Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Winter Management / De-Icer or Aerator

I have a 1/2 acre pond in NE Indiana(Ft Wayne) it is aerated through out the summer with a Gast 1/4 H.P. rotary vane compressor with a rubber membrane diffuser in the deepest part (15 ft)

Can I disconnect the supply line and hook up another with a stone type or other type/style diffuser in a few feet of water and run it just long enough to make a hole in the ice? Or what about one of these floating de-icers, plug it in and let it do it's thing all winter?

What would you recommend? How would you do it, if it was your pond?

Thanks

Jake, I'm not sure what kind of floating deicer you are talking about. An effective brand is Kasco, but just running another line with a stone would probably be the cheaper route. Just moving the stone shallower would be the cheapest overall. One product that is worth the money in this situation is some self sinking hose. Check around for prices. When moving diffusers, the poly hose with bricks is easily kinked which will reduce airflow and stress compressor. Self sinking is flexible and easily installed.
Robert B

I agree with what Robert has mentioned.. noting that the 'flaoting' de-icer you mention in no doubt similar or actually a cattle-trough de-icer.. which is normally using 1500 Watts... which is pretty pricey to run over the winter full time.

Why disconnect your supply line? Can you not move your diffuser to shallower water?
Some diffusers, while sitting inactive in pond mud, tend to clog.
So, if you can move your diffuser, you solve two potential problems.

the floating de-icer looks exactly like the one stoney creek has on their web site.

A farmer I used to work for, had used 2 of them to keep his watering "pond" open for the cattle, he claimed at the time, that it did not run all the time(thermostat) and didn't cost to much to run, I don't know, I was curious if anyone here used them for their pond. I beleive, but could be wrong, that one can be purchased locally for around $30.

I didn't want to move my "deep" diffuser for fear of damaging the supply line, so I thought I could just disconnect it at the compressor and run a short line with a stone type diffuser or what ever is suggested to the shallow water, wich I could remove and store during the summer.

Jake,

Bill Cody is very knowlegeable on this and should see your post soon. He's not that far from you either in northwest Ohio. I'm even closer south of Ligonier 2 mile on St. Rd 33 about 39 miles from Ft. Wayne.

I would run another line out with a diffuser for winter and not move your present one. That is what I do. However if compressor is the one I think it is, it's puts out about 4 CFM which is too much for one airstone. In fact, you could have run two airlines and a membrane diffuser from each airline from that size of compressor during the summer.

I disconnet my summer airline at the compressor and connect my winter airline in winter. I also change to a 1/10 hp. compressor as you don't need as much air in winter and the smaller one uses much less electricity. Am I confusing you yet? It's very possible if you are stuck with the big compressor you could bleed off air with another shutoff value but I've never done that.

Bill had recently informed me it is not neccessary to run the diffusers 24/7 and 6 hours a day with a timer will do the trick even in winter. But you need something to bleed the air off when the compressor shuts down so it won't be so hard for the compresser to start up again. Bill uses a section of garden hose looped to run back into the compresser with pin holes to bleed off the air whent he compressor shuts off.

No nixing anything Bob says though. But I doubt if Bob sees ice like we do up here.

Bill? How about it?

Okay, here's Cody slant on this topic.
1. You will only need to allow air to escape after the compresor shuts off IF you have a rocking piston compressor. They have a hard time restarting if there is any back pressure. This will be no problem if you have a rotary vane which you have.
2. If you had heavy wall selfweighted air line the diffuser could be EASILY pulled toward shore with no fear of kinking the hose. Otherwise it may be best, cheapest and easiest to use an old garden hose to deliver air to the stone in winter.
3. If you use the stone and plan on running the compressor intermitently during winter then it is paramount to have a reliable check valve attached to the stone. Otherwise you will have lots of problems during this winter. If you plan to run the compressor continously the check valve is less of a necessity but you have to HOPE the electrictiy does not go off during freezing weather. Water will fill the hose during power failure and ice blockage will develop to prevent air passage through the hose. Insurance for the compressor during winter operation is an adjustable pressue relief valve which is set to blow off at 12 to 15psi if air blockage occurs.

4. Personally I would run the diffuser vs the deicer during winter. Diffuser will produce a larger open water area and when run for a few hrs per day will be cheaper than the deicer.

5. One stone will work with your compressor; a 9" stone is better than a 6". Two stones will produce a larger opening than one stone. Three stones even larger open water area. One 6" stone w/ your pump will just produce bigger bubbles but all the air will be able to escape. If you want to first check/verify this just hook up the stone to the compressor, and with the stone out of water read the pressure. It will be zero and indicate that all the air is escaping out the stone and none is building up back in the pump as back-pressure. This assumes the air supply line is 1/2" - 5/8" dia. Smaller dia hose w/ your pump will cause a back-pressure.

6. When running air diffused aerators in winter you have to take some precautions that are not as necessary during the ice free season.

Bill Cody

You are saying it is OK to run the aerator daily during the winter?
I thought it was a bad idea because it made all your water the same (to cold) temp.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not questioning a single word your saying, I'm just trying to make sure I'm understanding you correctly.

nice unit for that pond, should have retrive rope on diffuser, just move to shallow water, put on timer 4 hours night , 4 hours day . cost 25 a month run that unit 24 hours.

jb - Questioning is very good. Everyone is welcome to question anything I say. If I didn't make a mistake, I can easily defend all my comments and I can be wrong (I am human), but I make it a point to try and not provide information that has not reliable or has not been tested.

Now to your question. Yes you can run your diffuser in winter. BUT move it shallow to preferably 4' to 6' deep so the boil is not pulling most of its water from the pond "belly". Circulation at the shoreline area should not extend real far under the ice or to the other end of the pond and should provide a somewhat warmer refugia area at the other end of the pond. Fish can move back and forth between two extremes to seek their comfort zone.

Reread my previous comments to make sure you understand all the precautions. Start by running the diffuser 3 to 4 hrs per day after the ice is 1" to 2" thick. This should keep a hole mostly open at one end. Also keep in mind that CLEAR ice is just as good as open water for allowing sunlight to stimulate the photosynthesis for oxygenation by microalgae in the pond. So your open area can freeze closed with clear ice over the opening and this is also very beneficial and almost as good as running the aerator for oxygenation. Sunlight penetrating in shallow water will also stimulate bottom algae which also make quite a bit of oxygen.

Not sure what Ken means by "cost 25". Your compressor consumes 1KW of electricity in abt 5hr operation or 200Watts per hr. You shouldn't need to run it more than 3 to 4 hrs per day. And you may want to only run it right after snow falls to open a hole and allow it to freeze over with clear ice. Make sure your check valve works good and keep an eye on compressor start up pressures. They should not exceed 6 to 8 psi in shallow (5'-6'deep)operation. Higher pressue (15psi+) for a minute or continuous at start up indicates sticking/leaky check valve and frozen water plug.