Pond Boss Forums AERATION Should I aerate? Newbie needs help First pond no aerator, Lots of ?

Hello!
I have been checking out the forum for a few days now and wow im glad i found it! Here is the deal i just bought my first house and it came with a little smaller then a 1/2 acre pond in the backyard. The previous owner had dug it and has maintained it decently with Aquashade. Skum and alge are all pretty minimal but are not the best swimming conditions. I bought some floating fish feed and know there are a few channel catfish and small mouth bass in the pond more then likely there are bluegil also since every other pond around here has them.
I would like to use the pond for 1.Recreation (swimming) 2.Aethstetics (look pretty) 3.Fishing.
We put a new roof on the house ourselves and went to dive in at break time and WOW cold spots everywere! Really really cold spots. I was told that some kind of aeration system would eliminate this and equal out the pond temps and add oxygen to the water promoting fish health also.
So i know for sure i want a fountain for looks but i want it to function and keep the cold spots from coming back. Also i assume it will help with the alge and other nasty skum the pond produces?
I found something localy thats called a water hawg
http://www.waterhawg.com/results2.tpl?ca...le=Water%20Hawg

I would really like to have lights in the fountain also. Do i need an aerator and a fountain? I dont want to spend over a grand on it. The pond is a rectangle shape with a shallow area about 1/4 the pond size. Its about 14 foot deep in the deep end. Please let me know and any suggestions would be great!! Any other questions let me know i am very interested to see responces! thanks again!!!

I was swimming in my pond yesterday. It has bottom diffuser aeration and is pretty chilly top to bottom due to the mixing action. When I didn't have aeration, at least the upper layer was warm. My priorities are Fish, looks, then swimming so this is fine for me.

Most fountains don't mix water as deep as bottom diffusers do.

So will adding one or the other get rid of the cold spots? Anyone please help me with this. I really need some info

rmkleman: Welcome to the Ponn Boss site. You won't ever regret finding us. You have probably read by now that most of the moderators on this site are at the conference in Dallas. Therefore some of the principal gurus won't make many posts for the next several days. However there is a ton of info. on aeration, etc. on this site including a post from a day or two ago that indicates the wrong way to do it, and the fish killing consequences. I'd suggest either do a search on aeration or search the past 24 or 48 hours of posts. One other thing to do early next week is to call the Pond Boss office and see if they will sell you a back issue of the magazine that had a great section on aeration. The issue is the March / April 2008 issue. While you are at it a one year subscription would be a great purchase.

Hang in there, the experts will be back at their keyboard early next week.

Bing

I was reading the thread about how to build a cheap aeration system with a gasc pump? The link where you can purchase this pump for under $50 doesnt take you there. I cant find the article everyone is talking about on how to build it and what to do. Can anyone help me? I appreciate it; I just bought a house with a 1.3 acre pond on it.

Badbuck, the articles Bing is describing are not on the website but in the magazine itself. Finding a working pump that will will do what you want for $50 will probably be difficult. Many of the package systems I have seen use the Gast 0523 rotary vane pump. I built my own system using this pump which I got though Mcmaster Carr. Grainger also sells this pump. My advise would be to look at the website links in the signature lines of the aeration experts who answer lots of questions in this section. You can get a feel of what options are out there and what they will cost. Then you can decide if you want to buy a package system or try to piece one together yourself.

My references to articles and blogs was meant primarily, not to give directions on how to build an aeration system, but to show some of the horror stories about what happens when you build your own system. Not understanding the impact of mixing "toxic" bottom water and material and creating conditions that kill fish, etc. has cost many of us precious fish.

I don't have any problem with the concept of building it yourself, but with certain issues of pond management such as aeration, herbicides, etc. knowing the consequences of your actions in advance will save much heartache. Trust me on this: I don't have any grass carp in my pond because I didn't truly understand the impact of too much copper sultfate. And too many of us have lost valuable trees, beneficial plants, etc. because a less expensive herbicide like Carmax was recommended by someone who knew how to sell products, but did not know the impact they make.

Gotta head over to the convention center. From the discussions I got to sit in last night I know today will be a premier learning experience.

Bing

The one thing that I can tell you is to keep it off of the bottom or put something in place that will seperate it from the bottom. (if you pond is very old). I posted a link yesterday that takes you to ebay. That is were I bought my pump for 40$ good pump to. All I have on the subject is a bunch of donts. WAIT for the experts to give you some direction...

Badbuck,

Welcome to Pond Boss! Over the years, there have been numerous threads posted on DIY aeration systems, so I'm guessing here. A few years ago, some members (myself included) purchased a 1.5 cfm compressor from a company, candhsales.com, for about $40. (See Bob Koerber's post in this link.)

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=30310#Post30310

If this is the compressor you are referring to, it is my understanding that this company is no longer in business but check and correct me if that is not the case.

