I share a pond with my neighbor and I want to start adding some aeration to it. 2 years ago it had a decent bass population, but we had a very cold winter and many died off. Mostly i just find bullhead in it now, and they're very small. They also used to be much bigger.
After much research on this forum, I've ordered the Gast 523 pump, 3 - 9 inch matala diffusers with bases, and 3 runs of sinking line to start with. I'm going to run 20 amp service down to the pond so that I can expand the system in the future.
Ummmm that's a big pond! And it has a weird shape to it. Anyone out here worth their grain of salt would say your going to need at least 2 to 3 stations really. 1 in that dog leg area to the right of your dock. and one out in the middle of the big area really you should have 2 or 3 out there.... but that's just me. Lets see what others have to say...
RC
The only difference between a rut and a Grave is the depth. So get up get out of that rut and get moving!! Time to work!!
In a pond that big I would use a 1/2hp or 3/4hp rotary that produces 8-10 cfm. IMO the 0523 model(4.8cfm) does not produce enough air volume for a 5 ac pond. Even 10cfm may not be enough to adequately turn over 5 acres of water.
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Thanks to everyone for the input. I really appreciate the help. I'll be sure to take place pictures.
The current hope, and I know it could be flawed since I'm very new to this, is a 3 part approach.
The large part to the north is mostly under 6 feet, so I had thought that it may be naturally aerating with the wind. It's also where, when there is enough water, that the water flows into the pond from the north. In the warm months that's where all the fish tend to be. I'm running enough power down to run a second air pump if needed though for that section.
The area near my dock needs it, no doubt about that. I've been seeing conflicting accounts on if aerating a small amount of a pond will help or hurt. I'm hoping it will help. About 2 winters ago we had a pretty large fish kill with the nasty winter we had and the bass still haven't recovered.
My neighbor that owns the southern end of the pond says if it turns out well around the dock that he will consider putting a system in his end. That's the deep end. We're also talking about modifying the exit pipe that goes through the southern dam so that it draws water from the bottom instead of the top.
In winter I believe some air is better than nothing when it comes to keeping your pond open and from freeze over! I also think your correct in saying that you should put your system for the summer time in the deepest areas first. Remember though in winter you only really want your system in about 1/3 your depth just to keep a large area open. So say in about 3 feet of water. I would think that would help those fish in time of need when everything is froze over and has snow on it all!!
RC
The only difference between a rut and a Grave is the depth. So get up get out of that rut and get moving!! Time to work!!
Dug a trench going to the pond, and I've now got 20 amp service.
Air pump came, and it's all set up, I set it up with 3 gas valves, on a gas manifold. (I got the idea for the gas manifold on this forum.) I also used flexible tubing to go from the pump to the manifold. It's all currently in a cooler, until I can build a better enclosure.
My sinking air line wont be here until Monday, so I ran one diffuser out on a temp line just to test it. Looked like it was working pretty well. A lot of turnover of the water, and It smelled like rotten eggs. Once I get all the diffusers in on the sinking line I'll taper the start up of them as to not kill off all the fish. I'm sure the only fish that would survive would be the bullhead.
I have an older pond and am working on a pad near the pond for a barn we will have built soon (with electric). My pond is a bit over an acre and about 12 feet deep maximum. I have had 2 partial winter kills in the last 15 years and want to add the minimum aeration that will likely make another winter kill unlikely. Would a single diffuser likely work? What type would be best, and would putting it under the floating dock also help with possible ice damage to the dock (none yet after 15 years though). What minimum size compressor might work? I am looking for durability, low operating cost, and low noise. My plan would be to invest in quality to reduce later costs. Any help or reference to web info is appreciated. This will likely be a 2017 project after the barn and electric are installed. Since I have only had winter kills, My plan would be to run this system only when ice cover is on.
