Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Clean up old pond

As you can see, I'm new here. I have a small farm pond, that I am guessing is 100' x 100' and 12'deep in the middle (or was when new). It was built around 1960 and is fed by run off from yard and grass field. This is a "retired" farm so not a lot of chemicals used any more. The edges are overgrown with cattails. There are lots of bottom weeds. We want to restore the pond for swimming and fishing (currently stocked with bass and bluegill).
I know I need to install an aeration system. I'm assuming that as a rookie I should consider a "package" system. Budget, of course, is a problem. A major cost factor seems to be weighted vs non-weighted airline. I've tried some searchs but think I am using the wrong terms. In any case, could someone give me a quick primer on why I might want to spend the extra money on weighted line?

Thanks,
Barry

Barry,

Welcome to PB! You will find a wealth of information here and you will soon be addicted.

It is good to consider an aeration system prior to any aquatic weed treatments. This will limit your liability of loosing fish due to oxygen depleation as the plants die off.

Your specific question was about self-weighted tubing. There are generally three types of tubing, self-weighted (as you have mentioned), Lead Keeled, and finally no-weighted or black poly pipe.

If you split those up into two categories,
1. Weighted
2. Non-Weighted,

The non weighted is cheaper initally but requires a brick every 3-5 feet to be tied on it or some have used rebar. This type of tubing has a very thin wall which lends itself to several problems. One of the biggest is the fact that this tubing kinks easily. When this happens you have to cut the kink out and add a spice with an insert fitting and hose clamps.

This tubing is also subjected to fish-hook damage. If you hook into it and puncture it, another leak. If you bring it up with all of the bricks, another kink. I think you get the picture.

Lastly the brick tend to shift over time and the tubing begins to float to the surface. Not fun if you plan on swimming.

The alternative is a self-weighted tubing.

Lead keeled tubing is basically the black poly pipe described above with a lead keel attached to make it sink. You get all of the above problems along with the fact that you are introducing lead into your pond!

Lastly the new tubing available is the High Density PVC Tubing. It is available in many sizes, 1/4" up to 1". It does not kink, it is fishhook resistant since it has a 1/4" wall thickness. It is not harmed by extreme weather conditions. This tubing will use common PVC fittings and glue, no hose clamps needed.

This tubing is less expensive than lead keeled or other PVC tubing on the market and it will save you time during installation opposed to the black poly pipe and bricks.

Purchasing a complete kit for your pond and installing it will require only 30-45 min.

Names of the tubings are AnchorLine, Foreversink, Heavy-Set, BottomLine are just a few.

I hope I have cleared up that question for you. Again welcome and we look forward to helping you with your pond.

Thank you for the welcome and the information. I really appreciate the fact that it was in terms I could easily understand! I plan to journal my project, so I'll be back with pictures and lots more questions.

Barry

I have non-weighted tubing with my 5 diffuser system. Using bricks as recommended had the problems mentioned earlier. However when I used 2 ft. sections of rebar it worked quite well. Attaching them with cable ties they did not ride up and down the hose and caused a minimum of kinking.

I used 15" previously owned guardrail bolts, held on to the airline with electrical tape. So far, so good (3.5 years) but I move the airline for the second time this weekend. Cary's got me a little worried about kinks, but thoughtfully provided the repair method.

I can vouch for Cary's mentioned concerns. Also, some PVC is more bouyant than others. Bricks tywrapped to the hose tend to slide on the algae coated hose when you have to lift it up. I think I will look into the new weighted stuff.

I wieghted my 3/4 inch poly tubing with 3/8 steel rod from the scrap yard. Cost about 30 cents a pound and I attached it with cable ties. You could use 1/4 inch rod for the smaller diameter line. I sunk 1400 feet of 3/4 inch line so this was more cost effective than buying weighted line.

To avoid kinks in the thin wall poly tubing, I found that using inexpensive garden hose was was much more effective for use as air hose.

I weighted the garden hose with bricks, spaced about 5 ft apart. As noted above, the bricks have tendency to slide and bunch up due to algae covered garden hose.

This system served me well for three years.

I recentlly added a third air station to the system, and replaced the garden hose with thick wall sinking air line

George Galzener
N.E. texas

Consider padding of some sort when using the poly tubing with bricks or rebar for weights. You may find after a period of time that there is enough vibration to wear small holes in the poly tubing. We remove poly tubing in ponds every year due to this result. Have had tubing last for as long as 5 years and some as short as 1 year (your results may vary)Originally thought the pulsation from todays piston pumps may cause this more often but had same result from rotary vanes last year also.Self weighted airline as mentioned is available in several sizes and several warranty periods that range from 1 year to lifetime.You can expect to pay approx $1.00 more per ft for premium weighted tubing vs thin wall poly tubing.5/8 ID tubing can weigh as much as 60 lbs per 100 ft section and stays put.