Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Economy system any good?

I was on Inspired by nature"'s website they have a economy system bottom ariation system for 560 has anyone bought this? Is it any account? Am I better of too save my money for another 10 yrs and buy the nicer on for twice the money? Any good or bads is appreciated.

stoney creek has best kits around. they have web site.

Thanks I wii give them a try.

IBN's economy aerator is a good basic unit with flexable membrane disk diffuser on good stand/base. I think the diffuser is even a 13"-14" dia. It will be hard to beat this package unit for the money.

I haven't seen it but I wouldn't be afraid of anything IBN sells as they are top notch in my book!

What is the address for the web site. I have never heard of them before.

Hey found this site that sells what appears to be a nice kit for a smaller pond ( Mine is < 1/4 acre and 14 feet deep ) Tell me what you think. I was looking at the "Industrial Aeration System" It has a Gast pump and a Flex Disc aerator. with Hose and fittings for $368. Almost sounds too good to be true so I thought I would ask the experts.

Address is:
http://www.westernpond.com/aeration_store.htm

Thanks

The specs give a cfm of 1/2 cfm. This is either wrong or if correct it is too little air volume for good mixing. Water boil from 1/2 cfm will be real small compared to a unit that delivers 4 cfm. The higher air flow will allow you to mix your pond faster and then turn off the unit. Compressor will also last much longer than the one running 24/7. If it is 1.5 cfm then that can work.

Better water movement while operating and much longer life, the extra money will be well spent.

I can research the actual air flow is necessary, first I need the compressor model number.

Thanks for the post back. It appears it is a Gast rocking piston diaphragm pump Model # MOAP101-AA it is a 1/16 HP pump. I called the distributor and they said it was good up to a 1/4 acre pond but looking at what you have stated I am not sure I would go that way. I was looking on the Gast site and have yet to find that model number pump. Any thoughts you might have or information you might find would be greatly appreciated.

I was in the same predicament as you a few months ago (see "Will This Pump Work?") and currently my pond is a-bubblin' away for under $60.

I bought the GAST 1532pump for $40- it's 1.5 CFM, good for a small pond:

CHEAP and GOOD!

I used 5/8" garden hose to go from the pump to my pond.

And this diffuser:

Also, CHEEP and GOOD!

Yes, it can be done for under $60, it works great too, big time surface boil in 15' of water.

nyquil-glad to see your system is working,i bought the same pump you did but i was not sure what diffuser you were using,i just ordered 2 of them for 19.95 each.can you see the bubbles from the surface pretty good?

Thanks for the information. I just went to the site and just purchased the pump and diffuser. When I ordered the pump they confirmed the wrong part to me via email but I think that is taken care of now. Silly question for you, did you use any muffler or anything other than what you listed here? What did you use to anchor the system into the pond? How did you weigh down the hose? Thanks again for the help, and my minnows thank you as well. ( I want to make sure they are set before I put in the Perch and LMB this late summer/fall )

cire9 - We have found that northern yellow perch and LM bass are a mistake together. But if you mean "Texas perch" they are okay with LM bass. I could not tell from your "bio" where your were from.

The GAST MOA P101 series with 1/16 hp does produce 0.5 cfm. In my opionion, this is too little air to produce an adequate boil for good pond mixing. However this pump is low cost and does have high pressure (50-100psi)capacity. Pressure is responsible for how deep bubbles can be produced. 10psi will produce bubbles at around 20ft deep. No doubt many people decide to buy these units based on their low cost. You do not need high pressure but you do need higher air volumes. It's the air volume that is responsible for producing bubbles; more air volume results in more bubbles. More bubbbles results in more water movement. A pump with 1.5 cfm will resort in more than three times more and stronger water movement than a unit with 0.5 cfm. This is because higher air volume results in being able to operate a larger diameter diffuser and producing more bubbles over a larger area. As this area expands in its rise to the surface. This expanded area involves more water being entrained in the plume.

I would try and find a unit that produces at least 1.5 cfm.

The economy unit first described above from IBN produces 4 cfm at 14 ft deep. Think how big your water boil would be with that much air volume.

1 cfm is 29 quarts of air/min . A 0.5 cfm is abt 15 quarts of air /min. vs 44 qts of air at 1.5cfm OR 118 quarts of air per min at 4 cfm. Big difference in air volumes and number of bubbles that can be produced.

