Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions My aeration project

First off, let me say I love this forum. I've learned a ton browsing various topics on here....

Ok, now my issue...I own a pond that is a little over 1 acre in size. The deepest part is about 15'. It's pretty much square except for 2 small areas that branch off. It's not fed by anything, but does have an overflow so the pond will never be over a certain depth. I'm not certain the exact age of the pond but I do know its over 15 yrs old. When we first moved into our house (5 yrs ago) the pond had a little algae, but was manageable. However, over the last 1.5 yrs water meal has joined the fight and is really bad. If the wind isn't blowing that stuff will cover the entire pond. I'm looking to add aeration in the hopes it'll help the problem. I'm going to attempt the 'RC51' system. I was thinking of having one hose feed four 9" diffusers in the center of the pond or split the diffusers up and have two separate units with two 9" diffusers each.

So, I'd be interested to hear the experts opinions on which set up would work best (1 diffuser unit vs. 2 smaller diffuser units). Thanks.

Aeration will help with water quality and FA control over time but in my opinion you cannot expect that installing an aerator will have any immediate impact on FA or other nuisance plants.

It might actually make it worse.. Mine water quality seem 100% better from aeration but algae and vegetation are worse.. Could also be the wearer this year too..

Today, for the first time, I noticed some dead fish. There are about 6 young LMB and a couple young BG. With the recent heat wave here in the midwest, the pond has been pretty gross. I can only assume there have been more. I think I better get on this aerating soon. Can't hurt right....

MK -- you are right "Can't hurt right..." as long as you do it right. Study up on diffuser placement, depth considerations and very importantly start up times and schedules. Especially with this hot weather lots of fish can be killed with improper aeration.

Read up on Fluridone. I think you'll be ordering some..........

I have received and built my RC51 aerator. Now, I'm wondering if I should start it up or wait. We are scheduled to have a heat index of 100+ for the next 7 or so days. Should I wait until it cools off a little or will it be okay to start it up slowly in this weather?

I have built the same rc51 system and gota say its great. Infact the Eco 7 got blown into my pond dried it out and she is still ticking. I would recomend you start it up at 15 min increments at nite when its cooler out.

MK70 good to hear! I would do what Cody says and go ahead and start it up. Just take it real easy. 15 to 20 mins a night then 30 for a couple of nights if you can I would put it on 1 hour for a couple of days then 2 hours for 2 days and 4 hours for a week then 6 and stay at 6 for a while. Don't get in a big hurry to run it all night long. I ran mine on 6 hours for a couple of months the first year. I can't remember how old your pond is or how big but I wouldn't push it just take it easy and start giving those fish some much needed D.O. Good luck bud let us know how it goes ok.