Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Algal Bloom & Aerating

If you run your aerator during the day when algal is blooming does this mess it up? Doesn't it die when it circulates to the bottom of the pond? Stopping all it's benefits?

Good Question Muddy Fork - I was pondering the same.
I bet I have read all the postings here about aeration, and have made an amatuer conclusion.
Ideally, I wish I could afford to buy an DO analyzer that ran continuously and would automatically started my aerator only when required. I only want the aerator running whne it is really needed. Currently, I have my aerator on a timer that allows it to run only 4 hours per night. It is off during the days, and it is always off all winter.
Since I can't afford the cost and maintenance costs of a DO meter, I am hoping to use temperature as an indicator of good mixing and DO levels. I usually keep my pond temperature within 5�F, top to bottom. I hope more people reply to Bill Codys post requesting data on temperature vs DO levels. Lake temperature profiles might be a good indicator to help amatuer owners maintain healthy DO levels.

It would be cheaper to run your compressor 24/7 for an entire season (about 6 months) than to buy even the cheapest D.O. meter in the mid $250.00 range. (Really good ones are $600.00 to $700.00).

My 1/3 horsepower Gast puts out 4.2 cfms which is twice as much as I need for my 3/4 acre pond, and uses about $25.00 in elec. per month if run 24/7. I can run it 24/7 for the full season (6 months) at $150.00 per year in electricity and that is still cheaper than the cheapeast D.O. meter)

If I was not raising fish at high commercial densities I could get by with a 1.5 cfm model that only uses about $7.00 per month in electricity.

I also believe it is harder on them to continuously start and stop them than it is to run them continuously.

I think you guys are being penny wise pond (pound) foolish.

Cecil,
I think your right, and I have the same size Gast compressor that you do. Have you rebuilt your Gast unit yet? I would guess that they last for years, and the cost to replace the vanes would be <$50.00??? I will likely run mine more often.
I still like Muddy Forks question about the bloom. It sure seems like aeration would dilute the bloom, sending the organisms down deep, reducing feed for the forage base??? Maybe too much of a good thing?

Gainesjs,

Actually If you don't buy the entire repair kit you can get by cheaper. Bill Cody sells just vanes. I have replaces my annually for a few years. Not to difficult if you are careful.

I could make a case for diffuser aeration actually helping out a bloom by circulating nutrients from down deep that wouldn't be available. That said I still think a pond that is aerobic (oxygen rich) from top to bottom from using diffusion to circulate it, is still better than the alternative.

BTW, I had four diffusers running last summer and I had a beautiful algae bloom.

It's not the $7.00 a month it's more about aerating correctly (which is what I'm asking) and not hearing this MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM while I'm setting on my porch or anywhere around my pond especially if it's not needed.

MuddyFork,

What mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm? If you get the right diffuser and put it in a plywood box with noise reduction you shouldn't hear mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm more than five feet from the box. :p

Some compressers are noisier than others. My 1/3 hp rotary vane is quieter than the smaller diapragms I have.

If you don't need it you don't need it. But if you're buying a $250.00 plus oxygen meter to monitor it you might as well run the darn thing 24/7 as it would be cheaper to run it 24/7 than buy an 02 meter. That was my point. And I think the benifits of running them 24/7 far out weight the expense.

Don't take offense please. No offense meant.

NOTE ABOUT RUNNING COMPRESSORS IN A BOX. Whenever you operate air compressors inside a confined space be sure that there is adequate ventilation or air flow through the box. Heat from the compressor can acumulate inside the box and over time shorten motor life and damage vulnerable parts such as o rings coated wires, and plastic parts. I prefer to have the bottom of the "box" with some screened openings and screened openings near the roof line. This allows air flow from bottom to top and vents warm air out the upper vents. Tight confined boxes need an electric fan when the pump is on to exhaust hot air.

Well I didn't what this to happen, but it did. I started three different topics and all of them are talking about the something. I just didn't want to have one topic that was talking about three different things at once.
I'm buying a Minn Kota Water Temp Sensor through Cabela's like Bill Cody suggested instead of a DO meter. I'm going to measure on the bottom and top of my pond and look for no more then a 5F degrees difference when my aerator shuts off.
I can't hear my compressor more then 7' away, but mine sets under my front porch which is 75' from the pond.

Cecil,
You have noticed that aerating 24/7 helps the bloom. What's everybody else's findings?

Does aerating affect the algae bloom?. It all depends. Numerous things come into play with this feature.

1. Strength of the mixing currents and what percentage of the pond's volume AND surface acreage is being turned over or mixed.

2. Nutrient load and nutrient reserves in the pond which provide food source for the algae are important stimulators of the bloom.

3. Water clarity and bloom density (number of organisms per milliliter are important in affectding the bloom.

4. Frequency and length of time that the aerator operates. Continuous running would usually cause planktonic algae to be in deep water only a relatively short time.

5. Algae speices. Each species responds differently to the variables. There are thousands of species of planktonic freshwater algae that could be living in ponds across North America. Some will be supressed by the circulaton affects whereas others could or will be stimulated by the circulation. Others such as certain fragile colonial types could be broken and disrupted by the movement and currents; ddurable colonial forms are very tolerant. Some algae tolerate low light conditions very well. Some algae go into suspended physiology during low light or low nutrients only to be reactivated when conditons improve.

6. Weather conditions and season (temperature / daylength) can be important players in how well algae survive regardless of aeration and or movement or depth of the individuals.

7. If I really thought about this and did some book searching I could find other reasons.

8. Basically - As a bottom line, It all depends. This is why one person can swear the aeration solved his algae problem and in another's case the aereator stimulated their algae bloom.

Our ponds are all so different (not just the obvious stuff like size, depth, Lat/Long, but also things like soil fertility, rainfall, typical seasonal winds, whether trees block sunlight or airflow, and dozens/hundreds of other variables we mostly don't even know), sometimes I think it's a miracle we can apply any information others have learned to our own situation, let alone the great amount of data we share here.

It's OK now, I climbed down off the soapbox. :rolleyes:

MuddyFork, I installed Vertex Air 1 with 2 diffusers about 6 weeks ago. At the time I had large floating algae mats covering 60% of the surface of my 35 year old .75 acre pond and over 4' visibility. I run the system 24/7. The algae mats are GONE (small bits float up now and then) and my vis has dropped to 22 inches (using a white teacup on a string method. The water has a faint green tint to it. Pond is 4' deep in one end and 8' at the dam. The backside of the dam is about 14' high so I believe I have a reasonable expectation that there is at least a few feet of accumulated muck on the bottom. Lots of trees in immediate area to support that theory also.