Pond Boss Forums AERATION Should I aerate? Solar Aeration???

I'm glad you asked that, LB. That is what determines the overall expense. To run one 24/7 you would need large battery and high wattage of solar panels. Your and ML's new, small and shallow ponds are ideal for solar aeration without great expense. One thing is that the sun is your friend, in that summer and long days gives more time for charging, and more time for algae bloom to produce O2 in late spring and summer.

I couldn't speel airashun...aration...whatever until I came upon this great forum, so the experts in the field can elaborate and/or correct, but I feel that night aeration with an algae bloom is essential due to it and other plants which may(but hope not)develop taking in oxygen at night. They also give off O2 during the day, but with high temps., above 90, I would aerate for water circulation during the hottest time of day. I'm thinking midnight to 7AM and 2-6PM. That is 11 hrs per day. I aerate 24/7 becaues I have electricity and an old pond with silt and muck. 10-12 hrs. in late spring and summer and less at other times should be good.
There are many past posts on when and how long to aerate and determining factors. I suggest you look at Ted Lea or Cary Martins posts on the subject. Also Bill Cody, Bruce and Cecil, and many others with vast experience. Once you determine your objectives, I can tell you how much wattage and battery size you will need. Also if you will change out battery occasionally or want a self maintaining system.

BM,

Sorry it took so long to get back to you. I'll probably aerate at the approximate times that you mentioned. That would add up to the 10-12 hour range during the spring and summer, and little to no aeration in the fall and winter. From what I've read in other posts, I don't have to worry about winter kill here in south Louisiana. With that said, how much wattage do you recommend for my pond? Also, I was planning on just buying a deep cycle battery (size ?) and changing it out whenever necessary. You mentioned a self maintaining system though. What exactly is that?

Thanks again!

Jimmy Wheels,

Sorry for not responding to your post from last week. I must have over looked it. If you're still here, thanks for your comments. I appreciate any and all comments I can get.

By self maintaining, I meant that you would not go to your pond for long periods and would want to assure that the aerator keeps running.That's where it can get really expensive. Also, long aeration times, especially during the day while battery is needing to charge.

Some people dont realize just how expensive solar or wind power is as compared to electrical grid. Grid power @ 10 cents per Kilowatt hr. means 100 watts is 1 cent. 100 watts of solar power is $500 dollars or more. That's 50,000 times more. All I'm saying is I am trying to squeeze the most out of a system, by lowest wattage pump to do the work required, which is overcome 8 ft. of water weight to force out bubbles. Deeper ponds, longer run times, etc. push the cost up dramatically.

If you will change out the battery every 2 wks. or so, aerate 6-8 hrs. daily we can come up with a good system, reasonable price.

I will give you and meadowlark a materials list this weekend by PM.

bm

would you please share the details with me? I have 3 acre pond that I would like to use solar. Power co wants thousands to run the grid to my pond site.

Thanks

Frank

Frank, I will be glad to spec. out a system for you. These 2 guys have same small size and depth and need the same components.

How deep is your pond & how old, any vegetation?
How long would you like to aerate?

You may just want to go with a Vertex system sized for your pond; they dont have a system for these very small ponds, but are supposed to be the best. Check them out on the web, let me know which compressor it will use. What voltage and current draw.

burgermeister

Pond is 3 acres. It was built 50+ years ago by grandfather as irrigation pond. Three years ago we renovated, raise the dam a foot, and had trackhoe deepen the edges. Deepest is only 7-8 feet with large parts 3 feet deep. Bottom has lots of muck.

We had severe potomogeton and bushy pondweed but had Greg Grimes treat and is now weed free. We do have some grass carp.

I am not sure how long we wanna areate? Advise?

We generally go once a week and have power at a barn near entrance of property. Power co charged $300 to drop a pole there and wanted thousands to run to the pond. I mention that since we could swap out battery once a week.

Thanks a lot
Frank

Got you, Frank. I'm not sure if bottom aeration would do much good in such a shallow pond, as the lifting effect of the bubbles from depth is what does the circulation. Just how far is the electricity from the pond? any chance of running air line? you can run air thousands of feet without much loss. Surface aeration may be best, but water pumps draw a lot of current.

Why dont you look up Tea Lea, an aeration specialist on the forum and run the pond by him. Let him advise you. Whatever you decide, if you still need solar or electrical advise, I can spec. that for you.

Distance to the pond is about 2 miles so I dont think air line would work.

Thanks

Frank

OK, Frank. Just checking. You may start with a similar setup as ML and LB in 7ft water. If it works out for you' you can place another system elsewhere in the pond if you want. I would sketch out the pond and ask Ted or Cary Martin to help with placement of diffuser.

Hello Burgermister,

It sounds like you know a bit about solar. I have been a long time fan of it but never actually built one. Had all sorts of plans and knew all I needed etc to do a house. My pond is just under a acre, I want to hopefully do some type of aeration on the one side which is about 1/2 acre and six feet deep. Could you let me know how to build a small solar aeretor. I dont want to spend a lot but I do want to do solar/battery system. I read your posts and like you said some aeration is better then none, so a small syatem would be fine to try.

Joey, you can look at the threads(including this one) regarding small, low current compressors. I wouldn't want to steer toward an under aeration situation. PM one of the aeration specialists to size a system. Give them various depths, water clarity, conditions, muck, etc. If you decide to go with solar, I can tell you how long per day(or night) to expect, what size panels, battery, inverter etc that you will need. PM if you like...good luck.

Joey and BM,

Harbor Freight has a 45 watt solar panel kit on sale right now for $199.99 and Northern Tool has 15 watt panels on sale for 79.99. Hope this helps.

