Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Aerator installed

I installed an aerator about 10 days ago. My pond is about 1.5 acre with max. depth of 9.5 ft average depth about 6 ft. I have Chara growing all around the perimeter in water up to 6 ft. deep + some pond weed and alot of algae. I think I've read about every post on here about aeration and wasn't sure if it would help with the plant and algae growth or not but it sounds like it's a good idea for the water quality and the fish.
My water clarity is down somewhat since I started the pump, which I worked up from 2 hrs. to 24 in a week. Before I had visibility down 4 to 5 ft. and now it's less than 3 ft.
Any opinions on whether this will help or not?
The system is a 1/4 hp rotary vane compressor with 2 round rubber diffusers.
It seems as though all the advertisements for these aerators show before and after pictures of what I have and what I'd like to have. I'll believe more of what I read here than the ads though.
Best, Houston

I have a 1 acre plus pond. I also started a much bigger gast 0523 rotary vane pump this year. I was using a little diapram pump before. My water had a very bad infestaion of watermeal and duckweed on it that I treated for then added the bigger pump.

Here is my personal experience. I had about 5 - 8 feet visability before when the weeds were brushed aside. Crystal clear water. But I had very poor fish quality. After adding the larger aerator my water quality went to a tea color for about 3 - 4 weeks. 5 months later I have about 24 inches of visibility max. A beautiful green (bloom) tint and very healthy fish. My water depth to date has gained 2 feet in depth even in a heavy drought with banks down 15 inches.

I might have missed it but what was the age of your pond and what was the bottom like? Heavy Muck? Smelly? What is the color of your water? Are your fish acting normal or gasping at the top of the water? I'm sure the pros will chime in but the more information the better. I am learning and thought I would let you know I was worried about my pond after adding the aeration earlier this year to. It really paid off. I even stocked it a little heavier and have not lost a fish yet this year for the first time since I have owned it. You are in the right place for all your Q $ A. Good luck.

Hello Aaron, thanks for the info. My pond is 3 years old now. Like you I had clear water before but my fish seemed fine. Also like you, my water has turned a tea color now with the aeration. My fish seemed a little sluggish for the first 4 or 5 days after I started aerating but they are very active now.
The pond bottom is black smelly mud although the aeration doesn't seem to be stiring it up. I did not treat my weeds before adding the aerator because I'd like to stay away from the chemicals if I can. I did add 10 more grass carp though, for a total of 14. Also I'm going to try and rake some of the stuff out with a homemade rake and my tractor.
I think I might have the diffusers set to deep. They are in 8 ft. of water. With 9.5 max depth maybe I should move it to 6 or 7 ft.?

If you look into past threads you will see alot of information on starting up a new aerator. If your aerator is sitting directly on the bottom muck try moving it up off the bottom with an extention pipe. You can even set it in a container of some sort like a weighted bucket or tub to keep it from directly stirring up the bottom material. I went with a 12 inch stainless steel nipple to get it off of the bottom. My base plate I made from stainless steel also and it is 24 x 24. I lowered mine down a little at a time over the deepest part of my pond until I touched bottom. Over 12 feet of water I moved it about a foot deeper per week starting at 8 feet. By the time I reached bottom I didn't really stir anything up.

As for the weeds. I had to use sonar to get a handle on it. I feel that now I will be able to get ahead of my nutrient overload with aeration and natural bacteria. I also stocked grass carp. I plan to control it from here on out without chemicals. My problem was duckweed and watermeal that were so prolific that it formed a 100% coverage at 2-4" thick. I have had two algea bloom crashes this year. The tea color went away in less than a week and the bloom returned to 24" max shortly after. My pond has over 30 years of neglect and sits in the middle of a woods. I had that rotten egg smell all summer long before I changed to this new aerator. Now I have people where I got my pond dye. I don't dye my pond it is all natural You will be amazed at the changes you will see, atleast I was.