Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions DO Meter Purchase

I am getting ready to make a purchase on the YSI Pro20i. Does anybody have experiences (good or bad) with this unit? Any other observations/opinions with other DO meters much appreciated.

Thanks

MNFISH2,

YSI are great products geared to more of the scientific community. Used a couple different models on projects and they worked great. There are other brands of meters that are just targeting for DO-Extech, Milwaukee (MW600), Hanna Oxygen meter, just to name a few.

If your just using on your pond or lake, a small hand held unit will be fine IMO. Now if I was doing more I may look into some of the more $$$ models.

It comes down to your budget and goals.

Have fun and enjoy the ice fishing.

MNFISH! Where have you been??? I want to hear how the projects are going!

I don't remember seeing the Pro20 when I got mine. I have the ProODO and it has been great. Probably more than I need but I have been known to bring a bazooka to a knife fight.

Hello Sir....Funny I got a little more educated and bought the exact same unit you bought! We will be doing a lot of measuring so it seemed the better route to take.

I retired 6 months ago and now doing what I truly love...Fish Ponds here in MN. Creating a new market in recreational ponds and loving every minute of it. Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes. And a million untapped ponds.

Projects...oh where do I begin!

I too like the Pro ODO.

It has worked great for us.

It arrived today and can't wait to get it wet tomorrow. Real data! Let the winter O2 testing and data collection begin.

How long is the cable?

4 meter

Probe maintenance is the most important aspect of getting consistent reliable readings. I learned that during a 5 year stint of temp and DO monitoring.

Weekly Observations

I followed your thread thru its entirety. Great stuff! Which brand did you run Dwight?

Dwight what is the easiest way to calibrate?

YSI DO200

The units are factory calibrated with the cable and probe ordered with the unit. To maintain accuracy follow the probe maintenance regimen in the YSI manual. The cable and probe need to be replaced if the readings become inconsistent even with proper maintenance. Mine lasted about 18 months and I was near religious following the maintenance procedures.

How is the new unit working out?

Thanks for asking...great piece of test equipment. Very easy to use. We have learned a lot this winter with this DO meter!! I am focusing on what I term "intermittent cycle aeration" and couldn't do the science/product development without it. Monitoring DO in 7 ponds across the state.

The first DO unit I bought (the one pictured) was through one of YSI distributors. Not going to use names. Short story..I brought it out into the field and the handheld wasn't communicating with the probe. No problem. I get home and call YSI. They tell me the unit is 3 years old! I sent it back to the distributor got my full refund. Then went to YSI to purchase a new unit. Frustrating to wait the extra week but all good in the end.

I can see where a 3 year old probe would be a problem, given their life expectancy. Have you developed shareable information on ICA in a pond environment?

No hard data and definitely no conclusions drawn...yet. This winter we had two goals...

1st- Become proficient with a DO meter and comfortable using it. This optical DO meter makes this much much easier than the older technology. Check this one off as complete

2nd- Looking to find DO patterns in waters. Using aerated waters with 110V, solar, and windmills. Heavy fish loads, highly eutrophic, shallow, deep, ect to compile data points. Then use these patterns to better predict what a BOW will need for aeration here in MN. Also, and most importantly, be able to eventually predict a potential winter crash(s) in a network of our ponds before it happens.

The concept of intermittent aeration, here in MN, has a lot of upside but a lot of work ahead for us! The more we learn the more complicated it becomes. One thing is forsure, ICE COVER is an aeration killer.

When we get good sound data, I would love to share! To match your data acquisition and reporting will take a huge effort. It was very impressive Dwight!

That thread of Dwight's is terrific. Everyone should look at it and notice on the seasonal data how a pond cycles over a year.