Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Sizing an Aeration System

OK, Gents, here's the question: I've got a 1 acre pond sitting on 10 acres of hardwood that is essentially a rectangle with threee small arms that form where water enters from draws that run through the woods...none of the three really long enough to need additional aerators. It's a new pond but I know it will get a lot of leaves in the fall, so I am planning to add an aeration system.

The pond is 35' deep in the center, then has ledges at various depths (20 ft, 8 ft, 3ft, etc). I am looking at the Vertex Air1� XL2 (I have no interest in building my own) and similar systems, since I have power close to the pond. When I read about these systems they generally refer to average depth when they talk about the systems performance. But if I place the aerator at the deepest level (35') how do I calculate if it has enough psi to get the job done. Specs on the XL2 say 35 max psi with an average operating pressure of 5 psi?

I think I read that there is a 1 psi drop in effective compressor performance every 26" in depth...that would mean that a 35 max psi would be reduced to approximately a 19 max psi at 35' which would give me plenty of power at that level. Is that accurate?

The next issue is the difussor...the XL2 has two 9' difussors which sounds like plenty to me. I'm looking for a basic system that will keep the leaf gunk from building up on the floor of the pond and give my fish some oxygen during the summer. I appreciate any thoughts...

Whoops...that's two 9" difussors, not two 9 foot diffussors!

35' deep 1 acre pond sounds like steep sides, atleast you won't have to worry about weeds.. Talk to N8ly or Ted lea from forever green they'll set you straight on aeration..

Actually we stairstepped the pond up from the deepest point out to the edges so that the sides are a 2 to 2.5 to one grade on the banks, per MO DNR specs to keep the weeds from getting hold. The west facing bank grades down into a long sandy/gravelly shelf approx 6 feet wide by 30 feet long by 3 to 4 ft deep that we saved for spawing beds...I'm anxious to see how the fish like it.

If your looking at the Vertex Air 1 XL2 consider the same system with the XL 4 head airstation instead. The Air One XL2, Air One XL4 and the Air One Plus all utilize the same cabinet and compressor.The standard Air 1 XL2 is not as effecient at depths below 20-22 ft the 4 head XL works best at depths from 15-35 ft and the Air One plus simply gives you more options with varying depths from 3 ft to 22 ft.At a 35 ft depth figure a lifting rate of approx 8000 gallon per minute or 11 million plus gallons per 24 hr day with the XL4 model.Pressure at that depth is not a problem.

Thanks, Ted...I was having a hard time figuring out the differences since the compressor seemed to have the same specs for several of the systems. The diffusor head makes the difference...