Ok, I started aerating about 3 weeks ago with a 1/4 HP Gantt system and within a few days the pond went from 3 ft of visability to what it is now, about 1-2" of visability and a heck of algea bloom all around the edges, I have never had this problem in the last 4 years ( age of pond) It has drastically affected my fishing and the activity of my feeding of the fish?? What gives, if I had known this would have happened, I certainly would have saved the $1k on this. For reference, the pond has been waaaay muddier then if we had a 3" of hard rain downpour. I keep waiting for it to start clearing up but so far, its just gotten worse, I tried to take some pics but they just do not do the pond color any justice so Ill skip trying to post them.
I guess i am curious why and what happened and how the heck I can fix it short of turning off the pump.

Thanks ahead of time and pond is 3/4 acre, 12 fow, 5/1 slope, all clay bottom, zero outside influence of nutrients, entire watershed is within fenced grassy area, no chemicals or animals to contaminate water.


Salmonid (SW Ohio)

Mark, I am certainly not an expert in aeration and don't even have it in my ponds (yet), so my thoughts here are just sort of thinking out loud with you, and also hopefully drawing some attention to your post again so the aeration folks chime in.

Given that the pond has never been aerated previously, I assume that you have a decent amount of sediment/organic crud on the bottom. The aerator is creating a current that hasn't been present before and I'm throwing out a guess that the current is stirring up all that stuff on the bottom. The result may be that it's spreading around the pond and causing the turbidity issues you're observing.

Now, based on what I've learned about aeration here, my next guess is that by this mixing process, you are now introducing oxygen to the sediment that has not had it before, and so you've increased the aerobic decomposition layer, meaning the decomposition process is going to kick into gear on parts of the bottom that have been anaerobic for some time and start eliminating some of the crud. I would bet that, if this SWAG is even in the ballpark, it's just going to take a little time for the years of no aeration to catch up with the new system and for the crud to break down and the water to clear. I'd bet it will come around and that your pond will be even healthier than it has been once things find a new balance point.

Now, I've tossed out my totally amateur (actually, I'm not even sure that would qualify as an amateur opinion ) so let's see what the real experts have to say!

Hey, Mark, from another thread I read over the weekend I thought I'd ask if you have the diffusers/stones sitting right on the bottom of the pond. A lot of people start off with their diffuser suspended or sitting up on a bucket or milk crate or something similar to keep it out of the muck. After the unit has been working awhile, then they change depth as needed. Just another thought and another post to see if we can get you some feedback from those who know!

Thanks for the responses guys and yeah, I saw that same other post about the milk crate as well. I am rather suprised though, pond is only 3 years old, dug hole in ground, no/zero runoff so sediment is minimal at best. Im still trying to figure out the best approach for it, I been getting a few fish durring feeding but its been stormy and windy so that usually draws less fish to the feedings. I also fished for a bit today and took a few HBG, BG and YP and lots a of GS so they still seemed to be fairly ative in the estimated 5-6" of visability. Im still looking for the right answer here, I could just turn it off for 24 hrs and see what happens and I think thats the route Ill probably do to see if the sediment settles and clears.

If I do that, ill post results

Salmonid

Well, Mark, with the pond being that recently constructed, that totally blows my theory of years of undisturbed sediment out of the water! Unless, of course, a bunch is getting washed in, though from your first post it doesn't sound like that's the case. Maybe shutting it down for a couple of days is a good idea. If that helps, then maybe consider just running the pumps for a certain number of hours per day and see what results you get. Maybe do that in conjunction with elevating the diffusers as well to see if the combination makes a difference. Good luck with it.

Ok Guys, I went ahead and turned off the aerator about 36 hrs agao and tonight, ( 48 hrs) will take a peek and see if there is any noticable difference in visability or not, Stay tuned, as I assume about 48 hrs should be ample time to let the sediment settle down, Will post more tonight.

Salmonid

well I checked the pond after about 50 hrs with no noticible difference so I went ahead and plugged it back in, I assume i just got a hell of a algea bloom going on, Ill keep monitoring it and report back if I can find out what is causing it.

Salmonid

Mark, if you want some Alum, I've got a source right next to work.

Mark, How many diffusers are in the pond and what are they made of? Stone, membrane, soaker hose?

It sounds like the pond's ability to absorb the nutrients has decreased and if the system is undersized, it is not meeting the oxygen demand of the pond. This is compunded when you have what may be an aglae bloom that yes, creates oxygen durning the day but at night consumes it.