Single diffuser would work, if you don't push the limit on biomass, but since it is an older pond it all depends on the amount of organic build-up you have. I would plan on running 2 different diffusers/stones to play it safe. Air stones will create larger bubbles for more "wave" action. 1/4-1/3 hp compressor, put whatever you use to make bubbles at 4' water depth. I don't like using stones for summer use, as I believe they make larger bubbles and don't move as much water as rubber membrane diffusers. I would still place them close enough to shore so that anything that goes into the cold pond water can walk out of the pond.
You won't have problems with ice and the pier. The family has had a fixed pier on a lake (S-SW corner) since the late '60's without any protection from ice and never had a problem.
It all depends on how much of a gambler you are. Save money and use one, maybe pay what you saved to replace fish that die?
Thanks for the info. I'll look up aeration stones. I have not replaced fish after the past kills. Just let the survivors repopulate. P.S. Do any of these compressors list Db levels for noise? Are the piston pumps best?
In my research, linear pumps looked good for shallow water up to about 6-8ish feet and rotary vane pumps looked better for a little bit deeper, 6-12ish, which is why I went with rotary vane.
I'm running linear pumps at 9' but that is pushing the limit. Their flow drops off a lot at that depth. I think on the box it said 11' maximum depth but the flow would be approaching zero in my opinion.
At shallow depths the linear pumps can not be matched for electrical efficiency. Less so as the depths increase (because of the lower volume of air produced relative to the electrical use). They are very quiet (at least the ones I use). I think their life before rebuild would be significantly shorter than a vane pump but I have not yet owned a vane pump so don't know. I get about a season and a half or two before having to put new diaphragms in the Pondmaster pumps I am running (running 24-7 May through November usually).
I think long term the vane pumps are probably the best choice. I started with one linear pump as an experiment and built from there. I suspect some day I will replace the three that are running in my main pond with one single vane and a manifold. One thing I thought might be an advantage of the 3 pumps over one is that I could have more flexibility in shutting off part and only running one at times early or late in the season (to cut electrical usage). In actual practice I have never done that though so has not been an advantage.
That is my experience to date with the linear pumps. I run 4 continuously for two season and a little bit more(three pumps in big pond, one split between forage and sediment ponds).
I will look into the linear pumps since it looks like 4 feet deep is the target for keeping a hole open in ice. This will also hopefully keep the hole near the shore so escape from the water is easier. I would be concerned about diaphragm replacement though. I like low maintenance.
I should be able to bury some large diameter poly pipe down to the pond. I saw one inexpensive 7" diameter stone diffuser, but it only has a 1/4" inlet. The weighted hose should only need to be <25 feet long. Should this be 1/2"? I was thinking that with the 1/4" fitting on the stone, 3/8" might be over-sized enough.
RAH I have never used a linear pump in the winter but as I recall Cecil had one he thought the rubber diaphragm got stiff in the cold and led to its failure. Not positive on that though.
If you are going to run one in the winter, I might actually think of insulating the enclosure to hold some heat in so the pump does not get excessively cold. Hold in some of the heat generated by the motor.
Mostly American Pond weed. Some milfoil in the pond as well. and possibly coon tail. I use a weed razor and a weed rake to clear around my dock. My neighbor uses a tractor implement that he made to clear his half of the pond. It's a long boom with a york rake on the end. Pretty cool.
For winter use only for opening ice, what type of diffuser is least likely to clog or need maintenance if left in the pond year round? I have seen membranes, stones, and bubble hoses online, as well as homemade ones.
I put the other 2 diffusers in the pond today. One about 50 feet north of the dock, and one about 50 feet south of the dock.
I used matala sinking tubing, worked very good and dropped right to the bottom.
The area around my dock got pretty stinky pretty quickly. I turned it off after a bit and I was noticing bubbles coming up from all around my dock area. Not super fast or anything, but defiantly noticeable. I'm assuming the muck on the bottom has begun getting some oxygen.
The Gast pump is humming along, and I'm surprised how quiet it is. I haven't built it's enclosure yet, but I'll work on something this weekend. I'm thinking some soffit vents in the cooler will work for now, over the winter I'll build something nice for it in the garage.