 08/21/10 06:10 PM. Reason: Added P.S. comment


1/2 acre 14' Deep. LMB, WE, YP, HBG, BG, Rainbows.