If this is what is happening then the iron, nitrates, phosphates etc are now mobile through out the water column where the algae can use it as a food source.

I understand that you state that there are no other influences of nutrients to the pond but simple soil and fish food and fish waste and now decaying algae can add to the nutrient loading of a pond. By adding another diffuser, the Biochemical and Sediment Oxygen demands will be met and the iron will precipitate to the bottom and bond the phosphates and other nutrients to the sediments and render them unavailable for use by the plankton algae. Also by meeting the oxygen demand, the area for zooplankton will increase which will graze on the plankton bloom you currently have.

So, how many and what kind of diffusers do you have. Is there also anything unusual about the pond as in shape or does it have an island or pennisula?

Nothing Unusual, the airstone is a large ceramic disk with a membrane over it, the pump is a 1/4 HP Gast I think, Pond still continues to have about 6" of visability and now I have a bunch of filimentatios algae floating around and sticking to the edges. The fish are feeding real good now, at least the cats are....

Ryan, Im not looking to add anything whether chemical or alum at this time, thats just waaay too much work right now with a couple of hundred projects going on right now.

Mark

Mark,

If you're referring to a 9" or 12" membrane diffuser, this is definately not enough aeration for a pond this size. 12' is decent depth to induce mixing but like Cary said, you're mixing the nutrients/sediments and not satisfying the oxygen demand which is a recipe for an algae bloom. I would add at least one more diffuser and maybe even another compressor.

Water wizard, all the research I had done ahead of time said this would be waaay more then enough power/air to do the airation, I am curious why you think a second one in necessary?
For the record, I am still at about 6" visability right now which sucks, wife wont swim in muddy pond even though ther eis no runoff feeding it, just plain old field grass/pasture.

Thanks, I am all ears....

Salmonid

Mark, see Cary's comments above. I think he answered that question pretty well. I'm not quite sure how to elaborate.

What I can say is that this is an example of why it is always best to consult an aeration expert before buying. Many aeration websites sell packaged systems that claim to aerate a given sized pond. IMO many of these claims are exagerated and more importantly, don't take into account the specific factors that effect your pond. Most aeration companies offer free consultations, at least over the phone. Anyone considering buying an aeration system should take advantage of this free service.

Good luck. Let me know if I can help.

ok, so can I just put a T connector onto my existing pump and add a second membrane difusor down the pond a bit? and will that work or is the correct answer to add a second equaly or more powerful pump, let me add that the first pump took me almost 2 years to save up for, (~$1k) so another pump really isnt an option, in fact if that is what is needed, Ill probably just remove the whole unit and try to recoup my cash, this really seems to have made matter waaay worse rather then better like everything I read about.

Thanks fo rthe input,
Salmonid, ( Mark )

I am of the opinion that 1 diffuser with 1/4 hp gast compressor(can I assume rotary vane?) is very adequate for 3/4 acre and 12' depth. What am I missing here? If the gast model # is provided, then the amount of air being produced can be determined. What did your suppplier of the system have to say re: your issues?
Mark, you keep saying that vis. is 'about' this and that. if you are eyeballing, it can be very deceiving. Have you actually measured the vis. and determined if the color is due to staining, or algae bloom? The experts will be able to see if the pond is stained or has an algae bloom if you post photos. Get a white coffee cup on a string and measure how deep it disappears.

Burg, the model is Gast 1/4HP, Rocking Piston, producing 1.5 CFM of air, 115 V, and 3.1 Amps. Ill have to head out to the unit to se eif there is a specific model, the folks i bought it from suggested I put a bottom displacer shield under the difussor,to alleviate the sediment being carried by the upward current.

Ill put together a Sechi Disk of some sort, i use several rocks that are slightly covered by water as my indicators so far but your right, Ill get an official reading on visability. I also do know that even though the water looks muddy, it is all agea sediment that is stirred up, I can let it settle in a glass and it clears up and then you can see the greenish tinge to it.

Ill see if I can get some pics, bear with me the boss has me sealing our huge driveway today and tomorrow since its the first "3 days of no rain" window we have had here in the last 8 weeks.

Thanks for the input.....

Mark ( Salmonid)

with the model # we can look up the cfm at your placed depth. 1.5 is probably open air volume. Rocking pistons usually deliver nearly that much up to several psi. FYI...each 2.5 ft of water=approx. 1 psi. If you're at 12 ft...about 5 psi.
Before I had my pond reworked, I placed the diffuser inside a 5 gal. bucket to keep from stirring up the sediment.