Pond Boss Forums AERATION Should I aerate? Installing new aeration system

Hey all. I'm new to this site and have been really enjoying reading all the posts. Great information and advice everywhere. Anyway, we are installing a subsurface aeration system in our pond and I'm open to any and all advice. The pond is spring fed, 2/3 acre in size and varies in depth from 1-2 feet at one end to 12-15 feet near the outlet pipe. It sits in a beautiful valley on the border of Shenandoah National Park. The resident fish are bluegills, channel cats, largemouth bass and several grass carp. However, we stock rainbows and golden trout every year for our kids fishing day. The spring water feeding the pond is oxygen deficient which is my main reason for aeration. We have also discovered that we have some carryover of trout from year to year. I am hoping by increasing the DO level, we can increase the number of holdover trout through the summer. The catch 22 is increasing the DO level without increasing overall pond temperature or affecting cold refuges for the trout. I manage several other ponds and have had considerable success, but those ponds had totally different issues. I tentatively plan to spread out and use all 3 diffusers in the deepest part of the pond during the summer months using timers to cycle the compressor from dusk to dawn. Once the weather turns cold in winter, I planned to bring the diffusers towards the shallow end and use it sparingly to avoid super cooling the water. The pond is 60 years old and has quite an accumulation of much and organic waste. I am hoping that the increased oxygen will help break this down. Once again if anyone has any advice or experience in aerating spring fed ponds with trout or aeration in general, I'd appreciate it.

What is the water temp at the surface in the warmest part of the summer?

Thanx for the response. I'm not sure what the temp is during the hottest part of the summer, but right now at the surface, the temp is 72 degrees near the dam on top. On the opposite end of the pond five small springs enter and their temps are @ 54 degrees. We installed 3 diffusers throughout the pond and are already noticing a difference in the pond. Less surface vegetation and perceptible movement of water. I was wondering when it would be the best time to begin cycling the aerator. We bought a timer and plan on running the aerator from dusk to dawn during the summer.

I would have started when the water temps were in the upper 40's to lower 50's. Now you have to run them 15 min the first day, 30 min the 2nd day, 60 the third, etc., until you get to the run time from dusk to dawn.