Lets talk about diffusers!I read too many posts where dealers are stating that their equipment (diffusers) are good up to XX size or it will aerate XX size pond. Lets start by saying that the majority of rubber membrane diffusers are made for the wastewater industry and pond and lake aeration is a sideline niche. Consider establishing your pond volume and the number of turns per day you want to acomplish. This could be .75 turns in a large cold water pond or lake with cold water fish or twice in ponds that are mature and have a considerable amount of organic matter to decompose.The BOD in every pond is different.Simply adding more air to an unknown diffuser will not do what is needed. For example if you know that your pond is 12 feet deep and a diffuser will turn over 2700-2800 gallon per minute at 1 CFM and the independent test data backs this up now your getting somewhere. A 1/2 acre pond at average depth of 12 feet will now turn over twice per day.In larger ponds and lakes simply adding more air will turn over more water but that air may better spent on another diffuser if needed or perhaps you could of gotten by with a smaller pump.Less $$ upfront and less $$ to operate. At some point you are turning the same gallons over too many times as other water in the pond is benefiting little because of diffuser placement or lack of. Long story short consider doing more homework when matching pumps and diffusers. I would not buy a diffuser of any kind if I did not have the specs (turnover rates at given depths)at given CFM's and someone stating this is the "size" for xx acre pond probably has no idea what they are selling.Another way to look at this is if you have for example a 21 inch Ecologix diffuser why would you want to waste the money on putting 5-8 CFM with a large pumpinto this diffuser when a smaller diffuser and pump will out perform it hands down. I have removed many diffusers from ponds that were totally mismatched. This is the next "wave" of knowledge and information that is coming to pond and lake managers DIFFUSER PERFORMANCE. Someone mentioned that they have a good "boil". I have in one of our display ponds a dedicated 1.5 CFM piston pump and have a 21inch Ecologix diffuser a 14 inch Ecologix diffuser a Aquatic EcoSystems Great Lakes 4 stone a Koender 7 inch round air stone a Vertex Coactive Airststion all in 12 feet of water..When I push 1.5 CFM of air to each seperatly you get a good "boil" out of each.I always ask my customers when switching from diffuser to diffuser which boil is from which diffuser as I have the same diffusers on shore to show the difference.You cant tell the difference between 500GPM and 2778 GPM to the eye. However the Koender Airstone (windmill model)produces 500 GPM the Vertex CoActive Airstation produces 2778 GPM (only needs 1 CFM to do this) the Great Lakes Airstone produces 1250 GPM the Ecologix diffusers produce little at this CFM as they are rated for much much higher CFM and Ecologix does not seem to want to share their data for their wastewater diffusers to us "pond folk"I have dedicated part of the ForeverGreen website at www.aquaticaeration.com
to this subject. Some will say I state these facts because I am a Vertex Water Features Dealer, but the truth is I am a Vertex Dealer "because" of these facts.Have gone through the same confusion and to some degree deception that you have or may experience.Buy your pumps and diffusers where you can find the best value but know how to place value on a system to fit your pond or lakes needs and your goals .Look into the pros and cons of airstones vs wastewater diffusers vs pond and lake rubber membrane diffusers,compare warranties and pumps, rotary vanes vs WOBL piston pumps vs rocking piston vs Articulating pistons and the choices go on and on! Then whatever system you purchase or build yourself will be the best system for you. Sorry for the length of this note and the commercial that it sounds like but the information to get you better "value" is out there waiting!! Ted

Thanks for the Info. I am in Upstate NY and yes I am planning Northern Yellow perch and LMB together. Why do you say it is a bad mix.

Thanks for the Info. I am in Upstate NY and yes I am planning Northern Yellow perch and LMB together. Why do you say it is a bad mix.

Thanks Ted,
Your information & experience & knowledge are always helpful & welcome! Hopefully I will be able to make a better decision on the best way to aerate my pond when it's done.

For those of you who purchased the Gast 1532 pump I found the maint manual just in case you did not get one with it. It is as follows:

http://www.gastmfg.com/pdf/70-205G335PL.pdf

Just thoought you might be interested

Whoa, this thread is smokin!

Okay, to answer your questions on the Gast 1532 and the Aquatic-Ecosystems diffuser...

Lee: "Can you see the bubbles from the surface pretty good?"

Yes, but Ted just got finished telling us that a good surface boil is not indicative of a good system. Let me tell you what I know for sure. Since I installed my $60 system (thanks to wonderful suggestions here), and some bacteria. My pond has cleared substantially and looks a lot healthier. The water used to smell like rotten leaves, now it smells sweet. The pond just looks better overall.

cire9: Did you use any muffler or anything other than what you listed here? What did you use to anchor the system into the pond? How did you weigh down the hose?

Actually, I'm not even using the muffler that this pump came with, it restricted a lot of airflow and made virtually no difference in the noise. It's really quiet. I keep it in my garage and I can barely hear it through the wall (with my ear pressed against it).

I'll take some pictures tonight and put them up on this, and my origianl thread. It will be easier to show you pictures than to explain. Stay tuned, maybe I'll make a new thread as well, for the folks like us that don't have a lot of cash and want to get something going.

Honestly, I couldn't afford (or justify the expense for) anything more than $100 for this system. I have a pretty small pond compared to most of you, so I just wanted something that would start the de-stratification process. I figured it's better to spend what I can afford today and get SOMETHING working, rather than wait 10 years until I can afford something. I'm only 25 and I should be spending my money on things like new windows for my house.

cire9 - LMB & yellow perch bad mix. Put this in the for m of a question in the forum heading Types OF Fish TO Choose and I will address this topic.

I'm pretty sure it has been talked a couple times previously in other posts. A search in Quest & Obser. and other fish topic headings may reveal the info. I don't want to talk about it here and bury it under the topic of aeration - systems questions.

Just got in the Diffuser. Can't wait to get the pump and start playing. In the mean time I opened up the seasonal creek to the pond and have water flowing in and out and seems to have taken care of the immediate need for pond turn over.

NYquil did you ever take a pic of your setup? Love to see how you put the parts together. I am putting mine in my shed in the back which is about 66 feet from pond side. Thus there is not alot of noise and I can add the timer in there to only go on over night.

The pump should be here in a few days!! I will let you know how it all went and maybe get some pond pics and system pics up here as well.

Just thought I would let you all know the system is in and working fine. I have a great turn over in my pond and it smells sweeter and fatheads are happier with more O2. I have it on a timer set to go on in times of typical low O2. With Tax entire system cost $108 Not bad does the job and can't even hear the pump going it so silent. Thanks again to all !!