Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Help aerating pond.... to many questions...

I bought a new house a couple months ago and finally got around to messing with the pond. the pond is about a half acre and the dimensions are 108ft x 160ft and the deepest point is 8.5 ft. The previous owner said every year hed throw 200 catfish in it and fish it all year. Since I moved in all ive been able to catch is redear sunfish and perch... ive been throwing a perch trap in it and within 5 minutes itll have 50-100 1-2 inch perch in it. Ive run trot lines, tried using live and cut perch, worms, stink bait and not caught a single fish. Yesterday I went to the fish farm and bought 140 6-8 inch and 10 11 inch channel cats and 12 3-4 inch hybrid bass. The pond has about 4-6 inches of visisbility but i plan on adding gypsum and lime to clear it up some. I really want to aerate it but the systems seem very expensive and the pond is far from the house. Id like to build my own system but dont know where to start. what are some diy systems yall have built?

run air line

Ive seen some systems that say you can place the compressor away from the pond and run pvc to the pond. I like this idea because im not sure how loud it is and I have a deer feeder by the pond. I could put the compressor in the barn by the house and run 900 ft of air line.





run electricity

I could rent a trencher and run #4 aluminum 3 conductor from the barn to the pond. I like this idea because id like to put a little pier and small building with some lights and fans back there. Id have to run 1200 ft of wire but the cost of the wire isnt an issue since I already have it.






is my pond considered narrow where I would need more than one diffuser? id appreciate all the advice yall can give me. thanks and sorry for the long post. Id really like to get my pond clear and id heard the gypsum, lime, and aeration could help keep it clear. thanks.

well the pictures didnt come out as big as id hoped... is there any way to make the pictures bigger?

I don't think you need bigger pictures. First you need more homework.

1. Since you have the wire for the project and you want other electrical items at the pond consider getting power to the pond.

2. If you cant catch CC at the pond, the dumb ones could have all be fished out before you got there. CC under extensive angling pressure can get hook smart and larger ones can get very difficult to catch on hook and line. There is quite a bit of older posts here a about that topic. I'll let you or others look up that info for you.

3. Perch and redear sunfish. I will assume that 'perch' are some sort of common sunfish type fish called "perch" by Texans. Your perch might be bluegill (BG). YOu could have some hybrid BG (HBG) due to natrual genetic crossing of two species in your pond. We Yankees call perch a yellow perch or aka lake perch which I know you do not have in your pond. There is a white perch but you don't have that either. IMO your first order of this item is figure out exactly what type of fish you have. Different species of "perch" could require different types of management so they are eventually harvestable as table fare. I doubt that you have redear sunfish (RES) and what you are seeing are probably green sunfish. See this link for more information about types of sunfish so we know for sure what you are talking about.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92482#Post92482

4. Water clarity. If something or a phenomenon is causing your pond water to be turbid, then first fix that problem or your clearing efforts will be wasted time and money. Do a jar test. Collect at least a quart of water in a clear glass jar. Allow it to settle for 2-3 days. Day 3 collect a 2nd sample with another jar. Visually Compare the two samples. One clear one cloudy then problem will not be fixed with clearing agents and problem is probably too much activity in the pond sediments - lots of fish or critters or wind working the bottom. Both cloudy after 3 days then chemicals could help fix turbidity issue. Read numerous muddy water topics here.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=16&page=1
Next step is then do the test of adding some alum to a gallon or 5 gal of water. Alum in small amounts can be usually obtained from a pharmacy - aluminum sulfate.
Work on these projects and ask more questions.
With mostly just trash fish in the pond you might want to consider renovating (killing all fish) and starting over with known and more productive non-problmatic species. Chemical to renovate the pond will cost about $100-120 and labor for someone to apply it is their charges. Expore that option.

