Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions What type aerator for my pond?

Hi all. I am trying to decide which aerator to get for my "overstocked" pond.

Pond is around an acre,(actually, probably less) basically a rounded triangle shape. It was dug by dragline, over 40 yrs ago, and the bucket couldnt reach the middle, so I have a submerged island about 35 X 55 ft or so in the middle of the pond.

WHEN THE POND IS FULL:

Depth on the island is around 3.5-4.5 ft, and the "moat" circling the island goes from about 6 ft on the shallower end to a little over 9 ft on the deep end.

Electricity is available within 150 ft, so windmills are out.

I hear the Kasco aerators are considered industry standard, but they float and boil the water . Not sure how well this would aerate a 6-8 ft deep pond.

Should I be looking at the "diffuser" type aerators?

Thanks!

A diffuser type aerator is going to be more efficient at delivering oxygen to your water. More importantly, a diffuser will deliver oxygen to the bottom of your pond where the beneficial microorganisms in the sludge will consume the nutrients. A surface aerator will not do this as they only provide an aerobic "cap" for your water. These critters at the bottom are always consuming nutrients but they will do so much faster under aerobic conditions.

Diffuser type aerators will also reduce evaporation whereas a surface aerator will typically increase evaporation. In your shallow water depth the reduction in evaporation will be small but worth noting.

I recommend posting your goals and or problems with your pond so that we can do a better job of specifying a system.

I agree what are your goals? Destratification, increased oxygen during critical times, just better water quality, muck reduction???

I am just trying to prevent a fish kill because I let a guy overstock my pond.(before I found this place)

See my post under corrective stocking for more on that.

I do not think your neccasirly going to have a fishkill due to that stocking rate. However for emergency aeration to run in heat of day in summer or early morning hours when oxygen is lowest surface aerator by Kasco is a good choice. If you need a kasco aerator bid let me know.

Absolutely surface aerators are great for emergency aeration and you can save money on energy by only running it when you absolutely need it. The other route is that you can avoid an oxygen crash by running a sub-surface aeration system 24 hours a day. Of course this is not economical for everyone and the lengths and timing can be adjusted to reduce energy costs. But for your size pond, it sounds like you are looking at a diffuser system that will likely cost less than a dollar a day to operate even if you run it 24/7.

I have a similar question; pond is 60 wide, over 100 ft long; averages 8-9 ft depth (approx 350,000 total gals); I want to keep fish alive (catfish, perch, minnows, etc) and regulate moss and algae. Problem is there is no electicity or wind, so must go solar. How do I match up a 1/8 or 1/10 HHP diffuser/air compressor system to a solar array; who do I contact?

Drymike,

Will you be at the conference? If not, let me know...I have some options for you soon.

Will not make conference but always open to ideas and directions; by pond is now full; I put 50 catfish and 50 perch in it, along with a few minnows....now scrambling for an areator/diffusor