Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Vertex installed

I didn't take any pictures during the install but it was very simple. Ted Lea had me well equipped to do it myself, all I had to get was a little irrigation pipe and a trencher. The total install only took about 3 hrs. broken up over two days to let the PVC cement set up before sinking. I modified the base of the cabinet slightly by drilling two holes in it so the air lines could go staight down into the ground, giving it a cleaner look IMO. I ran 1/2" irrigation pipe from the flower bed to about 4' from the pond where I attached the self weighted air line. The self weighted stuff is very flexible and tough. Ted recommended that I use it before I get to the edge of the pond because it could take the heaving of ice and ground at that point much better than the irrigation pipe. I made all of the connections, glued and clamped with the stainless steel pipe bands that Ted provided. The pipe bands aren't absolutely necessary but provides some extra security. I turned on the system the next day to make sure everything worked and didn't leak, filled the air station bases with gravel and pulled them into the pond. Filled in the trench and built the flower bed wall back up and that was it.





You can see one of the two boils in the background. The little one likes the feel of the bubbles on her toes. There is so much water coming up at the boil that it's hard to keep her over it.

It wouldn't be a surprise to anyone, Ryan, but that looks just as nice as everything else around your pond.

that system (only) looks very familiar. nice install job. i dont recognize however all that verdant stuff growing around it

my place is nothing but dirt, dust, rocks, and dead weeds....typical for summer.

nice place mr. freeze.

good choice on the system there. my system really puts out too, and what little waters left in the pond is thanking me.

Hi Ryan-
Beautiful Pictures!!!! I like the clean look of the hose going through the base.
I hope you don't mind if I save your pictures for future use.

Dave: I'm thankful the wife was nice enough to let me put the cabinet in her butterfly garden. There was already power there and it's one less thing I have to trim around. My place looked like this just a few years ago. The big pile of dirt is where my house sits now.


Sue: You're welcome to use the pics. I can email you the full quality version if you like.

ha ha ha LOL....
its ok sue, DIED's not offended you didnt ask him for pics of his set up....rocks and dead weeds dont make for a very nice brochure

ryan, what kind of siding is that? we are needing to replace ours, and that looks like top shelf stuff.

Dave, I can't remember the brand name but it came from Dayton Builders Supply in Dayton, Ohio. It seemed pretty risky to pick such a bold color without actually seeing it on a house but we're pretty happy, I give the credit to my wife. It's barn red and seemed appropriate for a farm house. A lot of people weren't too sure about it until the trim was on. I've been a little concerned with how well it will hold up to the sun, that UV coating will be doing double duty certain hours of the day with the reflection off of the pond. It may be pink in a few years.

so its a vinyl siding? because of our high fire danger area, i'm probably opting for ($ouch $$ouch $$$ouch) hardie cement lap board (or similar type).

sorry guys....no more hijacking....thanks ryan.

Dave: when the time comes to replace ours we'll probably go with the stuff you described unless someone comes up with some reasonably priced brick siding.

We had a light rain yesterday evening and while dreaming of my pond being at full pool I looked out and could see distinct lines where the aeration was disturbing the water. Are these lines due to different densities of water?

hmm. Sue? that has got my curisouty up.

Wow, Ryan, your property is so nice....
Hi Greg-
The area of influence is what you are seeing. The water from the bottom of the pond is pushed to the surface where it continuously layers on top of itself and then is brought back down again. I am adding a diagram that shows how the diffuser cycles the water, just imagine your pond a little bigger and another diffuser doing the same thing. There is a point where one area of influence meets the other area of influence.

So the flat-looking strips are the limits of the water movement induced by the aerators? Kind of the top edges of the (toroidal shaped, for a single diffuser in a non-complex shaped pond) moving water volume?

I understand what's happening but I'm still having a hard time wrapping my brain around why the "area of influence" is visible. What is the difference between the bands? Is is a density difference, a surface tension thing or simply an area of influence?

The water that is spreading out is from the bottom and is a little cooler and denser so the band is the area where the layering water slips under.

Sue is correct in regards to the denser cooler water. Added to that the disctint lines can be different due to surface tension and wind currents too.

Depth will also effect the size of the "Boil Ring". The deeper the diffuser is placed the larger the boil ring will be. The kenetic energy created by deeper diffusers will be greater than the same diffuser at a shallower depth.

Great post and perfect pics to describe the aeration affects!

Thanks for the explainations it's making sense.

The diffuser to the right is about twice as deep as the one on the left. I adjusted the valves so the boils look even. Is this the correct way to aerate or should one boil be bigger than the other?

You did the correct thing - you want to balance the air flow so that they look about even.

I am a little confused about the area that an aerator is effective in. I am assuming it is far greater than the boil ring.

What I don't know is how far away from the diffuser the oxygenated water goes. My reason for asking is that one effect that aeration has is to potentially reduce bottom muck. How far away from an aerator does the oxygenated water flow? I have a lot of bottom muck that is probably 100 yards away from the nearest of my five diffusers in my three acre pond. Will that area receive enough of the oxygenated water to, over time, reduce the muck?

I believe I have received answers of "yes it will" and "no it won't".

My observation in the 18 months since I installed the system is that some of the areas away from the diffusers have less muck than before.

Bing

If you are receiving enough turn (lift) of all of your water to the surface then 5 diffusers (assuming they are sized properly) will do fine.You may be lifting 2-3 times per 24 hours. Water and bottom soil (muck) temperature is key in decomposition. example > you can be 100% saturated with DO @ 50F (11.3 ppm @ sea level) and have very little decomposition taking place compared to 6.9 ppm DO at 95F also 100 % saturated, in this case the lesser DO water will convert organics to co2 and h20 faster than the high DO water.Its all about balance. 39F winter bottom water may even be supersaturated with DO but no decomposition of organics is taking place compared to warmer temps.In your case the DO will "diffuse" to all areas. Even though often the shallow water sees very little boil action from the diffuser it will get enough natural wave action in depth to 4 ft to have its own supply of DO.Keeping water cooler for cold water types of fish and wanting decomposition of organics is also a tough balance.My best result on muck reduction has been 2 inches per year but that was up to 4 -5 turns per day, I would say 1-2 inches is more realistic even though I read claims far better than my experience.

I had the same situation last night but with a light breeze from the Southwest. I didn't have my camera handy but the visible ring actually extended all the way to the East bank, kinda like the wind stretched it out.

Here it is