Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions duckweed growing after aeration

Hi all,

Newbie with a question for the experts here. I have a 1/8 acre pond, about 8-10 feet deep, with a newly installed vertex aerator. The pond was left alone for probably 20 years or more, with a high input of dead leaves from surrounding maples. There is a layer of muck probably a foot deep, from my probing tests.

The pond is surrounded by irises.

My question is this:
I'm ramping up my brand new vertex aerator, starting yesterday for 15 minutes, planning on doubling each day, as per the instructions. This morning, for the first time ever, I find some isolated duckweed fronds floating on the surface. I hear this stuff also has the tendency to double each day, so I'm getting nervous. I had dragged the aerator into place across the bottom from the shoreline, perhaps stirring up some seeds on the bottom...

Does anyone have experience with this sort of issue? Any ways to nip it in the bud?

Thanks for your help!

With DW getting their nutrients from the water column and with a newly started system you may be providing the fuel.DW can lay dormant for several years waiting for favorable conditions to germinate.Mature ponds can have nutrients stored in deeper areas that are actually nutrient sinks.Also keep in mind the startup procedure is just a guideline and may be too aggressive for this time of year. The leap from 4 to 8 and then to 16 hours can be too much for a mature pond this time of year.Continue to startup "slowly"

Thanks, Ted (my aerator is actually the economy air 1, from forevergreen, and is working great!). I'll be sure to do a slower ramp-up. Is there any benefit to waiting until fall, when the pond is turning over anyway, and its too cold here for the duckweed? That way, I might think the pond could achieve some relative stability during a time when its going through a natural change anyway.

I would not wait until fall.You will be actually creating a controlled "mini" turnover when you are running 24/7 as that system at your depth is lifting approx 2700 GPM.Decomposition, nutrient oxidation and favorable aerobic bacteria populations are better in warmer water.Be cautious with cold water fish however !

Just to update, the duckweed never got any worse and is now basically gone. The water clarity seems improved, getting 4' visibility, although I'm not sure its due to the aeration since it is so soon. The water smell is much much better...i.e. swimming no longer kicks up the sulfur gases. I'm very happy with the results so far!

There's still an oily film layer which stays on the down-wind side of the pond with brown-ish bubbles that goes away after a rain, but comes back after a day or so. From what I've read on other threads, these are most likely oils from decomposing organic matter.

Thanks for the help!

Antthing that turns over DW (strong winds , waves , aeration , circulator etc) will help get rid of it.

jhub,

where in ny are you?. I have a very similar size pond, and have been waiting for a fellow nyer to post.