Pond Boss Forums AERATION Should I aerate? Is it too late to start??

I finally, ( dont ask) got the deck and electricity run out to my pond and wondered if the bottom difuser I am looking at should go in right now or best to wait until Spring now that surface temps in the low 50's? I am in SW Ohio and been dipping below freezing at night here lately.

I do assume that if I go ahead and set it up that it should be set up in shallower water as to not Supercool the black crappies in the pond, is that correct, I am thinking of a place where I have some 4-5 feet of water but also want to enjoy my ice fshing so location on a shallow spot will be a bit tricky. Pond is basically kidney shaped and about 3/4 acre

All feedback eagerly welcomed....

Salmonid

Ask your self, for what purpose do you want to areate?
If its to speed up the phase of decomposisione of the organic waste,or reduce alga, you might as well wait, do to the low temp.
If its to keep an area, icefree, offcourse its not to late.
The general temp. in your pond might decrase if the areator is big.
I would wait, and save those money on the e.bill.
PAUL

Mark, I would set it up shallow like you mentioned and run it during the day when air temps. are higher than water temps., this would help to warm the water. I don't live at my pond so I have the aerator set on a thermostat to go on when air temps. go above 45.
For the winter aerate shallow to keep an area open so the pond can breath. Thats my 2 cents but let's wait for the experts.

I think that wery often we all tend to overdo this and that.
Areation is to compensate for something, overstocking,lack of watter exchange.......etc.
If your pond is fairly ballanced, you might create a possible danger in insecure ice, by sirculate in the winter.
You are gone dril holes thaat will relase posible toxic gasses, with your icefishing, so my questione is then, is there a need to lift o2 values thru the winter? if not drop it,thats is my best advice.
If the experts is of a differente opinion,I'm all ears
PAUL

Put it in shallow for the Winter, use it to make a hole in the ice if needed (snow covered ice blocking light for a week or more).

Ok, so what benefits are there for me to run it shallow this time of year?? besides keeping a hole open for gases to escape?? And more importantly, at twhat time should I start it up in the spring, ( in deeper water) if I decide to hold off??

Thanks guys, anyone recommend a reasonable unit for a 3/4 acre pond, there a little pricy.....Not interested in piecemail or home made, need a complete system.

Thanks Mark

The main benefit for me is just to circulate water on the warmer days so the pond temp. will increase and hold off ice over as long as possible.
My system is homemade, an 80 watt linear pump hooked up to a bubble hose.
Some of the aeration people can give you info on their complete systems.

Shallow Winter aeration = not cooling down warm, deep water refuge.

See Aeration Simplified in the Archives and it's linked threads for Spring startup and much more..

Ted is in Ohio.
22877 Fairmount Road, Waynesfield, OH 45896
Contact: Ted Lea
Phone: (877) 607-5296
Email: info@cleanponds.com
Website: www.clearponds.com

This I can recomend

http://www.biosa.dk/England/products/waste%20and%20environment/bioreco/Biosa%20Reco%20oversigt.htm

PAUL

Stick with the Vertex Mark. Either Air-1 or Air-2. Sue Cruz can help you with proper sizing. I have the Air-2 and it has worked flawlessly since I got it 2 years ago.

I will be running my aerator 3-4 weeks longer this year, maybe till the end of November. My new theory is that trying to preserve the little bit of warmth left by only aerating when temps are greater than 45 degrees is a losing battle and futile. Since oxygen saturation capacity increases as the water cools, I want to turn that water as much as possible before ice over. I am hoping to achieve maximum O2 density top to bottom in preparation for the long cold winter. I also have blue tilapia that I want to die (45 degrees) before the LMB lose all interest in gorging themselves on them. I am no expert but this seemed to make enough sense to me that I thought that I would try it this year.

Blaine:

What's your water temp now? Mine was in the upper 50's a few days ago, and I haven't seen a B. Tilapia in a couple of months. It's supposed to get in the upper 60's on Sunday, with the weather staying above normal (temp wise) for the next week. It's been in the lower 30's at night for the past few nights, with it hitting 30*F twice.

Hi Mark B! How deep is the rest of your pond? If you are going to ice fish out on the water, then you should just wait until spring because there won't be any safe ice to walk out on if you have an aeration system runing. I think our AIR 1 PLUS system would be perfect! I recomend calling Ted Lea and talking to him ~ he has good pricing and the best experience with winter aeration in Ohio.
Blaine ~ keep us updated on your results! Missed you this year at the meeting!!

Unfortunately Essup my thermometer came up missing this summer from the chain and keyring connection. My kids have no idea how that could have happened. "It was there the day before when they checked it for swimming." At this point I can only guess based upon y'alls reporting. Maybe 50 give or take. Our weather has been consistent with yours.

Sue, the boils are strong and I am completely satisfied with the Vertex system. I could still use the Air-3 but haven't taken time to convert or lay a third station. [For the record, Sue recommended the Air-3 for my pond but I was trying to save money and got one XL and one CO station instead. It works good but I would have been better served spreading them out like Sue suggested.] I wanted to come to the convention but just couldn't get it worked out this year. Maybe next year.

I think you have goten a big load of good advice here.
But i'm still asking what is your purpose off aeration,we tend to over do is my experience, and that means spending time or $, in the wrong place.
Give us a more spesific of the overall situatione or your worries about the biological state of your pond?

Sue, Pond is kidney shaped, 12 ft deep, escavated in clay, fairly consistant sloping 6/1 for a few feet then drops to 3/1 the rest of the way around, except a small gradual area where beach is. I am leaning towards holding off until Spring at this point since skim ice could reasonably be just a week or two away.... Ill check out the Vertex systems but will likely go whatever route is about the cheapest, ( sorry, I am a real tightwad and have went way over budget on the pond already) 8^)

Salmonid

Vertex. Excellent choice for tightwads. Price is a little steep but the long term COST is a bargain.