hello i have recently purchased a home with a 1/2 acre pond. pond is 14 ft deep at most average roughly id say 9 approx. gets deep quickly off the banks. im looking to help promote and clean up the pond by adding diffused aeration.

i currently have a kasco 3/4 hp vfx aeration fountain for looks sound and a little aeration. i plan on keeping this as well.

im looking at the vertex two diffuser system but dont need a cabinet. the other is the kasco, and this one http://www.livingwateraeration.com/2-acre-pond-aeration-system.html

whats the better system and is two heads enough due to the shape?

Small and deep for its size. Does the kasco you have pull from the bottom or the top? Issue is typically going to be that the water on the top will, for the most part, have enough oxygen. Driving the circulation and breaking the stratification will be your challenge, so with that in mind, I would put 1 where it's the deepest and 3-5 around at the average depth areas. You could get away with just 3 total, IMHO.

you say breaking the stratification will be a challenge? not sure why with three heads and a fountain. the vfx pulls water from about 2 ft down.

cant load pics of i would upload a pic to show pond layout

went with the easy pro setup. got the lines trenched from barn and got them in the water this am. nice system and working well. i fot the paw56 kit two two head diffusers, two hundred feet of weighted tubing, 100 ft of non weighted, compressor, manifold, etx shipped for 1100. real nice quality and set up

Keep us updated on the system. I have been looking myself and trying to decide if I want to buy a package. or a DIY version.

brian for 1100 you cant piece together a solid system. i like that fact its plig and play. any issues are covered for 2 to 5 yrs. looks great, very quiet pump for 1/2 hp

ok i have been running the two diffusers 24/7 for 10 days now and notice the water has been cloudy. Normal? Does it take a while for water to all mix and settle. i did trrat pond with cutrine plus, shorekleer, and aquathol k about a week before.

I started my 6 Kasco diffuser's a year ago last July. And they would stir up the fine clay's on the pond bottom and make the water cloudy around each diffuser and of course it clouded the pond up. I tried different things like setting them on cender blocks, setting them in kiddy swimming pools placed on bottom. Nothing worked, the cloudy water persisted, but I stayed with it until December and was recommended to turn them off for the winter to reduce the chance of super cooling. I turned them back on in Late February and the diffusers did not kick up any cloudy water around them. They run 24/7 and the water color is a deep olive green color with 17" visibility. That is my story, hope it helps.

well im not sure sounds like maybe it takes a long time for all to settle idk

had a good storm blow thru yesterday and noticed my diffusers have move a few ft. not sure if its coincidence or a fish ran into the base and moved it. anyone else have tgis happen to them

Lots of things can cause cloudy when an aerator is operating. Do you have picture of the diffuser? If the diffuser has moved or is moving then it does not have enough weight in the base to keep it tight to the bottom when it is receiving full air flow.

bill i cant figure out how to upload pics. keeps saying its too large. Sorry bill not a pc guru. Heres what i have in my pond. I did pour sand into the bases but did not fill them by any means. pond is free of algae amd weed just water clarity isnt as clear as it was. i wonder if its possible a diffuser base rolled over or when sinking fell on its side http://www.livingwateraeration.com/2-acre-pond-aeration-system.html

Curious whens a good time to turn off aerators for ohio climates. I just pulled my fountain as it could snow anyday now.

I shut mine down here in Nebraska a few weeks ago when water temps got to the mid 50s. If you are going to aerate over the winter you will want to move your diffuser shallow to avoid super cooling water your water temps.

I shut my summer aeration down last week and switched to winter config. here in N. Illinois. Right or wrong, I watch the FA and when it dies back I wait two weeks then shut down the summer aeration. I figure it gives me a couple of weeks to help the decomp of the FA. I only run my winter diffuser when we have heavy snow cover or long periods of thick opaque ice.

I do not have good confidence in the style of the bases of those 'living water' aerators. Tip over is possible. Numerous companies use that style. I think they can be effective depending on how they are installed, but they are not idiot proof nor mistake proof. Any aerator on its side will distribute and re-suspend bottom detritus. An old pond with lots of bottom organic muck could swallow that style of diffuser when placed into 2 to 3 ft of muck.

Thanks bill d and bill c for the responses. Bill cody its funny u said that becsise i noticed by water quality aka visibility actually went down quite a bit and never really got much better. I did see a big differences in algae and weed growth. I called company and asked if its possible if they could fall over on its side and they said no. Im willing to bet you are correct. It is an older pond and never got attention much until i bougjt place almost 2 yrs ago. What do you recommend i do. Should i leave one in at around 4 to 5 feet of water for winter. If so when should i run it.

You in NE Ohio often get more snow due to lake effect. For winter operation you can run the system 2-4 hrs/day to create an open water area 20-40ft dia. Make sure your compressor has a pressure relief valve in case the diffuser check valve leaks water back into the airline which will allow an ice plug to freeze at the shoreline.

Your diffuser may not have tipped on its side but it could be submerged in muck-sludge up to the diffuser heads which will pump silt into the water column.

Awesome thanks bill! Yes im about 45 min south cle off 71. Will run it for 2 hrs a day when i see it freezing over and staying freezing temps.

