Pond Boss Forums AERATION Should I aerate? Where to Aerate

Do I have to Aerate in the center of the pond or can i do it on the side. My pond is a little bigger than 1/2 acre.

I placed my diffusers in the deepest part of the pond to keep the water from stratifying.
Since you are in the south - no need to worry about ice problems that northern pond owners encounter.
Experts can elaborate.

George Glazener
N.E. Texas 1/4 acre and 2 acre ponds

I had spoke to the local WIldlife and Fisheries here and they told me not to suck from the bottom because you would bring bad water to the top. Is this true or did i misunderstand. They never told me about where to put the water being sprayed in the air. Center or is near the bank ok? its just a simple little square pond.

Well yes and no. Never ask advice from someone that does not use the system in question! There are some very knowledgable people in our Fish & Wildlife offices and there are some who don't have a clue.

Put you diffuser on the bottom in your deepest water, however you don't want to start it up all at once if you didn't start it up before the water stratified. (If you pond has stratified where you're located) Yes, ponds do build up an anoxic (oxygen free or low) layer on the bottom over time, and to just crank your diffuser up after that has happened is not a good idea. However you could pulse it to keep from bringing up the bad water all at once.

Your pond is much better off if you mix your water column throughout the summer with a diffuser(s). Makes for more area that is habitable for your fish, and a healthier breathing pond. It will also allow you to increase your carrying capacity.

Once you water cools off in fall turn it off and leave it off until waters start to warm up in spring. No need to run it in winter in the south. You could actually do more harm than good then.

Hey Cecil, I had a stupid question. I'm guessing that the defusser you are talking about is where the sump pump sucks in and it is not anythingelse. Thats all i have is a sump pump. Is that ok? If so from what i got from you is that i should drop into the deepest part a little at a time?

Spencer,

Correct me if I am wrong, but it sounds like you are not Aerating but are using a sump pump to splash water on the surface like a fountain.

A diffuser is underwater at the end of the air line that comes from a compressor and breaks the pumped air down into tiny bubbles. There are several different types of diffusers that can be used.

There are many posts under this topic and if you go back thru some of them you can get a better understanding of what they are and how they work.
Several of the posters are distibutors for various brands and some have links to their web sites where you can browse around and see the different types.

You want to bring the "bad" water up from the top but you need to do it gradually in an older pond or you could cause a fish kill. It will smell pretty bad in the beginning but once you get it running 24 X 7 you'll be all set. I would start with an hour or 2 per day and work it up over a couple of weeks time frame until you have it running 24 X 7. We have 2 aerators going in the 2 deep holes in our pond (16 feet deep) and the water is the best its been since the pond was dug 2 years ago. I do shut it down in November and restart in April after all ice melt so as not to super cool the deep water. Our ice can be 3 feet thick up here in winter.

I plow the snow off so we can skate on the pond and we can get some light down in under the ice.

Spencer, Do you know the turnover of your sump pump 300 gallon per minute 500 GPM etc, and what is the depth of your pond and the average depth and how deep can your pump pull from ?? These answers will help answer your original questions Ted

Its 300 per minute and my pond is 8ft in the deepest area.

Spencer, At 300GPM you would be getting approx 4/10ths per turn per 24 hr day, This can be somewhat missleading as most sump type systems turn a lot of the same water over and over vs circulating (aerating) the entire pond.To answer your original question having your system somewhat offset vs centered will not make a great difference.In your part of the country I try to have a system turn no less than .7 and one turn per day often better depending on your goals and BOD.A very mature nutrient rich pond may require up to 2 plus turns per day.You mention bad water and this is what proper aeration will address. Good Luck, Ted

Thank yallllllllll!!!!