Pond Boss Forums Thread Like Summary - Most Beneficial Time of Day to Aerate?

Is it most beneficial to aerate in the hours just before sunrise for a system which does NOT have sufficient power to run all of the time?

For discussion, consider a solar system that can run 4 hours a day during peak sunlight in the early afternoon versus a system that includes batteries and a timer than can run 3.5 hours (due to system losses) in the period just before sunrise.

(The secondary question would then be: Do the experts think the additional expense of a battery bank is well worth the benefits to the pond?)

Depends on what the situation is and why you want aeration.
I see several results from aeration-depending on the type- several things can occur. You can raise the water temp, you can lower the temp, you can add some O2 and you can limit anoxic water from forming.
Your highest BOD will likely be in late summer-early fall with plants starting to decompose, wild planktonic swings, high fish biomass and somewhat warm temps yet.
Choosing 3-5-4hrs of run time will be determined by the amount of what you have that you are trying to affect the most with aeration. Most times of the year you can do more damage by running too long of time period, but as I said, it depends why you need it.
YP vs LMB or BG.
YP handle pretty low DO but suffer greatly in higher temps-what would be comfortable for sunfish.
Having a shallow hypolimnion can benefit species like WAE, YP, etc. so with that said, if I had to choose 3.5hr to run it would be the 3.5hrs prior to sunrise.
There are some benefits to running mid-day at certain times but it's short. I think the best bang for the buck, buy batteries.

Here's where the batteries shine.. If a system such as you describe, shows it's face, if you are already running 4 hrs in the am, with proper storage you can run all night during these events, keeping any anoxic layer from forming in the first place, so there's no shock to the system, or at least minimize the impact if a roll does happen