Pond Boss Forums AERATION Should I aerate? What’s the best type of aeration?

Pondwald I sent you a PM.

Bottom diffusion is the best for your situation (vs. a fountain or surface agitators).

If you didn't have the water level dropped when they dredged it out, there might still be a lot of muck left in there. Water flows out of the bucket when the dredge/excavator bucket is picked up out of the pond, and that water washes the light fluffy muck back into the pond.

Without knowing the shape of the pond it's impossible to properly spec out a system. A system is spec'd out based on the total water volume in the pond. The different diffusers (or air stations) bring up "X" amount of gallons of water per hour based on water depth and CFM going to the diffusers. Vertex is the only company that I know that has tested that and they have specs for their diffusers.

At 15' depth you could use a rotary vane compressor. That will put out more cfm per hp than a rocking piston compressor. A rotary vane compressor is easier to rebuild than a rotary vane compressor. The rebuild kits cost about the same.

You should use 1/2" ID or 0.6" ID self -weighted tubing in the pond, that will have the least amount of back pressure on the compressor and allow more air flow to the air stations than 3/8" hose.

You are in Ga, so you don't have to worry about winter aeration.

If you don't have electric at the pond that's no big deal, the compressor can be where the electric is and black poly tubing can be trenched to the pond, attach to a remote manifold box and then distributed in the pond from there using the weighted tubing. If electric is at the pond, double check the wire size to ensure that it's the correct size for the compressor. Running too small of a wire size will create more heat in the compressor and shorten it's life. There are both 115v and 220v aeration systems. Cost is roughly the same for both, but I believe it's a bit cheaper to run the 220v system.

Under aerating the pond will cause more problems than not aerating at all. You will bring up the nutrient rich water that is at the bottom of the pond and it will feed the algae in the upper part of the water column. The pond needs at least 5mg/l at the bottom of the pond so that there will be enough O2 down there for the aerobic bacteria to work on consuming the organic matter (nutrients), and it will also be enough O2 to allow the fish to utilize the whole water column. Under aerating won't have enough O2 down there so anaerobic bacteria will be chewing on the organics - they work much slower than aerobic bacteria. That is why waste water plants run a BUNCH of air in their ponds, they want the aerobic bacteria to flourish and chew up the organics.

Air stations have "areas of influence" in ponds. The shallower the water, the closer they need to be spaced so they can work properly.

Proper aeration will not prevent weed or algae growth. It will create healthier water by adding more O2 to the whole water column and slow down the eutrophication process.

The brown water could be just sediment that was stirred up when it was renovated and it will settle down as the pond comes back to normal, or the influx of water will help wash some of it out of the pond. If the water coming into the pond is brown, that could be either suspended solids or tannin in the water. Suspended solids that stay suspended could be from a few things, either mechanical (fish) or an electrical charge imbalance in the water. Aeration will not help either of those.

Do you know the alkalinity of the water that is in the pond? .