Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions fountain or bottom aeration which is best

i have a half acre pond about 8 foot deep. i really like the fountains but is this going to give me the aeration i need or should i have both botom and surface aeration. thanks great forum
paul

Do a search here under this heading and maybe Questions and Observations for: fountains. Then a search for: bottom aeration. Do some reading and once you understand the function, pros and cons of both, you can decide which is best for your goals. Maybe it will take both types to meet your goal or goals.

Fountains pretty and impressive, BUT are expensive to operate because you are expecting an electricity consuming motor to THROW water that weighs 8 lbs/gallon into the air (5 gal water bucket weighs 40 lbs). The higher you throw the water the more energy it takes to get it up there.

You won't get close to the quality aeration with a fountain as you will with bottom aeration. Bottom Aeration adds dissolved oxygen to the water much better that fountains and even more importantly bottom aeration stirs the water from bottom to top keeping you from getting a dead layer below the thermal zones. If you run a bottom aerator for the first time don't be surprized by the fould rotten egg smell that comes from teh bottom. Depending on how old the pond is and the amount of silt at the bottom you may need to gradually aerate from the bottom ( a couple of hours a day for starters and work up to all day) or you may overwhelm the pond with oxygen starved water wich could cause a fish kill.

atc, good information so far from BC and tuzz. Look at an Vertex Air 1 for a bottom diffused system at www.aquaticaeration. You will also find fountain suppliers on the research page as a Vertex fountain may be too much fountain for your size pond.Keep posting your good questions for many great answers. Ted