Hi folks. I just registered hoping to get some answers to our pond questions. The Mrs and I have owned our place here in North Florida for fifteen years. We have a very small pond which lies in a sinkhole (sinkholes are very common here). It is not a naturally-occurring pond; it was constructed by the previous owners. It is fed by a very low-volume seep and by rainwater. The pond is small, oval-shaped - probably 50-60 feet at its widest and a little over 100 feet long. Very much bowl-shaped. The original owners told us that the pond is about 12 feet deep at its deepest, but I have never attempted to verify that. We have had problems with aquatic growth since the very beginning, mostly duckweed.

We have hired a contractor to control and maintain the aquatic growth. We figure that this will give us a good start. But we want to aerate the pond which we expect to dramatically help us with water quality. We've been doing some research but we are still very much newbies. I found a great YouTube video which recommends the Hiblow compressor. I think I can handle this as a DIY'er but I want to make sure that I select the right unit.

I am thinking about going with the Hiblow HP100LL compressor. I just want to make sure that I select a large enough unit to allow me to run two aerators with one at or near the deepest part of the pond. Based upon the size and depth of the pond (assuming that 12 foot depth to be accurate), will the HP100LL do the trick?

I realize that I may be able to spend countless hours perusing various threads to get my answer. But I was hoping that a resident expert could save me the time.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: The pond is not stocked. We see a few very small fish but nothing large at all. We have turtles and frogs, a few snakes, and, just a few weeks ago, an otter.

Welcome to PBF SharpestJim,

I'm not a pro but I think the HP100LL compressor might not be the best choice. From what I've read, its max operating pressure is 4.3 psig, so about 8 feet depth. What that means is it will not be able to deliver airflow at your desired 12 feet. Maybe someone that has more experience with diaphragm pumps will chime in. Have you looked into small vane pumps?

Again, welcome to PBF!

Bill D.

Hi, Bill. Thanks so much for the welcome and for the reply!

I've done some more research and I agree with your assessment; the Hiblow unit is not going to work - assuming that the pond is, in fact, twelve feet deep. I plan to go out in a kayak and see if I can get a measure of the actual depth. I'm now leaning toward a Kasco RA-1. It's a lot more money that buying a Hiblow compressor and doing everything a la carte. But, then again, I think that it is worth it to have a proven, turnkey package.

I have a well located approximately 50 feet from the pond. I think that I am going to have power run from the well to a location closer to the pond and then install a pole-mounted enclosure for the Kasco unit.

IMO good decision! That should give you a little extra capacity should you ever decide to expand the pond some. The Kasco can easily handle 12 feet.

I am in st Augustine. Where is your pond located? Any thoughts on your goals for stocking? Balancing the predators in a small pond can be difficult. You can get lots of ideas from the forum folks here.

A Gast rotary vane air pump at05 would work in that application.
10 psi max 5.8-7 psi is a good range for them. They also, last a long time any of the smaller Gast units do.
Gast AT05-520-G215DX Rotary Vane Air Pump

Before you spend any money, I highly suggest that you somehow actually measure the pond depth around in the middle. You might be very surprised what you discover. Then with that information make a wise appropriate purchase.

Bill is right find out what you have you could be guessing wrong and the old owners on things are only right about 50 percent of the time or think something is bigger or deeper than it is.

Whether you create a shape yourself and use a pond liner or decide to use a preformed molded pond you need to consider as a part of your pond maintenance. It’s always best to let a pond with Pondpro2000 pond liner coatings.

Thanks to all for your input. Much appreciated.

One factor that I had not previously considered: Noise.

My mother has a residence on the back part of our property about 200 feet from where I was planning to install the compressor unit. Our house is probably 350 feet away. I don't want to spend a bunch of money only to find the thing to be annoyingly loud. But if it is anything like the air compressor in my garage, I strongly suspect that it may be.

If you get the 1/4 hp rotary vane with the sound chamber (quiet running head) on the front end your mom won't hear it 100ft away when you have the pump in a ventilated cabinet - box. Old style Gast rotary units 20 yrs ago did not have the quiet running heads.