hi everyone. im looking into to doing a diy aeration system on my pond that i am going to renovate. id like to do an "rc51" type system...in other words a homemade system. i was trying to find out info about the ecoplus 7 pump but i was unable to find the makers website.

from what i have been able to find it seems that the ecoplus 7 pump puts out about 200 cubic liters of air per minute and uses about 280 watts per hour. ill just call it .71 liters per watt effeiency. (200 liters/ 280 watts = .71) the pondmaster AP 100 pump puts out 149 cu. liters per minute and only uses 100 watts so this is a much higher effiency pump at a rating of 1.49 liters of air per minute per watt. (149 liters/ 100 watts = 1.49) at actually pumps more than twice the air for the power according to my calculations...so this brings me to some questions for all of you.

does anyone have any experience good or bad with the ecoplus 7 or the pondmaster ap 100??? how much do you figure you pay every month to run your aeration system? how deep can i reasonably expect to pump with the pondmaster ap 100 or the ecoplus 7? should i just get a gast rotery vane (which i think is even less efficient than ecoplus 7)???

all opinions and advice welcome...thanks in advance - justin

After looking over RC51's set up, I started making my own. A budget system was what i was looking for. I would love to buy a profressonal grade system, but just cant swing it. I pieced together a system with 600+ feet of water hose. For a diffuser, I used a piece of soaker hose roughly 12" in diamter. I took a 5 gal bucket drilled 2 rows of holes around the top, and ziptied the soaker hose inside it. then put 3" of concrete in the bottom for weight. hooked everything up sunk it and flipped the switch. I did have to fix a leak in one of the hoses, but other than that works like a charm.

I plan on upgrading diffuser and plumbing as i go, but this got me a good start. So as to snswer your question, I think they are great pumps for the money

hey dennis,
are you using the same eco plus 7? how often are you running your air pump and how deep is it in your pond? how much do you figure it costs you to run a month?...if you know?

thanks - justin

Jevans5050
yes the ecoplus7 I just got it this past month, so i dont know how much its going to cost to run yet. I am running it at night 7p-7a @ sbout 8'
Hope this helps
Denny

Hey guys RC51 here. Glad to see you guys are having good luck with my diy system. The Eco 7 plus I have been using for 2 years now. I have mine at about 9 feet deep with 3, 9 inch fusers on it and it runs great! I have not had any issues with the pump at all. When I ran mine 6 hours a day last summer my monthly bill was 8.88 cents. I was not running anything else at the time. I pay 1.9 cents per kilowatt hour for my electric. So some of this is based on what you pay for your electricity. But the pump really is not that bad on your pocket book. I have a buddy on this site that has had a Eco plus 5 and has been running is for 3 or 4 years no problems and he runs his 24/7 in the winter and no problems. For the price you can't beat the pump that's just my opinion though. Talk to you all later,

RC

Update on cost of my electrcity. Ok I just got my June bill and I was running my Eco 7 plus 8 hours a day this month along with a lot of tools and a 5 horse power compressor to work on my cabin. Plus a fan going a lot because it's so hot here and my bill was still only 14.50 for the month. So you figure if you take just 4.50 of that away for the copressor and the saws, and the fan. My air pump only cost me 10 bucks a month for 8 hours a day. Not to bad in my book!! Just thought I would let you all know.