I turned off my aerator yesterday -- almost exactly 24 hours ago. It had been running nonstop since late September 2002.
This year I thought I would finally heed the collective wisdom on this site and give it a try.
My pond is fairly small -- only 1/4 acre. It's spring fed and the incoming flow is always about 53-54 degrees F. Here's a snapshot of the little creek right after it emerges from the ground. It's about a foot wide and a few inches deep, and its flow has been very constant.
This view shows the marshy little spring stream where it flows into the pond (looking west here).
I still can't get used to not seeing the column of bubbles rising at what would be the center of this picture. The pond lies at about 1,160 feet elevation msl. The combined effects of the spring water and aeration usually kept it about 95-99% ice-free throughout the winter. In a couple of little leeward coves there might be some ice cover when the air temperature drops to zero. But usually the pond is ice-free and crystal clear all winter. So clear, in fact, that I still seem to get some chara growth even in the dead of winter (Any suggestions on winter control?)
Here's a closer view of one of the chara beds. They seem to produce a fair amount of bug life, but that's about all the good I can say for them. The pond has some decent size rainbows that manage to make it through our warm Virginia summers -- and I added 40 8" brook trout last week. When I got this place almost five years ago, the pond had some very skinny channel cats (now very well fed); some good hyrbid sunfish (again, doing fine) and some little largemouths (still pretty much runts). And then there are the eight (yes, 8 -- stocked by a former owner) huge grass carp ... that don't seem to care too much for chara.
One last note about turning off my aerator (can you tell I miss it!?): The bubble column continued a good 2 - 3 minutes after I pulled the plug. Is that normal? Now, I've got the balance of the winter months to figure out how to install the replacment parts called for in the routine maintenance for the aerator. Wish me luck. I'm not too mechanically inclined. -- Mike
