Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Ideal aeration schedule

I think your assumptions are dead on Mr Buffet. If you look back at all the reported summer fish kills, the vast majority of them occur in the morning hours when all available DO has been consumed. While wind does provide a mixing of daytime oxygen, that oxygen stays primarily closer to the surface. With added heat, the fish want to be deeper, but have to suffer lower O2 levels until they're forced to go shallow, which in turn adds another stressor, causing them to consume even more O2.

In small ponds like mine, wind aeration is virtually nill, so aeration not only helps, but is necessary. Running at night for me is the only way to go short of 24/7, and my thoughts are 24/7 may help maintain higher levels of DO, but you're also threatening to super heat everything...I'm deep, deep south.

I start pumping air at 8p and run 12 hours. When it shuts off, the first rays of sun are hitting the pond. By 10:30 it's full sun, until 3:30, when shade starts creeping back in. As the shade increases, photosynthesis decreases, so before it drops too low, I'm already supplementing air.