As PondOwner stated, Ebay is one option for locating compressors.

Russ

Thanks guys for all your help.

As mentioned I have a 1.3 acre pond over 10 feet deep in the middle. There are a lot of smaller fish (bass, bluegill) and some average bass (12"). I want to add trout at some point. Its quite weedy, more and more as the summer wears on. I assume it is spring fed but I'm not sure. I dont have a ton of money to spend but want to improve the looks and quality of the pond not to mention the fish.
I dont know where to start. When I am finally able to get out on it I will find out exactly how deep and the temps. I assumed aerating it with one of the gast pumps as I have read would be a good start but I dont know how big of a pump I will need. I assume also that it would only be running at night to keep the water cool.
Any help and suggestions would be very much appreciated. I cannot believe how helpful everyone is on this site.
What should I do?

to support trout the temps cant get over 70 degree's or they will not make it, but im a rookie also, the pro's will be here soon

i have 5-7 acre pond in iowa , me in colorado! no electric, or water to my acreage , i let mother nature run my aerator(windmill) by superior in canada(Do not buy from them)they suck at customer svc! difuser in the shallower end 6-8 feet of water 4 feet off the bottom

You are assuming,of coarse,that everyone SURVIVED the conferance Welcome to the forum guys,hang on the experts WILL be back online shortly

BadBuck,

As has been previously mentioned, the big guns are enjoying themselves at the PondBoss convention and will hopefully give their input when they return. I am certainly no expert but will offer my thoughts. You stated in one of your prior posts that you recently bought the house and 1.3 acre pond. Based on this, I offer a couple of suggestions of "where to start".

(1) Take some time to get to know your pond. It will help establish a base line in an effort to reach your future goal(s). Items such as the ponds past history, site characteristics, water quality, plant species and current fish species, just to name a few, will give you a starting point. Record your findings.

(2) Read through the information on the pond boss site and ask questions! Use our mistakes and successes to save you time and $$$$ in achieving your goals.

Russ

To give you some pictures of DIY aeration setups, here is a link
http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=30310&fpart=4

Page 4 shows a homemade diffuser setup from Bill Cody. Page 5 will show you the pump I had in my small (0.15 ac) BG/Bass pond.

Here is just one link related to trout

http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=97120#Post97120

badbuck,
If you want to aerate to keep your water cooler, you might consider aerating in shallow water, about 4 or 5 ft deep at night. I have a 1 acre trout pond, and am using an Ecoplus Air 5 linear pump with a 70 ft. soaker hose. I filled a garden hose with sand and zip tied it to the soaker hose to keep it weighted down, it's working great, and i run it from 10pm to 6am. Total cost with hose about $115.00
Just my 2cents worth, you'll probably get lots of expert info soon, good luck.

I really appreciate the advice. I will let you know what I find as I find it.
Thanks for the links Russ!

badbuck:

I suggest measuring water temps at assorted depths repeatedly this Summer. That data should give a good idea whether trout can be year-round (with smart aeration, etc.) or Winter only for you. Then this Fall you may know how long your trout $ investment could be expected to last.

BadBuck,

If/when you plan to introduce trout to your pond, keep in mind the fact that you have 12" bass already prowling the waters. Depending on their size, trout, in the eyes of a bass, make for excellent dinner guests. To cancel this invitation to dinner, you would have to stock trout of sufficient size. If available funds allow for this, fine, if not you may have to approach this from another angle such as culling the bigger bass thus allowing you to introduce smaller, yet more affordable trout. Make sense and cents?? Hopefully the experts will concur with this.

Russ

Here is another interesting link.
http://www.pondboss.com/forums/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=16813#Post16813

Hi guys, just checking if the big guys were back from the conference yet? Can anyone help with the original question i asked? Let me know and thanks!

rmkleman, I sent you a pm

Thanks guys; there is so much too learn about this, its kind of addictive!

Naahh. I've made 7644 posts and I can quit anytime I want.

Rmkleman, welcome to Pond Boss, we're glad you found us. You are off to a great start here on the forum. Never be afraid to ask questions, post comments or share experiences. That's what makes this forum work.

Badbuck, great job of jumping in a posting. Welcome to Pond Boss to you as well.

Man I really like all of the Newbies posting on the same day that they join.

See lurkers we don't bite, post away!!!!

I'll try to answer your question rmkleman. The bottom aerator I have definitely eliminates the cold spots in my pond by mixing the water from bottom to top. I don't have cold spots but the water is pretty much all very cool and maybe even a little too cool for some to swim in even with the warm spell we've had. Without the aerator on, the upper 2 to 3 feet of my pond would be in the low 80s right now while the bottom layer would be in the low 50s. 80 degree water is comfortable for swimming and 50 obviously is not. By mixing the water the temp is somewhere between but pretty uniform top to bottom.