Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions diffuser placement/setup question

Hey all, I've been stalking the forums for 2-3 years since buying a house with a pond - love the forums. I've used them countless times for various stages of my pond management - as we all know pond ownership and management isn't for the faint of heart.

2-3 years ago when beginning to manage my pond, I purchased an aerator kit off eBay (the "big max") which ran OK for a few years. Recently the pump died, and only then did I realize how cheap those old Thomas pumps actually are (and how the kit wasn't as good of a deal as I originally thought).

In any case, I'm replacing the compressor with a similar Thomas 2660 compressor ($50 shipped for a rebuilt on ebay), and I'm also planning to re-do the tubing and diffusers - the 3/8" non-weighed hose and diffuser stones that came with the BM kit were less than impressive and it's time to upgrade.

I've attached an aerial of the house/pond for reference. The total size of the pond is .9 acres. Areas highlighted in yellow are probably on average 4' deep. The rest of the pond is closer to 8' to 9' deep (it was dug out in the last 6-8 years as I understand, but they weren't able to get their equipment to the areas in yellow to dig that out). I have not found any areas deeper than that to this point. My pump sits at the red spot on the picture. Please note the pond on the right is actually separate and not on my property...so I'm not worrying about that in my configuration.

Fish population is healthy - gills, bass, and catfish, all plump and healthy in good numbers. Lots of little gills but I pull them out whenever I can, and there are lots of big ones there as well. Bass are beautiful and 18-20+ inchers aren't uncommon - there are tons in the 16" range, pretty decent for a Michigan pond. Surprisingly there also seem to be lots of catfish (as I understand in the 80s this pond was dug for the purpose of raising catfish, so a healthy population was pre-existing). They come out at dusk and are fun to listen to as they splash around. Had a few grilled catfish meals over the years. All this to say, with the shallowness of the pond I thought aeration necessary to insure the fish population stays healthy, especially since I've been chemically battling a very serious milfoil problem.

In redesigning my system, I am leaning towards going with the 9" vertex diffusers from ForeverGreen. They're twice the money of the 9 inchers from diffuser express, but I like the idea of smaller bubbles and more bang for my buck in regards to long-term operating cost. Does anyone agree that the few extra bucks up front for the vertex diffusers and smaller bubbles are worth it?

My second question is in regards to placement of the stone(s). There's a small peninsula that comes out from the East side and divides it up as you can see in the picture. I am trying to figure out if I'm better served to place two different diffusers at the yellow spots on the map, or if one stone at the blue spot is sufficient.

If two diffuser placements would be worthwhile, would it be possible to run them in line with each other as opposed to running two separate lines from the compressor? It seems like a waste of tubing since the second hose needs to run right past the first. As I've read, the vertex diffusers will operate with as little as .5 cfm - my compressor should be putting out about 4cfm...so plenty for 2 placement locations. I expect that either way, you're pushing the same amount of total air through them - it's just where you're pushing it...the setup works for a garden hose and a furnace duct, so I assume it would work, but I don't want to assume.

My final question...my old system was running 24x7 up until the compressor died sometime while I was on vacation (in the past 1-2 weeks). I will probably hook up my new compressor when it arrives to one of my old stones to keep the water moving while I redesign the system. What kind of startup procedure should I follow after 1-2 weeks of no aeration?

Thanks everyone. Again - I thoroughly enjoy the forum. Keep it up.

Hey Straw,

Welcome to the PBF. Good first post too! I am no expert on Air but I have done pretty well for myself with my system. I have a 1 acre pond much like you except mine is more triangular where yours has a dog leg right if you will. In you situation I might to the 2 different air diffusers like you have in yellow to get better flow in your entire pond. I suppose if you put a 4 diffuser station in the other spot you have marked you could get by with 1 setup?? As far as diffusers go Forever Green i am sure has some good ones! Ted Lea is a good guy and wont take advantage of you for sure! The diffusers at diffuser express have both type of fusers though too. You need to be careful when you order from them. As they have both 9 inch diffusers in large bubble and fine bubble. Of course as pond managers we want the fine bubble type as you already stated. As far as running 1 line for both setups I am not sure on that? We'll leave that question to someone more versed then me. I would think you would not have enough air once the air hits the first diffuser / diffusers it would not push to the next one unless you had a pretty darn good pump?? But thats just my rookie opinion


Good luck and keep us posted as to what you do.

Thanks for the response RC51! I was under the impression the vertex diffusers membrane was able to produce smaller bubbles than the others. I had read that somewhere on the forum...perhaps it isn't a big deal. I saw your setup and it looks great. I wish I would have seen it before I pulled the trigger on the replacement Thomas pump.

I will report back as I progress. Replacement pump comes tomorrow!

Hey Straw,

The smaller the bubbles the better for sure! vertex diffusers are good no doubt. Not saying they are not, but the fine bubble diffuser express diffusers have a fine bubble one which is what I used. I am not for sure if they are as good or not as the vertex, but they work for me and my situation. Good Luck!

RC, the Diffuser Express membrane has roughly 6000 1 millimeter laser cut slits...The Vertex is proprietary and has far more .5 millimeter laser cut slits. Vertex is the best by far.

Thank you guys. I think I will go with two sets of vertex diffusers and just run separate tubing to each. May as well do it right the first...err...second time. Will keep you posted.

Straw:

Vertex is good. I'd plumb a manifold, "T" off the manifold with ball valves to each line. I'd also put a 0-30 psi gauge on the manifold, and make sure to have a pop-off valve on the manifold as well. When you install the lines and diffusers, look at the pressure. If it climbs much, you know there is something going on.

hey straw,
if you want to equalize the pressure to two diffusers then you need to run your line to the center-point between them, then split the line and from there go to each diffuser. you may actually run the line backwards after the "T" it to do this correctly. try to have as close to equal plumbimg length on the line to each diffuser from the point where it splits and also try to have the diffusers as close to the same depth in the pond as possible.
-justin

Thanks Justin. I talked to Ted at ForeverGreen, he suggested since I don't have electricity over where the pond 'dog legs' that I run a single piece of silo-flex pipe from the compressor to a central point on shore and then have a line selector valve there to minimize the extra runs of air hose. He also suggested when time and money allows that a third set of diffusers in the back corner would be a good idea. I think I'll install 2 for now, but plumb the manifold with a third air valve right off the bat. Then I can add it easily.

My new pump came today...and sigh, I don't think my original pump was blown. The new pump does the same thing...plug it in, and there's just a whirr of an electric motor but nothing is turning. I can only assume that my capacitor went bad and needs to be replaced. Does someone who knows more about this than I do concur that it's worth a trip to Grainger to pick up a new one?

Can you turn the motor by hand? When assembled and unassembled?

Yes - both new and old motors turn by hand when assembled.

I made the trip into town for a new capacitor and now my old pump is working again with a $10 part. At least a new compressor was only a $55 mistake! I suppose it could have been worse. Now I have a spare.

Now that bubbles are back in my pond and the pressure is off (or...the pressure is on? ) , I think I will step back and do a little better planning on how to use the new pump and diffusers to set up a "new" system that will replace what I have now and do a better job. Will probably be starting a new thread on that one eventually, but I'll exhaust my searching capabilities first.

Thanks all for the help!