based on that link what i have for sure is the bluegill and green sunfish, the reason I said redear is because the guy I bought the house from said he put a couple hundred in the pond because they are supposed to eat snails and worms. im about 90% sure the water clarity issue is from the drought and lack of solid bottom. when i measured the depth and when ive got in the pond the bottom has about 3-5 inches that are mush, if that makes any sense. and weve had quite a bit of rain after a year long drought. The pond never went dry but it got about 2 ft low. Id talked to a pond guy and he said that with it having got that low when it rained it probably pushed alot of dirt by runoff into the pond and i can either wait a year or so for it to hopefully settle out or put something like lime and gypsum in the pond to solidify the bottom. Would yall agree? i will definetly try the jar test though. id read about trying to it calculate how much gypsum i needed but never just to see if the dirt settles.

Since you restocked it is probably best to first try managing with what you now have. Don't ever expect a 1/2 ac pond to have water where you can see 3'-4' deep with all those CC in there. At least I've never witnessed it. Check out this thread about determining water clarity:
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=92624#Post92624

Note the part about a homemade version. YOu should have a simple Secchi Disk to check water visibility and amount of improvement if you use a clearing agent. Best clearing agent IMO is aluminum sulfate - alum. Read about it here:
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=124005#Post124005
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=277280#Post277280
Lots of more info on alum and hydrated lime read some of them in the Muddy Water section.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=16&page=1

im fine with just a foot maybe even 2 to be happy. I would just like to be able to see the fish when they eat food. I was reading those articles but im having trouble understanding what they are doing. It seems like they are using alum and hydrated lime together without a ph test where they cancel each other out ph wise? I never caught on to how they were mixing them.

think i found the answer. if i out 50 lbs of alum i need 25 pounds of hydrated lime. right?

Amount of Hydrated lime to alum will depend on water hardness / alkalinity. 2alum:1 h.lime is a general use rate. I've used alum in several hard water ponds without hydrated lime and got good results. It all depends on water chemistry in the pond. Many areas of the US have ponds with low alkalinity and are weakly buffered to changss in pH, thus the need for hydrated lime to stabilize the pH due to alum causing acidity in the pond water. Hardness in water resists the lowering of the pH.
For a little more information here is a portion of a fact sheet from Ohio State University.

Alum (aluminum sulfate)
Alum is the most effective material for clearing clay turbidity from a pond, often within a few hours. Application rates are typically 100-450 pounds per surface acre. As before, add 1/3-1/2 of the required amount, wait a day, and then determine if additional alum is required to increase transparency to about 18 inches. Application procedures are identical to those described for gypsum.

For alum, there is a very good reason to use the minimum amount necessary. After application, there is a chemical reaction that impacts the pH (acidity) of the water. The reaction produces small amounts of sulfuric acid which can decrease pH significantly in some waters to levels harmful to aquatic life.

Therefore, alkalinity and pH should be tested prior to application. Alkalinity should exceed 100 mg/l and pH should be greater than 7.0. If not, hydrated lime needs to be added simultaneously to buffer the effects of the acid produced by the alum addition. Application rate for lime is 50 pounds per acre-foot. It is wise to re-check alkalinity and pH repeatedly as more alum and lime is added. In situations where 400 pounds of alum may be needed, pH may begin to drop quickly even in waters where pH was initially deemed to be adequate for lesser additions. Hydrated lime also removes suspended clay, although not as effectively as alum.
Entire Fact Sheet.
http://ohioline.osu.edu/a-fact/0006.html

Thanks, I was reading about aerating and it said it will help remove some of the muck in the bottom and maybe even help harden it up where the catfish won't stir it up as bad? I am building a rc51 system. I bought a ecoplus 7 pump and was going to buy 3 9" diffusers. Should I buy the standard or high capacity diffusers? Should I place the diffuser station in the lowest part of my pond? I'd read to leave it a foot or 2 above the bottom but I think that's for states where the ponds freeze. I know on RC's setup he ran 1/2" hose from the pump to 5/8" weighted hose to the diffusers, would I be alright just running all 1/2" hose to the station and use 3/4" PVC for the diffuser station? Thanks for all the info.