Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Aeration tubing

So I went down to my pond yesterday to check it out and noticed one of my diffusers was not working. Unfortunately, muskrats had chewed four holes in my air supply line. Can anyone recommend any flexible tubing that the muskrats cannot chew through? I have tried trapping and shooting the muskrats but I only get to the farm once a week and have not had much success.

Consider sliding your airline inside of rigid PVC like a schedule 40 or 80.You should be able to protect your line within a few feet of the diffuser.Seems the softer PVC composite tubing can be a target for them,but the rigid PVC as a cover may protect your airline.

We have a master Muskrat hunter here on the forums. His ability to stealthy stalk prey is legendary. One shot, one kill. He could dispatch your Muskrat PVC in short order.

I was thinking that I should probably stop harassing Rex about this and then I thought, Naw, what fun would that be.

I agree with Ted on the tubing.
As far as Rex goes,maybe we should chip in and buy him a quick-draw holster.

Kasey,

I'm assuming the leaks are on shore or else you would have seen the bubbles coming up where they shouldn't. If it is a shore-based problem then PVC will work as mentioned or you could simply bury your line. Take my word for it, sheathing feeder tubing with PVC is not as simple as you might think, especially over long lengths and if the problem is in the water. My partner and I sheathed about 1000 feet of feeder tubing (in water) with 1.5" PVC to avoid beaver damage in one pond. The install, although successful, was a total pain in the butt and took twice as long because of this. If you do go the PVC route, you would probably only have to do it around the shore where they are most active which wouldn't be too bad.

You could also try altering their habitat. I hear that lowering and raising the water depth frequently will drive them off. Also, keeping the vegetation trim around the pond will reduce cover and will not be as inviting to them. I don't like this as much because the tall vegetation acts as a sediment trap and attracts insects that your fish might like to eat. You could also try eliminating their food source but again this would involve removing vegetation...although, cattails can be a staple of their diet which most pond owners are happy to reduce or remove.

I've already rambled too much. There are resources online including this one http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living/muskrats.pdf which offers some management techniques. Good luck.

Thanks for the info. There was a small leak in the deepest part of the pond (9 feet) and the other three holes were under the dock. My pond was dredged two years ago to steepen the banks and to remove the cattails. However, the cattails are slowly growing back and bringing the muskrats with them.

Has anyone used the self-weighted PVC aeration tubing? I ordered some today and will give it a try. I have two diffusers. One with a 50 foot run and the other with a 100 foot run.

I didnt realize muskrats were so destructive. When we first installed our aerator 9 years ago, a muskrat had chewed into our electrical line. I am tempted to get some dynamite if they cause anymore damage.

With our fountains and floating aerators, the muskrats seem to really love the electric lines. We use armoring (braided stainless steel sleeves). Simply slide them over the hose and hose clamp the ends.

One of our distributors finds his supply at an industrial hose supply company like hydrolic hoses and such. I have not heard any problems with them chewing through self weighted hose though, but never asked either.

Our distributor in Canada has an electric line and an airline side by side and they have always attacked the electric line and left the self weighted line alone.