Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions System question for my pond

With the Vertex I get 10psi+ in or out of the water. At the pump or at the end of the line.

With the old stone diffuser I get 1psi or under out of the water and around 5psi in 9' of water.

Call Ted..

Notice on this page the water volumes moved are based on 1 cfm per disk. I'm wondering if you just have a lot more air than the orifice in the diffuser is expecting.

Lifting rates

Like Bluegillerkiller said, call Ted.

The holes in the stones are much larger than the slits in the membrane, that's why you are seeing less pressure with the stone.

I was simply answering the question that was asked.

I do think I may be feeding the diffuser more than it is designed for. Looking at the setups that Ted sells and the systems put together buy Vertex on their website, they are showing a 1/3 HP single piston compressor with an output of 2.3 cfm at 5psi operating pressure for the 1 or 2 diffuser systems.

My compressor in comparison is putting out 4.34cfm at 5psi operating pressure and even if it goes to 15psi is still over 4cfm. Double what the single disc is rated for.

My guess is I am running too much compressor for one disk. As I've researched a bit more on the Vertex sight, they don't even jump to a compressor with the ratings of mine until their 4 disk system for lakes. All their pond systems run off 2cfm max with smaller compressors.

I guess with the more efficient diffusers less compressor is needed which is a good thing. I probably didn't research and ask enough questions prior to buying the new diffusers but that is ok, I am learning and believe can make work what I have.

I have left a message for Ted and when he feels good enough to call I am sure he will. I am pretty sure though with everyone's help here things are beginning to make sense.

You always have the option of "bleeding off" excess air. This just kind of wastes some energy.

Another option during your "remediation phase" where you are wanting to get a lot of turnover is to simply tee in your old diffusers with the new. Instead of bleeding air off to the atmosphere, just split it up and run the excess through your old air stones and get some added water movement from them. If after trying it you feel it is moving too much water, take the stones out of the pond and use the bleed off method.

The other option is to simply use a different diffuser that can handle the volume, or add more of the Vertex diffusers. Maybe two doubles instead of two singles. Or if the membranes can handle additional air, drill out the orifice to a larger size.

Just some ideas to consider. Sometimes there is more than one way to skin a cat.

I was thinking that the 3/8 line itself was causing some of the restriction, but that seems not to be the case.

I agree about either bleeding off the excess air or adding more air line to put in the stone(s) that you already have.

If you take a look at the lifting chart on the Vertex site, you'll see that when the diffusers are arranged together, they help each other with the lifting rates - i.e. 4 together have more lifting rate than 4 singles.

Also, if you take a look at all the different systems that are offered, only the smallest one has a single diffuser - all the others have at least 2 diffusers hooked together.

I run a single diffuser in the winter in 3'-4' of water, and run it at 5-6 psi. I want a large boil to create a large surface distrubance to keep the hole open. I just bleed off the excess air because the pump puts our a LOT more air than what I need for that single diffuser.

I was somewhat concerned about the 3/8" line but it is only about 50' worth and Ted didn't seem concerned in our initial conversation before I ordered everything.

I don't mind running the extra diffusers I already have.

My thought now is once the pond is back in shape, I can run the 2 Vertex diffusers in the 12' section and one of the old diffusers in the shallow area where we swim to help keep that area nice on the bottom.

I can them run my other old diffuser on the other side of the pond at 3' for the winter and create a good boil to keep the ice open without having to bleed off air.

Probably overkill but don't see any reason not to go this route unless I am missing something.

We'll Nate, at least when you get this figured out you will know all there is to know about those things!

This is good stuff and lots of great info. I drive my wife nuts sometimes because anything I do I seek to gain all the info possible, go all out, and don't always keep it small and simple. This is just the next adventure.

Keep in mind what esshup was saying. You want your fusers if you have more than 1 about an inch away from each other. The closer they are the better up welling you will have with you water getting to the surface to get the D.O. your after. 1 by itself in the winter is fine just to keep the ice melted some but out in the middle of your pond I would have at least 2 in a 1 acre pond. I have a 1 acre pond and my 2 work great. I am running a Gast 1/3 hp pump in 8ish foot of water at 4.5 psi. I am not running vertex fusers though. Vertex fuser have very very small slits in them so it would stand to say that your pressure may be a bit higher with them. I have 2 Vertex fusers I plan on changing to and am going to see what my pressure is then verses what my pressure is now. I am curious to see how much more pressure it will put on my pump.

RC

So, I got a few more connections and brought my 1 Vertex diffuser in out of the water. Put a T connector on and my psi out of water, hooked straight to my compressor dropped to 1.5 psi.

Based on all the ratings I am seeing on these diffusers, one diffuser is rated at 2 cfm max and the pair together is rated for 4 cfm max.

Based on the specs of my compressor and the design of these diffusers, and through some testing, I am convinced I need to run the two diffusers together from one air line.

Now, I just need to make another run to the store to get another elbow so I can get everything set right and back in the water for a final test.

I am hoping I can run these two alone in deeper section of the pond and then run a single diffuser at about 3' in the winter. The two diffusers will be about 3" apart the way I was able to mount them.

Certainly getting closer to getting this setup running thanks to everyone's help here.

I'll continue to convey my findings in hopes that this has been beneficial to others besides myself.

Dropped the two diffusers in at about 9' depth. It is now running about 6.5psi. When I turn my other diffuser valve from my ring diffuser open about 1/4 it runs about 5.5psi.

So, all is good and I should have paid more attention to the specs on all the equipment I have.

Still more to learn and play with. Continued thanks.

Glad you got it figured out. And thanks for sharing the information so we all can learn.