Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Advice on aeration needed

As usual, excellent & accurate info coming from Bill Cody! First and foremost ~ do not inadequatly aerate your pond. It's better to not aerate at all than to do it half way. If you under aerate, all you are doing is mixing the bad bottom water with the good upper water and making it all bad. The fish will have no chance. Especially if you are talking about 25' deep water. Second, you have to have a compressor that can handle the pressure needed to pump air 25' deep ~ you will need a compressor that can handle 15 PSI. 20' of pipe with large holes will not be effective in creating a vertical column of water large enough to circulate the pond water volume once per day. If the holes were small enough to create micron size bubbles, it would require a LOT of cfm. Aeration companies have been doing the science for years, figuring out the most efficient and cost effective ways to aerate ponds, so the best thing to do is to consult with an expert to determine what your pond needs. You can take it from there~

Okay your pond is not normal due to the steep sides, flat type bottom and deep average depth. It could qualify as a "quarry of sorts". Stone quarries, at least in my area, often have vertical to almost vertical sides and deep average depths. If you don't fertilize to increase the productivity and the productivity stays reasonably low the pond could be 'okay' not aerated. Okay is a relative term. As Sue and others have mentioned, it could do more harm to aerate it incorrectly compared to no aeration. The pond's design (morphometry) has pros and cons.

As requested, here are the two bigger ponds Ken owns. Each are 12-15 acres depending on drought/rain fall levels.

Front Pond:


Rear Pond:


Here they are in relation to each other as well as several other natural "oxbow ponds", a man made pond that is very large but shallow and the Mattaponi River to the north.

y plumber - read lharris8's sediment situation in a non-aerated pond after only 16 yrs which is why it is a good idea to aerate. Proper aeration with adequate turnover rates minimizes muck accumulation depening on amount of input materials. Bottom aeration keeps all the pond ecosystem processes as good as they can be based on the conditions of the pond. Other management methods can help minimize muck accumulation for ponds with high inputs of organic materials.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=321596#Post321596

Those ponds look like a fish poacher's dream. How do you keep the thieves out if you don't live there?

I don't keep them out, they appear to know when we get to our trailer which is 7 miles away. Skeeters are terrible and i don't mow the tall weed feilds that surround the ponds, so that may help with people fishing. It is a lot worse during hunting season as they poach deer big time off the islands. You can probably understand why I am having doubts about a expensive aerator set-up there. These pictures were taken in a drought, when the ponds and other areas have natural water level it is nearly twice as much water.

Kenc - I agree with you aerating a 'remote' pond such as yours without monitoring is very risky and probably not worth the headaches, time, trouble, and worry. Just trying to keep a balanced fishery in there is a big difficult job.

Back pond is fine the way it is. If Travis doesn't whip the front pond into shape pretty quick,I will be very suprised.