I almost stopped at northern tool today on my trip to walmart. I was thinking of the aerator stuff and thought..i got all winter do dont rush. I was just on a sight, looked like nice stuff but big bucks. I have electric pretty close like 75 feet away from the pond so its a option. I was just set on upfront cost then it being free. thanks.

Sorry burgermister I thought you might know where to get the components and stuff like that. The solar part I can build and get, its the aereation stuff I dont have any experiance with, so I dont have the slightest idea about it yet.

Maybe there will be some good adds in the pond mag. I thought would have it by now, come thursday it will be 2 weeks. The girl told me she mailed it out that day....

If you have power so close to the pond I am wondering why you would want to use solar?

I ran my power 650 feet to the pond, and have been running a low amp. pump 1/2 amp draw for a few months now but I have a 1/4to1/3 acre pond for the money I wonder if you could station a couple of the smaller units with 9 inch diffusers in different locations. I am just putting thoughts out there as I havent much expertise with this stuff, only what I have picked up from here. have consider that if my small compressor wasnt working well enough that for 50 bucks I could add another compressor inline and double my air output but it works really well, as far as I know.

Joey, as trialsguy said, definitely consider AC power to the pond; or an airline. You can never get near the bang for the buck with solar. It is just an alternative for very remote sites. The small compressor like myself, trial, and some others work well enough for 1/4 or 1/2 acre ponds up to 10 ft. deep. You said you have 1 acre and want to aerate 1/2 of it that is 6 ft deep. Tell us about the rest of the pond. Is it deeper, shallower, is it shallow with a deeper hole or 2? C & S sales may have more of the surplus units that draw 1/2 amp. Just dont want you to be disappointed. Tell us more.

I recall one of the aeration pros stating they had run airlines as far as 5000 feet to get from an AC powered compressor to a pond.

Why I say I would aerate half is because the existing pond before I made it bigger was a little over 1/2 maybe .6. The way we made the pond bigger was to dig out the new part and then from the outside remove the existing dam or berms. It created a island with a about a 25 foot opening at each end going into the new part. The newer part is more like 8 feet with steeper sides. The old part is where I figure the aerator would be best. I went threw this year with no aerator and I think it went ok but I am sure a aerator will help make things even better.

Trailsguy.. it sound like you have something that might not cost to much to do. Is it something you put together or bought as a kit.

The solar thing was just me wanting to try solar with something.

Here is the layout. I was thinking the aerator could go someplace to the right of the 6ft mark pretty easy. I didnt really want to tear up ground to run lines but it does seem to be the best option. I can put things in the garage pretty easy.

this is the thread on my pump The only think that I would change would be to spend the money on the weighted airline, around a 100 bucks instead of 20 bucks, seemed like a bargin at the time, but I am afraid to get a hook anywhere near it because the line has started to come up a little bit here and there due to me moving the diffuser around in the pond.
I think the pump was 50.00 and the diffuser was 20.00 and 20.00 in the air hose which is 1/2 black poly waterline 100 foot long. I have much more than that in the electrical install and I had to buy 200 foot of wire which at the time cost me 100 bucks the rest I had or my uncle donated to me. I am so glad that I have power down at the pond, I have now wired up the cabin and have power right at the ponds edge to plug in a radio or heck maybe some christmas lights down there as long as I dont draw over 15 amps total I should be ok, I even ran a 10" miter saw down there a couple time but I could tell I had maxed my limit because the saw was sluggish. Only a couple cuts were made.

This is the trench from the house down to the pond

This is my hard worker and this is a picture from the pond looking towards the house

OK, I think I found the pump. It says 1.5 cmf. i copyed the info. let me know if this one is good. One step at a time.

ROTARY VANE COMPRESSOR GAST, #1532-P104-G597X. Oil-less rotary vane compressor. Rated at 1.5 cfm. This pump can also be used for vacuum service and is rated 20" Hg max vacuum. Motor input: 115 VAC 60 Hz 0.55 amp, 0.025 hp, 1075 rpm. Single phase. Ball bearing motor. Input and output ports ar 1/8" female NPT. The unit is supplied with a noise suppressing filter screwed into one port and an output filter unit is supplied connected to the other port. The mounting base has 4 flexible shock suppressors installed in the base mounting holes. The suppressor mounting holes ar 3/16" in dia. The centers of the mounting holes ar 3-7/16" apart along the width axis and 2-3/4" apart along the length axis. Capacitor supplied. Dimensions: 5-5/8" long x 4-3/16" wide x 4" high. Stock #PC2050 $39.95

yep that looks like the pump and here is the
link for the diffuser that I bought. I dont know if this system is right for your pond but it seems to be working great in my pond. I am sure the exsperts will evaluate your needs and determine if it will work for you. They say too little may be worse than nothing at all. Seems that I have read that in shallower water that you actually need more diffusers due to the lift capacity or the volume of water being cycled up. deeper water allows for more circulation hydralically if I remember right? The pros will let you know, they are a great bunch of people!

Great pictures trialsguy! The picture of your helper is too small, though. Can you put in a larger one?
Hi Joey -
I am worried you may be underaerating your pond if you only use a single disc. The compressor you are purchasing could run 2 single discs, but even then I don't know if that would be adequate. The best thing would be for you to post or send me a map to scale so that I could determine the volume. Then we can determine how many discs/diffusers you need to circulate the volume of your pond atleast one time per day. I think you should consider having a diffuser location in the new section of your pond as well since it is deeper and it is on the other side of an island where it won't benefit from the aeration.
I am glad you are considering electric rather than solar. When you need aeration the most is at night and when you have a few cloudy days.