Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations A water temp & clarity suprise, for me.

I measured my water temp this morning @ 72F, two foot down.

Curiosity got me, and I decided to measure it at the same point and at the bottom, tonight.

They were both 74F. I thought it was a mistake, and maybe I brought the guage back up too soon, so I retested the bottom temp and made sure it had adaquate time to adjust. The result was the same. It was hot for this area, today, with temps in the mid 80's.

Second suprise, and a big one for me, was I could see the temp guage all the way to the bottom, and watch it fall on it's side when it hit bottom, no problem. It is 8 1/2 ft at this point.

The guage has approx 1ft long and 1" dia white plastic housing.

There appears to be no growth in this deeper area. The shallower areas definately make up for that, though.

So, this means my aeration is definately mixing the water, no??

I've 3 diffusers set at different points in the pond. I'm wondering if maybe it is mixing it too much? I would think having some cool water at the botttom would be benificial for the fish when it's hot?

Also, think I'll have to make sure to keep an eye on it this winter so I don't freeze the fish. I plan on running only one diffuser that I have set in 5ft of water.

Any other info that can be gleened from my info, that I'm missing.

Bottom diffused aeration will destroy the thermocline. IIRC, clear water will allow a more rapid heating from sunlight also than water with a good bloom or turbidity.

If higher water temps are a concern for your pond, consider running your aertation only at night. This will normally reduce the increases of temp in the lower depth waters.

That's the thing, I don't understand enough yet to know if it would/should be?

With LMB & BG I'm guessing the summer temps shouldn't be an issue???The highest I've measured this summer was 78F. I'm gonna now assume that it was 78F throughout the water column.

Winter is what has me worried. This pond has never yet had sizable fish make it through the winter. It also has never had aeration, before, when fish were stocked.

I'd really like to be doing things right for this winter, and see the fish make it.

I want to make sure they have oxygen, but not freeze them to death, too. Being it's such a small (1/4 acre), fairly shallow(8 1/2ft), and my lack of experience, I'm apprehensive about winter setting in, and whether I really have the right balanced approach.

In Mn. you will want your diffusers in about 5 feet of water just to keep an open area free of ice, but not to circulate the deeper water.

If you have an area that has a good plant population,you may want to keep that area ice free.

There was an excellent article in the current issue of Pond Boss Magazine about aerating northern waters along with the how and why. You may want to subscribe and request the current issue...

I just recieved my copy of the current issue, but haven't read through it, yet.

Will check it out.

Thanks for the tips, too.