Vicky,
I'm not a dealer and not the ultimate expert of which a few should show up momentarily. However, I do aerate a .62 acre pond, that although it doesn't get many leaves, the fish production is quite high adding a lot of nutrients. So from my experience here is my two cents:
You should be able to run it at least half of the time you are now but it "ALL DEPENDS." That's a famous quotation from our resident Bill Cody that seems to apply to a lot of things in pond management, as there are a lot of variables. It all depends on what kind oxygen rate your "muck" uses, which you elude to. If there was some way you could get your hands on a D.O. meter you could determine if you could get by running it less than 24 hrs., 12 hrs (that's what I run mine at) or even less. If your D.O. dropped to no less than 4 ppm near the bottom I would think you're O.K. Another possibility if no meter is available is to cut back to 4 hours per say and check for a rotten egg smell around your diffuser boil. If there is one up it to 8 hrs and check a couple of weeks later etc. Get my drift?
That said, running the aerator 24/7 won't hurt anything, but I can see why you wouldn't want to pay an electric bill you don't need to. Been there done that and still doing it!
If you don't mind could you give us more information though?
1.) What type and size compressor are you using? I.e. diaphragm or rotary vane and what horsepower? $50.00 per month sounds kind of steep if it's similar to mine which is a 1/3 hp. Rotary Vane compressor. When I used to run mine 24/7 it was only about $25.00 per month but perhaps your rates are much higher than mine?
2.) How much are you charge per KW of electricity?
3.) How many, and what type and size of diffusers do you use? That is, are they stones or the flexible membrane type?
I have no idea why someone would tell you to stop running it in August. Seems to me that would be the worst time to shut it down. I usually shut mine down once the water turns over in October, and go to a smaller diaphragm pump and shallow airline and diffusers to prevent winterkill.
I run mine from Dawn to Dusk in my ponds. That's about 12 hrs. or less.
BTW there is an outstanding back issue of Pond Boss that covers everything you need to know on this subject. I'm sure if you called and requested it they could find it for you.
Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 07/14/10 03:22 PM.
