Hi Guys,
I have done a lot of reading on this site about aeration but would like an opinion on my conundrum. 1 acre pond, dug 2 years ago, varying depths 1/4 is 10-12', 1/4 is 12-15' other half is 15-18', spring fed but cant keep up evaporation when 80+F for 6-8 weeks in summer. Water has dropped about 8-10". Surface temp has hit 80F, mid level has been 70-74f, deeper areas at 13-17' have been at 64-67f. I put 300 speckled trout in in May, have not fed for last 6 weeks, so far have only lost 5 fish that have surfaced, like 1 a week. They fed like piranha until surface temps hit 70f. Lots of natural feed as well. I have new aerators which I started about mid depth, running 1 week at a time then lower another 1 foot, about 8' down from surface now. If my fish are surviving, I'm assuming they are staying in that colder bottom water. When my aerators get to the bottom and surface temps are still warm is that not going to start raising water bottom temps? In turn creating more stress for fish. Im thinking the bit of spring water coming in is helping with the bottom colder area.
Just a quick explanation and some details, trying to keep it short.
Appreciate any feed back

thanks, Robert

Welcome to the forums Robert!

I have recently started up an aeration system on my 1/4 acre pond for the first time and noticed an increase in bottom temps. From the time I started the system at 15 minutes the first day and basically doubling every day after I saw a ten degree rise after reaching 12 hours a day. The details are located in this thread...

http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=495076#Post495076

I know nothing about trout, but I think you will see a rise in bottom temps and a lesser drop in surface temps (just because it is so directly affected by the sun). The intermediate waters will stay about the same or drop a little relatively speaking. BUT, you should have more D02 in the intermediate and lower waters for the fish to enjoy.

Consider only aerating at night to avoid the warm parts of the day.

How many turnovers will your system do in a day?

Spring water coming in may be cold, but spring water is usually low in oxygen.

I have read that the upper 1/3 to 1/2 of the water column is where all the usable 02 is (without aeration) and by oxygenating the lower water, it will certainly aid the fish even if the water is a tad bit warmer. Hopefully someone with trout experience will pipe up and shoot me down if necessary.

Thanks for reply,
Yes I did realize the spring water had little oxygen. Brook trout max temp is 65-67f . Rainbow trout is higher at 70-72f, therefore easier to keep. A lot of local ponds with rainbow have been loosing fish with these high temps, no aeration, smaller ponds and bigger fish, 2+lbs. My brookies are smaller at 9-13” but hopefully will put some weight on before Christmas.
So, warmer water, no aeration, less oxygen, cooler bottom temp.
Or, Slightly cooler water, aeration, more oxygen, warmer bottom temp????

According to company aerator was purchased from its should turn over pond once in 24hr period

I understand your dilemma now. Since it is not recommended to run aeration less than one turn over a day...running only at night could be risky.

What temps have poor effects on the speckled trout?

What ever that is...I would consider running the diffuser until the lower temps approach the high end of that range. Once they get there, I guess you should shut down and hope for the best.

I am not very experienced with pond meistering, but you not getting much attention as of yet and hopefully someone with actual experience in this situation will pipe up soon.

I’m sure there is no exact answer considering so many unpredictable variables just looking for experienced opinions

Mebob - how about an update?? How did you end up setting up and running your aeration? How did your trout do?

So, a bit late but here’s an update. Only lost 5 or 6 fish last summer as stated, out if the 300. No aeration all winter, pond froze over for 4 months, no fish loss. Actually cut hole in ice and trout would come up through the hole and land on the ice going after food. Pond done great all spring, no visible fish lose and feeding aggressively. Started aeration about a month after ice came off pond and run it 24/7. Had a little more rain this year so not much evaporation yet. Now the temp has come up a lot, over a 2 week period I lost 30-40 14-16” trout , the bigger ones. After some investigation I realized my aeration pump was likely down by 50% that didn’t help but also my diffusers were at bottom of pond. Last year I was only aerating with gas water pump during hot weather, didn’t have aeration system at the time. That’s when I had the colder bottom temps, low to mid 60’s. Last week when I had fish kill and noticed aeration only working at 50% I fired up my water pump. Checking water temp being pumped from bottom of pond I had 75+ .
So, thoughts if any . Should I leave the diffusers Permanently raised off the bottom to give fish a relief area in hot weather . Speckled trout.
Pond is crazy alive, Plant growth Lilly pads, cat tails, tons of insects, literarily millions of mayflies, leech’s and what a appears to be speckled trout fry. Going to catch a couple when they get a bit bigger to see if I can identify. My property borders on a brackish river so I trap tons of mud minnows and feed to trout, I usually just knock them all out in bucket before I feed them to trout but not sure if some survived and bread if possible

300 trout gone. Not sure where. I was keeping a close eye on it, 50-60 I found dead over 3 weeks, at most 10 in one day, cleaned them up daily. Hawks and eagles got a few. No no muskrats or any other ground animal taking them. Anyway, all gone. When I first got the fish I wanted 150, the guy dumped a couple net fulls in my tote, I ended up with 300. Pond has been aerating since, still lots of life. Almost crystal clear, easily see down 8-10’.
Typical water tests are always good.
Anyway, going to try again with 100. Trying speckled trout again

Brook trout aren't the best fish to blindly dump in a water hole and hope for the best. They have specific temperature, dissolved oxygen, dietary and pH requirements.

My BOW is over twice the surface area and I tested all those parameters, plus, for 2 years before I stocked 100 brookies. I am guessing I have about 80 left and until I create some type of stream fed by really deep cold, low DO water I can aerate, they most likely won't reproduce.

Fall is the best time to stock but don't be surprised if you have the same results next summer. If you want to be successful raising brookies, you need to know if your water can support brook trout.

Great ?.
I ran my Airmax last summer as instructed by the company.
They are up north and didn't understand that I'm in TX and I killed 5 lmb over 5lbs and numerous hbg.
Had a major bloom also.
So this year I'm arresting in 2 ft of water and only at night.

My water temp was 89 from top to bottom.
The air bubbles pulled the cold water from the deep and replaced it with hot surface water.

Great ?.
I ran my Airmax last summer as instructed by the company.
They are up north and didn't understand that I'm in TX and I killed 5 lmb over 5lbs and numerous hbg.
Had a major bloom also.
So this year I'm arresting in 2 ft of water and only at night.

Not sure how I keep missing these Brook Trout replies!!! Especially since I LOVE Brook Trout!! Guess I was slacking terribly.

Mebob - why did you quit aerating through the Winter? I have Brook Trout as well and I aerate all year long. When trout die MOST of them sink to the bottom and leave no evidence of a fish kill at all. Did you ever see if your Brookies had reproduced or not?

Have you cleaned off your diffuser discs? That needs to be done once or twice a year. If mine go a year they seem to get very grown over with living stuff.

With Brookies and the temps you are seeing I would STRONGLY suggest aerating at night to keep the water temps down.

Joe Q - have you ever seen a spawning box for Brook Trout??

Tim - 89 degrees is almost like a hot tub!!!!