OK, remember how I had a horizontal aerator running? I had two sweeper nozzles running one way on the south edge of the pond and the Kasco aerator running the other way on the north edge. Well this created too much current. You could almost get dizzy watching the surface of the pond. The unfortunate side effect was that suspended sediments were keeping the water an unsightly brown and inhibiting plant growth. After turning off the aerator I moved it to my big pond and it is currently transecting the pond with a nice current and the clarity is remaining excellent at Secchi readings of 25 inches.
Now I've purchased a 3/4 horsepower surface agitator. After installing the unit I was completely shocked to see how much agitation comes from a unit this size. I thought it was a malfunction at first! The crown of foam was about three feet high and at least 6-7 feet across. Supposedly we're going to see a delivery of O2 at 2.2 pounds per hour. The sweeper nozzles are still providing circulation, but maybe only 1/4 what it was. Secchi readings have jumped back up to about 12 inches and are still improving. I plan on running continuously, but have considered the possibility of running only at night to keep from adding too much heat into the water column. It will be a fight between the cooling of 16 gpm well water (later to be increased to 24) and the heating of the surface agitator. I hope the YP bear with me as I work out this system.
My Dad can regularly catch perch from 7.5 to 9 inches right now with a rare bluegill added in.
I'll keep you all informed of developments.
