Hi again!
As I mentioned in my intro post a few days ago, my 2 ponds are 7/10 acre and 4/10 acres respectively. Neither pond has ever been aerated.
They are around 70 years old, and are lined with trees. Every fall the surface is blanketed with fallen leave that eventually sink to the bottom and over time have contributed significantly to the muck at the bottom. Over the decades the ponds have gotten shallower due to this buildup of muck. The deepest area of either pond is probably in the 6 foot range, possibly 6 � at the most. The water is dark green with low visibility and during the hottest days of summer (like right now) a film of pond scum occasionally covers a portion of the surface. Overall they are somewhat stagnant. The fishing is great, typically, but swimming is not something you�d want to do. We used to swim in them as kids, and always got a big laugh when we would climb out and the algae sticking to the hairs on our arms and legs gave us a comical caveman look.
I have been reading the forum over the last few days regarding aeration, as it seems like that should be my first order of business in any effort to improve the condition of these ponds. From my reading, I think I am leaning toward a bottom air diffusion aeration system of some sort due to the costs verses efficency. My wife would love a fountain aerator for aesthetic reasons, but I am all about cost. I want something that will give me the most bang for buck and air diffusers seem to fit that bill, especially in monthly operating costs. Not to belabor the point, but our household budget is extremely strained at this point for reasons I won�t go in to. I�m asking these aeration questions for future reference actually because I don�t see myself installing anything until next spring at the earliest unless there are some relatively inexpensive DIY designs out there I could attempt.
My questions are as follows for any of you folks that know about such things;
Firstly, what can I possibly expect? I know every pond is different, and that�s a hard one to answer, but I�m looking for a general overview. I�m trying to provide the most info I can to help the educated guesses any of you might provide. Assuming I get the DO levels correct and the pond de-stratified, how dramatic will the improvement be compared to what it is now? What I�m mostly hoping for is a reduction in the muck and improved water clarity. Is this a reasonable hope? My fish seem in good health and that has been the case for many years. As my initial post explained, I did have one fish kill event years ago, but I think that was brought about by an overstocking of CC, and it hasn�t happened since.
Second question; What system should I get? I�m very handy and love messing with mechanical things. Are there any good do it yourself plans out there that can deliver the goods at minimal costs? If not, who sells the most value packed systems? Will one diffuser in each pond do the trick? Can one pump handle both diffusers, etc?
Third question; it�s sort of a repeat of the first question. I would love to get most of the muck out of my ponds. Dredging is obviously cost prohibitive and I�ve read conflicting results of the effectiveness of aerating to help the bacterial decomposition of the muck in a pond. I would love to add some beneficial bacterial the speed up the process, but I got time more than money so will aerating eventually get me there, even if it takes 5 years? Remember than the majority of the muck comes from leaves rather than runoff so it would seem it would be dissolvable by bacteria.
Thanks in advance for any advice,
Ponduke
