Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions DIY aeration system for a small pond

First off I'd like to say I'm new to the forum, and boy am I glad I found it. There is tons of good stuff on here.


I will be building a DIY aeration system for my .10 acre (125' long by 30' wide and 10' deep) pond. I have been reading up for the past week on here about building my own system, and have already began purchasing a pump (just waiting to receive it).

I bought a rebuilt Thomas Compressor/ Pump model # 2660CE35-985 C off of Ebay for $50.00 shipped. I know there was another person on the boards that bought one of these pumps as an upgrade from another Thomas pump he had. He mentioned that they were a decent pump, and I figured for the price why not give it a try. If anyone else has some experience with this type of pump please chime in.

In the next few days I plan on ordering my diffusers from Diffuser Express. I'd like to go with 3 - 9" fine bubble disk diffusers. My question to you is should I got with either their standard or high capacity disks? Another question is should I have all 3 diffusers together in the middle, or have 3 single diffusers setup spaced equally apart? Please let me know if 3 diffusers are overkill or not enough. I almost for got to mention that my electrical connection is at one end of the pond approximately 15' on shore.


As for air hose, I plan on using an old black garden hose out of the water and some weighted hose I plan on purchasing from cleanponds.com.

As for plumbing fittings were (Home Depot, Lowes, Ace, Grainger, etc.) would be my best bet to get all of my fittings and supplies (pressure gauge, pressure relief valve, fittings in general). Also I plan on using 1/2" or larger fittings and hose to reduce friction.

One last thing the pond is currently inhabited by a 2 small cooter turtles, 3 small soft shell turtles, Golden Shiners, tons of bluegill, 3 large "STERILE" Asian Carp. The owner from whom my wife and I bought this house from said there are no Bass in the pond due to low oxygen, which is the whole reason why I started this thread to begin with.

Thanks in advance,
Mike

Mike:

I'd compare the specs with those diffusers with Vertex diffusers. Bubble size, CFM ratings, etc. Smaller bubbles move more water, which is your goal.

Thanks, anyone else.

Hi Mike, welcome to the forum.

What makes the former owner believe the DO levels are low? Have you tested the DO levels yet? I recommend you doing so prior to making a lot of other pond management decisions.

If a pond supports adult BG, it will most likely also support other warm water fish, such as LMB.

tee, I have not tested for DO, were could I purchase a test kit? I'm new to this pond stuff, so I was only going off of what they told me. They were the original owners and lived here for over 30 years and the pond was dug when the house was built.

Mike,

The number of diffuser locations depends on a lot of factors. Is your pond round/oval and deep in the middle? If so 1 is probably sufficient. If not, then you'll want to consider more.

I have a Thomas pump, and it is probably a little overkill for a .1 acre pond. Whatever you do with diffusers, keep in mind you're pushing 3.5cfm with that pump so your diffusers need to support more than that, or you're likely to either cause a lot of back pressure on your pump which is bad for them in the long run, or blow out the diffuser membranes. With the vertex for example you'd need >2 diffusers.

Mike I have the 9 inch diffusers from D. Express 3 of them and they work great on my 1 acre pond. If your pond is the size you say it is you will be fine with 1 station at a depth of 10 feet. As a matter of fact you could more than likely get by with 2 fusers instead of 3. Vertex makes a good fuser as well and they do have finer holes but I have had great luck with the fine bubble fusers from D. Express. I think either one would work great for your pond size just a matter of what you think you want. Find out what your CFM rating is on your pump for sure. Straw says it may be around 3.5 well make sure if you can. With that said the fusers from D. Express will handle anywhere from .5 to 5 cfm. So you could have 2 or 3 setup on one station without any problems and they have triple check valve in them I believe so when you turn the air off the fuser itself will stop water from coming back up the line. Of course some guys still put a check valve in near their pump as a backup. Good luck and keep us posted as to what you do.

Where would I find the specs. on the Vertex Diffusers?

The Vertex diffusers are .5 to 1.5 CFM so you would need at least 3 of them. I'm pretty sure the last 2 digits on the model number of the pump is the CFM rating. In a 2660CE35-985 your CFM would theoretically be 3.5. I thought the lowest rating on the 2650/2660 was 3.7 CFM however. I don't see that particular model number on the Thomas website so I would double check the model # as well to be sure. I show the CE37, CE39, and CE44. I have the CE37.

I'd agree that for a "normal shaped" pond that size and a pump that size, the DE diffusers are probably more than sufficient, you shouldn't have any issues with getting all your water turned over.

CORRECTION: Vertex diffusers are .5 to 1.25 CFM.

Hey Straw, did you Thomas pump come with a mogul connection, or did it come with a standard plug. Mine came with the mogul connection and a capacitor and I need to know how do I go about wiring it up for a standard plug.

Thanks, Mike

Mike - The pump just came with a wiring harness. What I did was just cut up an old computer power cord , put the spade connectors on, and hooked it together. The black cables with red ends are for your capacitor - the red/blue (and maybe a green one? Depends on the pump) will be for your power cord and the colors will probably match the cord you cut up.

Thanks Straw, I figured it out, I guess I got a little to excited when the pump arrived yesterday and had a brain fart . I cut off the plug it came with and hooked it up exactly as you described.

Mike

I built the same system RC51 has and love it. cheap and works great. I have it hooked up on a dawn to dusk timer and has been working great. My DO has been between 6 and 8 PPM. work at a waste water plant so i have accsess to testing all parts of the water here is a link to what I have set up in a 3/4 acre pond 14 to 15 foot deep.

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=248108#Post248108

Hey Joker glad to hear your air station is still working good for ya! Mine is doing great also! Real easy setup and no fuss or muss about it! Although I have been thinking about making another 4 station setup with my fusers a little farther apart just to see how it works. Otherwise things are working great. It good to know what your DO is I was wondering how mine was and if your pond is 3/4 acre like mine I would have to guess my DO is close to yours. Thanks for the update and the DO readings.

RC, don't assume. I tested 4 different ponds this winter for DO. Two ponds were within 200 feet of each other and they had different DO levels. Those two ponds are virtually identical. Built at the same time, same fish, same depth, etc.

Hey Esshup,

I suppose your right to some degree on that hey? All ponds are different. I would like to know what my DO is but not willing to buy a piece of equipment that I will only use once in a blue moon. They are to expensive for that.

Thanks,

RC, you've got that right! I have the feeling that I will be purchasing one in the near future. I'm finding that I need one more and more, and having one instead of borrowing Cecils will be a lot more convenient. I see that YSI makes one that also measures pH along with the O2 and temp.

RC51, you mention here that you use the fine bubble diffusers from Diffuser Express, could you tell me are they the "standard" or "high capacity" type.