Pond Boss Forums AERATION Should I aerate? IS AERATION ESSENTIAL?

Hi! I'm a newbie here and find this forum to be very informative. My husband and I just ventured into the aquaculture business in the Philippines and currently stocked in are tilapia. Allow me to just briefly describe our farm. We started with 4 x 1.2 acres(5,000sq/m) ponds. Right now, our consultant placed a density of 5 fingelings/sq.m. At this rate, we expect a 200gms growth per fish in 5-6 months time. Being a newbie, I'm not really sure if the growth is ok. We're also concerned about the water quality. We're keen on buying windmill pond aerators. Aeration is not really practiced in the Philippines and I know that aeration will improve water quality, thereby,improve the taste. Taste is a problem with many tilapia grow-out here, most probably due to lack of aeration. I think aerator may solve this.
Questions:
(1)Will aeration also improve the size of the fish?
(2) If I put aeration, will there be a need to minimize feeds as they can also supplement on the natural food cycle?
(3) How sturdy are these windmill aerator?
(4) Can we increase the density/sq.m if we use aerator?

Thanks so much and hope you guys can help us out here coz we do need help!

Cheers,
acmbusiness

Welcome to PB & to the aquaculture industry. I would refer your question to one of the professionals in the industry that specialized in Tilapia production.

His name is Huy Tran. He is a senior biologist with Aquatic Eco Systems. You can reach him at 800-886-3939 or info@aquaticeco.com.

Good Luck!

Thanks a lot, Cary! Have a nice day!!!

Arnie and Masel

Windmills are great... when you have wind. I have people tell me that i have plenty of wind... but do they really have enough? At your weather center near you'll find out what your average (mph) wind speed is? When is this wind blowing is also important. Working for the NMFS for a while' I relized that the wind will blow during the night or during the day, but not always both. It is important to find out the average wind speed from 1-6am, that is when your ponds are lowest in o2. Next find the amount in pounds of o2 your windmill will produce at your depth (If using air stones) at an average wind speed. Than see if they meet your needs. I'm interested to find out.

mrayl, good obervation on wind speeds as they never seem to be what you might think,In Ohio in the summer if any breeze at all it will stop at sundown. Would you expand on "your pounds of 02 your windmill will produce at your depth (if using air stones) at an average wind speed" Are you referring to the pump cabability or the ability to add o2 to the water via circulation,

You got it. Aquaculture systems are a little different than ponds and lake why? b/c you know exactly what is in the the pond. What is stocked how many was stocked, and what the ave. size is.
Yes! this is how aeration systems are sized up. The aerations system manufacturer usally has this information, but an on the fly comparison is to just look at volume or CFM.

So if I have a windmill that will produce 1.5 cfm at 15 MPH and I have a constant 15 mph wind and I have a 7 inch Koender Airstone in 12 ft of water and my water is at sea level and 72F and has a DO reading of 8.7 how much (air) will this or any other aeration sytem put in my 1 acre pond. ?

There are some really good articles about windmills and other alternative power sources at www.homepower.com. One of the writers raises the point that posted wind speeds are usually measured at the nearest airport and may not approximate your location.