Looking for a system idea for a 1/4 acre pond 10' deep at one end 6' at the other. I like RC51 setup but wondering if I can use one or two diffusers and possibly a smaller pump. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Forgot to mention we are going to mount the pump by the barn about 150' from where the aerator will be in the pond.

Hey docb,

RC51 here,


Yes you could use 2 of those fusers instead of 3 for your size pond. And I bet you could get by with the Eco 5 instead of the Eco 7 if you put your fusers somewhere in the middle around 7 to 8 feet. If you want it at the deepest end in 10 feet I would go with the Eco 7. I have the 7 and run it 8 hours a day and it cost me like 11 bucks for the month. So it's not to bad on the pocket book either if that's what your worried about. Hey good luck and let us know what you do.

I am not so worried about the pocket book....I just seem to over engineer everything and wanted to get the right size pump for the pond and system.....thanks for the advice.

Get the larger pump it will produce more air volume and will help turn the pond over quicker thus you may not have to run it as long. The eco pumps seem to be lasting a decent amount of time for the price. Consider a 1/4 hp rotary vane. They will produce more air volume (4.5cfm) and outlast a eco pump by many years. I had a guy come in for his first rebuild kit since 1998 although the vanes were not worn enough for replacement. He is running unit 8 hrs/day. He still had at least 5-7 yrs on the vanes before replacement vanes were needed. One should go through 3 sets of vanes before the bearing are worn out on the GAst 1/4 hp Rotary vane pumps. These pumps run 5 hrs/kw of electricity. Where in IN are you?

Listen to our mentor, Mr. "it all depends" Cody.
Some 10 years ago I was seeking advise for a DIY aeration system and he recommended the same Gast 1/4 rotary vane pump as posted above.
First few years I ran only about 8 hours nightly, but after a fish kill it now runs 24/7 with no pressure loss!
BTW, he sells these units but won't advertise on the forum - he's a good guy.

Ouch!

Thanks for the info. We are around Tipton in Indiana. I am also looking for a place to get fish to stock the pond also.

Since you are in Tipton, Try American Pond & Lake Mgmt in Russiaville. You can mention my reference.

My apologies RC - didn't intend a reference to your DIY system.
I built my system around the Gast 1/4 hp pump and been very pleased with 10 year performance.

Hey George no worries. I know Mr. Cody knows his stuff and you can't go wrong with what he says to do for sure! The pump and system I have is by no means been really tested for very long. So I understand 100 percent. No problem what so ever! Thanks for all you great posts and your knowledge on HSB. Very good stuff sir!!

RC

i have a 1/4 acre pond in ohio.been fighting muck and algy for a few years.i get lots of decay farm field debree and all.ive always had a big fountain spraying water up,but cant run it often due to electric cost.i havent been able to afford a $1500. aerator set up yet.so i went to menards and bought a 2amp aircompressor and a yard water sprinkler head. for less than $100. ive been producing lots of bubble action in the pond deep end finally.its been running constantly for over a month now.the only issue was it was noisy so i moved it 100ft away behind the garage and muffled it with straw bails.i was wondering if a compressor like this creates good oxygen or just dead air?what do you all think about this?thanks

It's not the compressor that's the issue, it's the bubble size that you are producing. Regular air diffusers have very, very small slits or holes in them 1,000's of holes in order to get that good left of the water. The bubbles your producing are more than likely way to big and not helping a hole lot?? Lets see what someone else has to say though. I am no expert by any means so hold tight for another answer as well.

RC

i was testing the best bubble pattern and it was producing nice tiny bubbles before i took it to the bottom.im sure i could get better though.thanks for helping.the tiny aircompressor seems to be oilless.i opened up the cover and its a tiny electric motor kind of built into the compressor manifold and what was really odd is i couldnt find any air intake,filter let alone oil.the only holes where in the electric motor.the instructions didnt show anything .i might want to buy a good defuser for best bubbles.

Well air and air systems are not as easy as people think. I would do some more reading on the subject. There is a little more into it then people think. CFM pump ratings, diffuser cfm ratings, to match the pump your using. The smaller your bubbles the better. It will push more water up to the top to get get more air. The experts will tell ya only like 15 percent of your oxygen comes from the bubbles, the rest comes from your water being pushed up to the surface and contacting the air. Not saying your setup isn't doinig anything cause it may be doing some good! Just not for sure how much.

Hey good luck,

ohno - consider your Menards pump good if it lasts all summer - they rarely do. From experience the sprinkler heads tend to produce too big of bubbles and the heads tend to plug up too quickly. A better but not best diffuser, is one made from clear vinyl tubing coiled and perforated with small holes. Length of tubing and size of coil is dependent on air volume produced by the compressor.

thanks everyone,i will look into your advise.i was real close to buying a windmill aerator this spring and putting it up on my old farm windmill tower.but then i thought theres a reason why those old farm windmills are all broken.so i thought i doubt if the aerator one could survive either.plus we had huge wind gusts for a week straight at the time so that just made me think it wasnt a good investment.im not getting any younger to be up 40ft servicing a windmill.three reasons why i passed on that.i hope to buy a good energy efficient electric aerator sometime.

More cons for the windmill. Electric aerators can be less costly (up to 1/2) than a windmill if one is creative and willing to do some stuff yourself. Electric aerator is quicker to install compared to assembling and erecting a windmill. Windmils don't produce very much air esp in lower wind speeds of 5-12mph. Lower air volume of windmills result in less mixing energy and fewer turnovers per day of the pond, both very important features. Windmills require about 3-4X more maintenance over the system life than a rotary compressor. They don't produce much air in middle of the hottest part of the summmer when aeration is needed most. Maintenance is off the ground for mills instead of on the bench top for electrics. Maintenance is simpler and quicker with the rotary compressor. If I have a choice between electric compressor and windmill it will be electric compressor every time where there is power within 400ft of the pond.