I would like to aerate my 3/4 acre pond - 04/07/16 04:11 PM
Hello I just joined this forum today because I have been reading posts here about building an aeration system. I have a pond in front of my house in southern Illinois which is 3/4 of an acre. It is oblong shaped about 100 yards from end to end and widest about 200 ft at the dam. It is about 18' deep out in the middle maybe 50 ft from the dam. The pond is about 20 years old dug in the mid 90s. It is stocked with channel catfish and largemouth bass also has a lot of bluegill. I keep it clear of algae in the summer using copper sulfate about once a month from about June thru September.
The reason I'm considering aeration is last September there was an algae bloom which killed a couple dozen of my largest fish catfish and bass but also about 3 grass carp that were over 3 feet long. I replaced the grass carp but I'm concerned it will happen again. I think I caused it by introducing 7 or 8 muscovy ducks to the pond last summer. We raise the ducks for meat and I'd like to try to make it work with them although I realize it may be taxing the system. I was wondering if I could solve a couple issues with aeration protecting the fish and also keeping an area of open water in winter for the ducks to escape predation when it freezes over. I also wouldn't mind getting the water temperature more uniform by bringing some of the cold bottom water to the surface where we swim.
Well I don't have the budget at the moment to buy a nice system that seems to cost hundreds of dollars plus so I would like to try piecing something together a DIY model. I was look at vacuum pumps on ebay... would something like a 1/3 HP Thomas 2660 pump work for my size and depth? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks I've already learned a lot here.
The reason I'm considering aeration is last September there was an algae bloom which killed a couple dozen of my largest fish catfish and bass but also about 3 grass carp that were over 3 feet long. I replaced the grass carp but I'm concerned it will happen again. I think I caused it by introducing 7 or 8 muscovy ducks to the pond last summer. We raise the ducks for meat and I'd like to try to make it work with them although I realize it may be taxing the system. I was wondering if I could solve a couple issues with aeration protecting the fish and also keeping an area of open water in winter for the ducks to escape predation when it freezes over. I also wouldn't mind getting the water temperature more uniform by bringing some of the cold bottom water to the surface where we swim.
Well I don't have the budget at the moment to buy a nice system that seems to cost hundreds of dollars plus so I would like to try piecing something together a DIY model. I was look at vacuum pumps on ebay... would something like a 1/3 HP Thomas 2660 pump work for my size and depth? Any advice is appreciated. Thanks I've already learned a lot here.