We moved into a house with a pond. It came with a surface aerator that finally bit the bullet and never really worked well anyways. We're looking into getting a compressor and diffusers. We have power right at the pond. Hubby plans to build a cabinet there for the compressor. Pond surface is about 1/3 of an acre and is kidney shaped, but has a large island in the middle. Not sure how many diffusers we should have I'm thinking at least two on North of island and one south. Can you have too many? What size pump would we need? We have zero clue what we are getting into here. Thanks in advance!
I'm new to the whole aeration thing this year but one additional piece of information needed will be how deep the pond is as that factors in to what size pump will be needed.
To get you started, you need to decide if you are going to "Do It Yourself" or do you want to buy the complete system and do more of a plug and play. Having electric at the pond is a bonus.
Will you be able to just replace the pump on the old system? Or, are you going to scrap the old system and start fresh?
You could easily use the Pond Life 1, 2 , or 3. The #4 is probably over kill, but I don't know that there can be too much turn over within reason. I used the equivalent of the #3 on my 1/4 acre, 10 foot deep pond. It's plenty of aeration. Call Hoosier Pond Pros and they can make easy advise and sell you a system...OR...
You can do your research and design your own system. I have done that, but I have to say that you are not likely to save much money to brag about if you don't have "stuff" to start with and you plan on designing an equivalent system. With that said, you can find a used pump on the net, put simple pluming to some cheap diff users and you have air bubbles...No bells or whistles and less automatic and/or forgiving. If your budget is tight and you want air, it can be done for less. You will get the satisfaction of doing it yourself, learning from your mistakes, and customizing it to your liking. I would do it myself again rather than pay for a canned system because that's just the way I'm wired.
Give us some more details on your pond and your desires and you will find plenty of experience here to help guide your efforts.
Thanks guys. The pond is about 10-12 ft deep everywhere it is straight down at the banks. The current system is a floating surface aerator. It's not very efficient and motor is shot so it's done. We'd like to buy a complete system. We don't have time to fiddle with stuff. But we are in Ontario so not sure what is available to us up here.
I put in a DIY system for my pond with 2 diffusers this summer, also about 12' deep and about .2 AC when full, for a bit over $600. The price for DIY can vary a bit depending on how much weighted tubing is needed and if you go with a quality distribution manifold. I put my system in a plastic storage container with forced air vents and it works just fine in all weather conditions.
As far as weighted tubing goes it's in the neighborhood of $1 per foot or more for 3/8 inch so it adds up fast. I found that 3/8 inch airline for compressors runs about 1/2 the cost and also sinks so I used that for distribution from the the compressor to the regular weighted tubing to cut the cost.
An off the shelf solution would be more costly but then you don't have to deal with the headaches of collecting & assembling all the bits and pieces. In my case I like doing that along with saving some cash.
All I had for over 10 years was a small fountain that ran 24/7 and we've still got the variety of fish the original owner stocked about 4 years before we bought the place - even with the pond completely freezing over during the winter months except for the hole from the fountain.
You've definitely got a multitude of combinations in pump styles and diffusers. From rotary vein to linear diaphragm pumps. Air stones to rubber membrane diffusers. The cost of each dependent on their individual sizes. Your budget will ultimately determine which way you go.
Knowing your max depth, as stated above, will dictate what size pump you need. Diffusers should be of a type that will give you the maximum lift you can get, which is typically a rubber membrane type with tiny holes that create thousands, if not millions of tiny bubbles. The more bubbles the better as this creates optimum lift, thus creating enough current to turn your water over (at least once every 24 hours). For every foot of depth, you're looking at .5 pounds of pressure, so if your diffuser is 10 feet deep, your pump needs to create a minimum of 5psi.
I personally went with a linear diaphragm pump that is rated to 20 feet. The diffuser setup is tubular rubber diaphragm arranged at 9 foot deep. With the included 30 feet of sinking 3/8" airline, my complete cost was under $600. My pond is small (187,000 gallons), but we've estimated this kit turns the pond over at least twice in 6 hours.
Knowing the depth and acre feet of water will get you going in the right direction.
.10 surface acre pond, 10.5 foot deep. SW LA. The epitome of a mutt pond. BG, LMB, GSF, RES, BH, Warmouth, Longear Sunfish, Gambusia,Mud Minnows, Crappie, and now shiners!!...I subscribe!!
