Hi all,

My Dad gave me a pump he bought at an auction, and I'm wondering if it will work in my pond since I don't have an aeration system in place. Also have a boatload of 1/2 clear tubing that I'd like to use as well.

Thomas 2107CEF20
http://www.gd-thomas.com/product.aspx?id=13850&tp=p

Pond is 1/3 acre, avg 10-12 feet, 30yrs old, already have a surface fountain. Barely use copper sulfate, 15 lbs a year spread with a dixie cup while walking the bank about every 3 weeks, a little pond dye, about a quart a year, and a bag of barely pellets in the spring. Fish-LMB & HB, adding perch in a few weeks. Never aerated before except with surface fountain.

We typically get a ring of algae about 2 feet wide around the entire pond until swimming season starts, and I'm hoping that adding bottom aeration with this pump will be sufficient to get rid of it without anymore chemicals. Water is very clear past the algae, visibility about 6-8 feet.

Thanks,
Steve

Bumpty, experts any idea if this pump will work?

Not an expert, but do know that It will work fine. It produces 1.4 cfm at 12 ft deep, and 1.15 at 25 ft. Get a diffuser that works at 1 or less cfm air volume and you will be set. Good find. Put it in the deepest part of pond. Vertex or Aquatic Ecosystem have 9" diffusers to fit the parameters. The 1/2 inch clear will work, but may deteriorate quickly. I suggest go get a 100 ft roll of 3/4 black semi-rigid plastic pipe from Lowes, about $15.

I am an expert, and the specs as Burgermeister suggested will allow the compressor to work fine in your pond at a depth of 12'. In fact, at 12' you are at around 10.6" Hg. Even if you have to add 1,000' of 1/2" pipe from the compressor to the diffuser, you only add another 1.2 psi of friction loss.

*****CAUTION******** Since this pond aged and has NEVER seen any circulation from the bottom up, you MUST follow a start up proceedure. Secondly, there is most likely a large amount of nutrients that are blocked by a thermocline and by removing this thermocline, you may find that intially you will have an algae bloom larger than you have had in the past. This will cease once the biological and chemical changes are met in the pond and the assimilation capacity (the pond's ablility to assimilate the nutrients in it) is increased.

As a side note...we too carry the 9" diffusers but are happier with the tube diffusers for performance. With a single AirPod, you will be circulating the entire volume of your pond around 4 times per day....a little bit large for your small pond. Look into a smaller diffuser like a Shallow Pond Diffuser and split it into to zones in you pond.

Best fishes!