Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions when how to relocate bubblers from shallow to deep

Central Ohio area; November moved bubblers from 12 feet areas to 3 foot areas [two]; January--February ice over maybe 80% of 1 acre pond; Ice melted almost no chance of icy weather; so how should/when should the bubblers be moved back to 12 feet?? water temperature 24 inched down is below 40F [36--38]; should the bubblers be turned off now? moved deep April sometime? will the deep water have sufficient oxygen? should one restart in deep water 12 feet and run a few hours day one, double day two, etc...
during a sunny afternoon already see a few fry along the shoreline; and the pesky Blue Heron is already back!!

My understanding is that in a typical groundwater pond with little change over of the water from intake of new water (runoff/creek water) or little outflow of water produces a situation where aeration is not needed year around. 12' is a typical depth where there should be less chance of winter kill due to the warmer water layer right at the bottom.

Winter aeration would be an option if you choose to have another shallow water 'warm water' refuge area for fish to try to avoid winter kill. There are other ways to avoid winter kill for those of us who try to keep the ice strong for ice skating (plants to make O2 under the ice, keeping the ice clear of snow for sun penetration). But with a one acre pond you have plenty room for skating and to still leave an area open to meet both goals.

When the water is cold the oxygen carrying capacity is the highest. There is no thermocline yet and the entire pond water is probably around 37 at the bottom and around 40 at the best at the top on a sunny day. Aeration's job is to move bottom water up towards the top and your water is already pretty well mixed throughout.

Well into spring if you have wind action you may still have plenty of aeration action and moving around/mixing of the water. When water temp differences get bigger from top to bottom then it makes sense to turn on the aeration.

If you decide to run your aerator when the water is cold (early spring) some run it purposely in the warmest hours of the day to try to help 'wake up' the pond faster by exposing more of the water from the bottom to the sun at the top. Then as the temp differential builds and you start getting a 15 or 20 degree swing between bottom temps and top temps then many of us turn our aerators to 8-10 or 12 hours only at night (an hour or two before dusk to an hour or two after dawn). This tries to then keep the water cool in light of the oncoming summer dog days. The cooler water then keeps fish less stressed, keeps oxygen content higher, slows down algae growth, etc.

Just some thoughts.

If you have ice off, you could turn off the diffusers.

I'd move them back to deeper water once the chance of ice covering the pond for more than a couple of weeks in a row is 100% gone.

If starting them up when the water temp is 55°ish and below, then no start up procedure should be required.

Thank you very much,

ice off was 1 march; will turn off the air Sunday move each bubbler to summer location and leave off until the water starts to warm; would high 40s F at 24 inches below the surface be a good time to restart, or should one wait for water temperature be in the mid 50s F.

Either of those temps would work, if you wanted to save some electric $$, go with the mid 50's.