When I first turned the new aeration system on it was mostly a boiling action. Now I have a lot of foaming action. Is due to water temperature of the chemical condition of the pond. Zephyr Pond is still shrinking at a fast pace and has gone done over a foot in the last week. Could this be causing the foaming action. I don't guess foaming is harmful, the fish seem to be okay?
I would be very concerned with the pond going down over 1 1/2" every day. That sounds more like a leak than evaporation. As dry as it has been you could have a seep (spring) that is taking in water. As far as the foam, that is probably a concentration of dissolved solids and proteins from the evaporation of so much water from your pond. The local weatherman says the high pressure that has been keeping us from getting any rain should move off to the west. If so we will have better chances for rain over the next few weeks. I have never seen it so dry here. There are mesquite trees loosing leaves and cactus shriveled up on my place. Some live oaks are loosing leaves also. My pond is down 5.5' but is only loosing about 1/2' per day. We must have rain soon or our pond days are over!
PFF, That sounds like my place, with cactus drying up etc. The pond has lost about a foot over a week's and a half period (not a day). With that hot wind blowing and extreme temps, I assume this is not out of the norm. Aerating also probably contributes to more evaporation. Anyway, about another month of this kind of dry, hot weather and I think it will be over for Zephyr Pond. I noticed yesterday the cormorants or moving in. Probably when the pond gets low they can wipe you out pretty fast. Hope we both survive somehow, but it don't look good right now.
I meant one foot in a week is about one and a half inches a day and mine is going down one half inch per day. It seems like the dryer it gets the worst my typing.
Heybud,
What was the water depth of the pond when you first started aeration?
Prior to installing my diffusers, I tested them in a shallow pool. This resulted in a froth, as opposed to a boil, on the water surface. Once installed in the pond, they produced a nice boil.
Russ,
The water depth was probably around 8 to 10 feet when I installed it. The pond when normal is 18 to 20 feet deep. It is now down to about 6 feet.
Heybud,
After doing a little research and consulting a chemical engineer PHD friend of mine I learned the following: The frothing action is due to the presence of a surfactant (surface active molecule). There are many different types of material that can act as a surfactant. If foaming bothers you, a chemical like poly dimethylsiloxane is a good defoamer. Of course, you are then adding more chemicals to the pond... The surfactant molecule is present whether the bubbling visually displays its presence. Turning off the aeration system will not remove the presence of the surfactant; it will only make the surfactant behaviour invisible. I would not recomend turning off the aeration system. Also, the aeration is not largely responsible for water evaporation from the pond. 1SCF of air at 30C can hold at most 1 gram of water. Per day, an AirStation will move 1440 SCF so one AirStation will be responsible for evaporating 1.5 liters of water per day... This is assuming that the pumped air has an initial 0% humidity.
Sue, I would also think however that you need to consider the additional amount of water exposed to the air at the surface as a potential contributor to evaporation. The reason we aerate is to move water so that more of it comes in contact with the atmosphere. This fact alone could drastically increase evaporation beyond your calculations which only consider how much water the pumped air will take up. I think you're missing a large part of the impact of aeration on evaporation. Water that is moving in contact with the atmosphere will no doubt evaporate faster. Don't know the magnitude but this would be an interesting study.
BTW, a side question. Another consequence of the hot weather is that many of us have more problems with various floating plants such as DW. Does the presence of DW help retain water or does it speed up evaporation in some way?
I agree with bz. Bubbles popping at the surface will send up a fine mist which will be evaporated by a hot wind. The real question here is what to do next. I think heybud is heading for a crash soon. Will the dissolved O2 offset the extra evaporation or should the aerator be shut down? I would like to hear everyones opinion about how best to avoid a crash in a rapidly evaporating pond.
Aeration definitely causes a good bit more evaporation, but I am at critical mass with water but must keep it up(lessor of 3 evils?...no water...boiling water...no O2?. My wife has a small Betta aquarium, and with the aerator running 24/7, I have to add about 1/2" water every 2 or 3 days. Would running the pond aerator just at night suffice?...what about cloudy days, but not enough rain to do much good?
Never thought I would have these kinds of decisions on this little ole pond.
If I had an aerator, I would keep it going. I believe it does a lot more good than harm. Of course, without a bunch of rain in the very near future, it just might not matter.
Heybud, if there is any way possible, I would try to get all of the tilapia possible out of the pond. I expect that they are still reproducing and are adding to oxygen depletion.
Dave, My wife and I were just looking a recipes for Tilapia. Anyone have suggestions on the best way to extract tilapia from the pond? Thanks ewest.
Heybud, I think you should try putting the system on a timer and running it at night when it is cooler.
Heybud :
Do you mean "extract tilapia from the pond" or "extract recipes from forum members" or both?
:p
We are all hoping for lots of rain for you !!!
PFF's question :
I would seine at least half the pond and keep all the editable fish. Keep the O2 as high as possible or the water level will not make any difference.
[QUOTE]Originally posted by PondsForFun:
Will the dissolved O2 offset the extra evaporation or should the aerator be shut down? I would like to hear everyones opinion about how best to avoid a crash in a rapidly evaporating pond. [/QUOTE
My approach is to run the aerator only after sun down and until sun up. That approach enables the pond to get the benefits of water circulation and at the same time doesn't effect evaporation rates nearly like it would during day time hours.
Burgermeister, I don't think you have to aerate
Betta aquariums at all. They breathe air from the surface which is why you see them in tiny glass bowls and doing fine.
Lrunkle, the kids have had them in little glass bowls in the past, and I know they grow in the rice paddies, but they always went tits up. I much prefer this small aquarium with filter and aerator, especially since my wife feeds 'Buddy' as if he were 2 or 3 lbs. It looks nice and clean this way, too.
Heybud -
Can you give us an update on Zephyr Pond? I heard parts of Texas were getting rain and I was hoping your pond would get some. Are you still experiencing the foam?
Sorry to say Zephyr Pond has not received any appreciable rain fall and continues to shrink. I am still getting foam, but it doesn't seem to hurt anything. What water is left looks good and the fish seem to be okay. They are being hurded into a smaller and smaller pool of water. I'm not sure if Zephyr Pond will survive but still have hope.