I see what your saying about the muck. Its definitely there. Any ideas to maybe prop it up a bit yet allow me to make sure heads stay upright while submerging. One last question how much does the aerators really reduce muck? Was rhinking of draining and having it kickrd out but thats a lot of work and time and money. Plus i have a nice population of fish. Thanks for all the help and if your ever down near medina stop n fo a cold beer or pop.

There are too many unknowns to provide definite advice. First thing I would do is lift the diffuser and let it settle vertically to have confidence it is sitting upright. Another option would be to mount the diffuser or whole diffuser assembly on a wider base such as a snow saucer.

Thanks bill i lowered them slowly. Im convinced that either that were in sludge or tipped over. I will try the saucer idea this spring and go from there. Thank you for the help

I made some mistakes with my diffuser bases and this is the solution I came up with described in this post. It would be similar to the suggestion of using a saucer.

snrubs modification of diffuser base

Snrub awesome will be making these up this winter. What a great idea. If this doesnt work i will then take bills advice and set that on a snow saucer lol. I think i screwed up by not filling base all the way. The sand leached out and hence why they moved. All making sense now. Will be adding pea gravel this time around and filled.

It is surprising just how bouyant they are when the diffusers fill with air. Takes more weight than a person might imagine.

First time post 1 yr reader. My situation is very similar to original post with a twist...trout, rainbow to be specific. I have 1.3 ac linered pond "C" shaped with avg 16' dept obvious steep sides. I made it so deep for trout and since linered it will be difficult to remove sediment in years to come. I have 4 diffusors in this pond and 2 in my .4 acre 6' deep bass pond. I've read Bill Cody's ideas about 24/7 air. What complicates things (I know - I know) is there are also warm water fish in there too like WE, RES, BG, SMB, YP, FHM & CC. The trout are still feeding furiously in the cold. Small pond froze over since air is temporarily off for technical reasons. Large pond is mostly open 95% with 4 stations going full bore at the deepest points. Both ponds stocked with 50 pounds NCF each.

My FIRST question is, do I cut back air to a few hours a day to mitigate stress on the warmer water fish or just let it ride on 24/7? I want to keep open water to keep feeder going to attempt to keep some trout through the summer. I'm in the cooler northeastern Ohio area about 30 minutes from the great lakes where it doesn't get extremely hot but kicks your hiney in the winter. We get a lot of Canadian weather influence here. Probably not much different than Bill C. (love his posts). SECOND question for second shallow pond is same for aeration. I gathered from reading periodic air also - perhaps 4 hours/day.

New pond is just south of crystal clear, trout are loving that. Smaller pond is slightly turbid from proximity to new construction but generally runs clear at 16". TMI? Also, with the ground temp at the deeper depth of the pond (16' - mine is 14' to 18.5') being approx 62 degrees I'm wondering if the thermodynamics will play into "heating" the full body. Also, when I read about the cool temps of the inlet air this time of air I didn't note anyone mention the generous heat generation from friction of the mechanical components and the compression process of air in the heads of the actual air compressor. My background gives me a goodly amount of insight into air compressors to offer this as a thought.

Maybe I just made a blunder but hey, it's a great learning experiment. Thanks in advance for any input anyone can offer. Remember the question is about Ohio trout and warmer fish and how to WINTER then over. I think I have summer covered by all the great posts although sometimes I end up with more head spinning than when I began. LOL. Thanks for humoring me folks. Glad to be part of a great group of folks. Merry christmas!

Well it's April and it's still snowing here in Ohio but bought a couple of hot water plastic drain pans that I think will keep the diffuser from sinking in muck. Now I just have to come up with a way to attach diffuser tp the pan. Do you guys think these will work? https://www.tractorsupply.com/tsc/produc...ASABEgK8APD_BwE

They should work fine....just zip tie your diffuser to the pan and use a small piece of PVC for the diffuser inlet for attachment....

Looks like it should work fine.

I made some mistakes when I originally made some bases for my diffusers. Maybe my experience will save you from making some of the same ones.

My modification to diffuser bases

ryan as per suggestions, you will have to first mount the disk diffuser on some sort of PVC frame then mount the assembly onto the drain pan. Provide a picture of your completed diffuser so others can see results of your work. You will need about 10-12 pounds of weight to hold one membrane disk diffuser on the bottom when it receives air and "ballons" with air. I normally mount the pan on top of a used smooth tread car tire. Tire adds enough weight and acts as a sled as you drag it or drop it into the pond. Cut a couple holes in the top side wall so air escapes and it tries to sink.

dhadam - I am very interested in how well your trout survive July & August in a well aerated pond in northern Ohio.

Rainman I totally get what your saying about adding a piece of PVC pipe with a Male threaded end to hook up hose since I can't get under once its zip tied. This was my idea drilling two holes and attaching two ropes to lower level and pull in fall.

Shrub your idea is what made me think of this. Little easier and cheaper.

Bill the diffuser it's already on a base. It's like any other diffuser like the vertex kasco etc. Thinks it's a living water aeration base. The PVC tube would attach to base about 6 inches so I can hook air hose to it. Liking the tire idea but that seems very heavy and a pain in the butt of you pull yearly. Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe a little 13 inch tire wouldn't be bad. Hmmm good idea the more I think about it. May try that if the pan doesn't work but I'd think it would as its giving it a big base