Bill - thanks again for the advice. Have been monitoring the water temp at bottom for the last several weeks and have noticed it has changed very little....generally running in the low-mid 70s. I run the aerator about once a week. For example, I measured the temperature at bottom yessterday afternoon and it was in the 74 degree range. With severe clear and air temps at 100, near surface temps were well into the 90s. Ran the aerator overnight and bottom temp was around 76. Near surface temps were in the lower 80s as air temps had dropped into the low-mid 70s overnight. Water clarity remains about the same at @18" or so.
Seems to me that it will not be necessary to run the aerator any more than once a week or so as the thermocline has effectively been eliminated and the bottom temp is not changing all that much day to day, or even week to week. From that, I am assuming DO concentrations should be supportive from the bottom up giving the fish access to at least somewhat cooler water.
I understand what you are saying about mixing depth and its relation to wave height. Obviously, for a pond my size that is not going to be a consideration. For the other pond I mentioned, its larger size does allow for larger waves, but I doubt seriously the wave height ever exceeds a foot or two at the most. This is Oklahoma, and the wind does blow, but the fetch on that pond would be at most about 500 yards, if that, which places a serious limitation on the wave height.
Thanks again, always appreciate good, sound advice.
Dick
