Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Revisting Aeration

About 3 years ago I posted in this forum regarding a fish kill I had during the summer. I can't find those posts anymore and it seems I remember a server crash or something that might have wiped out those posts? My older posts from 2006 are still here. Anyway I have a 1 acre pond here in Shelbyville, KY. It is now producing some nice size LMB and CC, although the BG population has never really gotten much size to them. I believe top treating some areas that had creeping water primrose with shoreclear helped to decrease th DO in my pond and cause the fish kill 3 years ago, so I have been afraid to use anything since. My pond in now encircled with "Pond Weed" I believe and now this year "Coontail" has taken off and all but taken over the shallow areas up to 4-5 feet. I really think it is too late this year to attempt aeration or chemicals to risk the decomposing material killing the fish. The problem is My nearest electric is 1200 ft away from the pond. I thought about and dismissed windwills, and I recall a aeration vendor telling me I could run 1200 ft of air hose no problem. Is this true for any system or just certain vendors. Can the hose lay on top of ground along a fence line or should it be buried in case of squirrels and such (I had squirrels eat camera coax cable all the way through) Based on what I described here do you think aeration is the way to go to eliminate these weeds, or something else. Best to wait until fall or spring? I need dto go ahead and prepare for what i want to do, or another year will pass and I will have done nothing again. Looking for anyone's thoughts or suggestions. Vendors posts welcomed.

I too looked for the posts and couldn't find them. Maybe ewest can shed some light on it.

You can run air that distance without a problem, but you should do 2 things.

1) Bury it. Squirrels WILL chew on it. I've seen where squirrels walked out on the ice and chewed thru the top of decoys that were marking diffusers that were turned off. Try and run the airline so that it is slightly sloped towards the pond (if feasible). That way, if condensation occurs, it might not puddle up and create a blockage. Running the larger air line will help mitigate the problem.

2) Run a larger I.D. pipe than what is typically recommended for air line. I'd run 1" or 1 1/4" black poly pipe and neck it down at the manifold box that you install at the edge of the pond to the 1/2" - 5/8" self weighted air line for in the pond.

Aeration by itself won't cure the weed problem, but it will help with your DO swings. You'd still have to treat the problem weeds with chemicals.

I'd run an electric aeration system. I've seen a winterkill in a pond with only windmill aeration. 2 weeks of very cloudy/foggy weather with ice on the pond and very little wind did the trick. 3 other ponds within 300 Yds of that one that had electric aeration systems in them had no winterkill.

esshup....

are there certain times of the year that it's
best to install/start-up an aeration system?
I am considering adding one & I am getting some bids
and remember I am in Texas

Zep, I'd just go with the recommended aeration start-up procedure. You might want to drag it out a little bit longer if the pond is old with a lot of organic matter on the bottom and a high volume of anoxic water in the pond. No time like the present to get it going!

So you think it is ok to start aeration anytime if you follow the correct slow start up procedure?

PS - I also lost some of my posts inquiring about FLOYTAGS....

Now is the time. I started mine up in June. Just take is slow and easy and you will be fine. There is no better time than the present to get D.O. to your fish. As summer gets hotter and hotter there will be less and less D.O. in your pond. Remember warm water hold about half as much D.O. as cold water.

Correct. Just like RC51 said, as long as the start up is followed, your pond should benefit.

I have used the floy tags for a number of years and like them.

Can someone provide a link to a good aeration system (electric) that will work for a two acre pond in southwest Wisconsin. This is a new pond, which isn't full yet. The pond will be a runoff/ well filled pond. The peak depth is 20 feet, with average depths of 8 feet. Thanks much!

Has anyone ever encountered problems laying the underwater hoses for aeration diffusers due to unseen underwater structure that has been previously placed in the pond?

Ideally shouldn't the aeration lines that run to the diffusers be laying along the bottom floor of a pond and not laying across PVC armed structures or natural sunken trees?

Also once aeration is in place I guess one must be careful where they drop structure so as to not pinch an aeration line?