Originally Posted by FishinRod
esshup, thanks for adding some expert commentary on the topic!

I thought that the oxygenation efficiency of a diffusion air station exceeded that of the paddle wheel agitators.

If that is correct(?), would another option be to have a winter diffuser location and a summer location that is optimized for the pond depth and configuration?

Nope, it's the other way around in a shallow pond. Now a deep pond is is a wee bit different but that is only because the upper and lower water layers don't mix with just a paddle wheel. If you really want to pump up the O2 levels, you can run both. I had a customer that did that, it wasn't a paddle wheel, it was a volcano type surface agitator. It wasn't this, but this is the same principle.

[Linked Image from otterbine.com]

We had the bottom diffusion system running and he ran that agitator 24/7. I think it was a 5hp one in a 3/4 ac pond, 5' of muck on the bottom, 8' of water in the pond. In the middle of July he still had trout alive even though the water temp was in the upper 70"F range. O2 was at 150% saturation.

www.hoosierpondpros.com

[Linked Image from lh6.ggpht.com]
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3/4 to 1 1/4 ac pond LMB, SMB, PS, BG, RES, CC, YP, Bardello BG, (RBT & Blue Tilapia - seasonal).