Last year it seemed as though you could actually see a bloom coming out of the area where my aerator was. I know this is good for my forage fish but to maintain a balance between water clarity and quality for the fish I am going to run it on a timer and keep it off when the sun is beating down on the water. Does anyone else do this and will it actually help with water clarity?

Steve,

FWIW I operate my aerator from 2 AM to 7 AM on a timer.

I run mine on a timer too. Right now in the spring I run it in the day from 7am till 4pm. In the summer after the water is at 60 I then run it at night 2am to 7am as well.

I was running it 24/7 and found that there was little air bubbles on the rocks all around the shore. Bill suggested to run the aerator on a timer because I was over aerating it. Much less FA after and the bubbles went away. The pond is young so it didn't need all the air and it is much healthier on the timer.

Cheers Don.

thanks for your help. Ive been 24/7 for over 2 years now and Im going to go to the timer.

I have a 1.5 acre pond with 5 diffusers running 24/7 on a 1hp pump.

The electric bill is over $100 per month and would like it cut it down.

Just wondering if using a timer on a 12hr cycle during the day (7am-7pm) would be the best bet.

The OP said he would leave his off during the day when it is hottest, I thought that is when you would want it on?

What is the water volume in your pond, and what is the GPH that the 5 diffusers move total per hour?

Reason for asking is that the diffusers should turn the volume of water over between 1-2 times per 24 hr period. Without knowing that information it is impossible to correctly answer your question.

I'm not an expert but if it were my pond I would try midnight to 6am for a couple days then go swimming late afternoon. You likely will have some stratification but if the lower water seems extremely cold you need to increase the time. That would be my non_approved redneck way of approaching it.

One hp seems like about twice as much needed for that size pond.

Night is when algae are not producing DO via photosynthisis so I would run it at night to help water take on DO via the air water interface at the surface.

Is the total number of membranes 5 or are there 5 diffusers each with 2 or 3 membranes? Your 1hp rotary produces about 12 cfm at 12-14 ft which means it could easily opererate 10 and probably 12 membranes (9" dia) which could circulate your pond much faster than 5 membranes. This means you would get more water upwelling and a faster turnover and could run your compressor fewer hours per day.

+1 I run mine at night only