I just started aerating my fifteen year old 1.3 acre 15 foot deep pond with a 1/2 hp aeromax 3 diffusion system. I did the "1 hour on first day, 2 hours on second day, 4 hours on 3rd day, and did 6 hours on today".
Usually my fish practically jump out of the water to be fed every morning and afternoon. (hundreds of bluegills). This morning and this afternoon they didn't eat any of their pellets of food at all. I noticed the bass where also hanging out toward the very edge of the pond and just hanging out in groups, normally they are practically invisible.

Should I stop aerating, do I just turn it on for an hour a day for a month or so, do I stop for now and restart the process again after they start eating again?

Clueless in Clearwater (FL)

Carl

First, Welcome to PBF ApieLet,

There are some aeration pros here that, hopefully, will chime in. IMHO I would keep aerating, but slowly. I would stick with 6 hours, or maybe even drop back to 3, till things settle down. In a pond that old, you have many years of noxious stuff you are suddenly stirring up from the bottom. It will take some time for things to cleanup and stabilize. I would creep the time up by an hour at a time as things get better, not double. But again, I am not a pro. Just my thoughts on the subject.

Bill D.

Go out and smell the aeration plume. If you smell sulfur, cut back like Bill said.

If a cold front just past, I notice fish are off their feed for a day or so, depending on how strong a cold front it is.

You have the hurricane approaching now, don't you?

An hour the first day of aerating in a matured pond, especially late in summer, is a little too aggressive. I'd suggest shutting off the aeration for 3-4 days till fish feed pretty well again.... then starting it for 15 minutes the first day...30 minutes on day 2 and 3...check to see if fish are still feeding pretty well. If feeding well, aerate an hour on day 4 and begin doubling the aeration time after that each day until aerating 24/7. After that, you can aerate nights only, or however you want.

If shutting off aeration for a couple months, restart aeration on the slower schedule again to prevent over-mixing anoxic bottom waters and poisoning the entire pond.

I have been smelling the hydrogen sulfide during the aeration cycles.

After reading the posts here, I'm going to run my surface agitator 24/7 for a few days and hold off on the bottom aerator until the feeding comes back, even a little. Still this morning there was no feeding at all.

While it has cooled down here a little bit, it's still running in the mid 80's to the low 90's every day (Tampa Bay area).
So our "cold fronts" this time of year take the temps from a horrific and humid high 90's down to bearable mid to high 80's.

Thanks sooooo much for the advise!

Carl

If you smell hydrogen sulfide during the aeration start up process, go back to the previous day's run time and continue that run time until you no longer smell it.

I agree with Rex's comment about 15 min the first day, doubling it the next, etc. That's the rule that I go by, and tell my clients.

The only time that I will start up a system and let 'er rip is in a pond that does not have any stratification at all, as in right after the turnover in Spring and in Fall. Being down there, you will rarely see that happen.

My pond was 66 years old when I bought it. It hadn't seen any kind of air setup ever so I did the start up process in mid June and here that's hot. I don't live at my place yet so I spent the weekend and did 15 minutes and then 30 minutes on Sunday. I then went a week at a time I did an hour for a week then 2 hours next week and then 4. Not what most folks do but my situation kinda demanded it. Thing is it worked out great for me I never had any issues. So basically every weekend I went up to the cabin for 3 weeks in a row till I left it at 8 hours at night for a couple weeks and the I went from dusk till dawn. I showed up 2 weeks later after running it for 8 hours a day and did not have one problem that I could see. Sometimes slower is better that's for sure!!

RC

I can tell you this. My parents are there right now and they said this morning my fish hardly ate and yesterday it was fish frenzy. The only difference? Cold front! It's about 15 degrees colder there this morning then it was the day before. So that can come into play some no matter where you are. It doesn't have to be cold out to have a cold front and effect fish eating habits.

RC, I'm glad I'm not alone! It was freaky this morning as it's been a feeding frenzy lately, but this morning,,, NOTHING!

No LMB, HSB or BG taking feed!

I'd never seen anything like it!

a what front?

Real funny Bobby !!

Hey Carl, I second the welcome. Good ta see another Cracker joining ranks. Doubt if you'll be as humorous as Mr Rice but everyone likes a sensible cracker now and then.
I'll be heading down ta Bradenton mid month. Maybe I could check out your place someday.

Thanks for all the tips. I stopped the aeration for 3 days so far. The fish are moving around better and even had some feeding (approx 20% of normal) last night.

I'm going to give it another 2 days and then run for 15 mins a day for about 3 days, then stop again for 4 days (I'm going to Nashville for a business trip), then pick it back up when I get back.

Think I'll just do 15 mins a day for a week or so, then increase it to 30 mins for awhile. Slowly but surely.

Bob-O, you are more than welcome to drop in. I've got a nice chair lakeside with your name on it.

[img]https://www.dropbox.com/s/zg1kkzv458p7umh/lake%20house.jpg?dl=0[/img]