Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions spring start up recommendations

Well, the ice is gone up in NY and the aerator system I put in last fall is good to go.....what are the recommended start up for an acre pond, 9 to 10 ft deep in center, in a spring fed pond (never takes algea) in south central Ney York? Thanks for your thoughts....

Hey dracor there is a lot of documentation out here about this but I give you the skinny quick as best I can.

You want to do this in steps. Basically like this.

First day 15 to 20 minutes.
Second day 30 to 40 minutes.
Third day about an hour, then 2 hours then 4 and so on until you are up and running at your desired spot. I will be running my air this year from dusk till dawn (about 12 hours) so I will progress up to that as best I can each day. Hope that helps.

thanks....

RC why do you only run dusk to dawn? I just installed a vertex sunday and I am wondering what others suggest as far as a timelime once start up is completed. I was thinking I should run it constantly?

One other thing to keep in mind during annual startup is to use your nose to help decide how long to run them. If one or more diffusers produce a smell into the atmosphere you should be very careful about how long they run. I am no expert on the time, but occasionally my diffuser that is in deep water produces an odor. When that is the case I only run it for very brief periods, something like 15 minutes. If it were mine and it produced an odor I would likely only let that diffuser run for 15 or 20 minutes at a time until the smell got weaker and went away. When it smells it is likely putting toxins or gasses into the water and you want to let it dissipate after running for a short time.

Hey spinner,

Good question for sure. Some people do run their air 24/7 once they start it back up for the season. I have plenty of plant life for my D.O. to be fine during the daytime at this point, but at night when my plant life is sucking up D.O. is when I really need my air to work plus my pump is then off during the hottest part of the day. And believe me it gets hot, hot here! There has been a lot of talk on this site about is 24 hours better than 12 hours and why. There are pros and cons to both. I believe though that my 3 disc 9 inch fusers turn my pond over more than enough in a 12 hour period for me. Plus I save some money on electricity as well. Is 24 hours bad??? No not at all. Is 12 hours a day bad no not at all. It's kind of up to your preference I guess. Now if I did not have any plant life or weeds I would more than likely run it 24/7 to make sure I have enough D.O. in my pond.

thanks for asking!

I like the idea of dusk to dawn, but my pond is only 2 years old, so plant life is minimal at best. Thanks for the replies.

I believe the only reason to run less than 24/7 is the cost of electricity. Likely even the compressor and splines last longer 24/7.

Most aeration systems should be run 24/7. There are a few instances where it is recomended to run at night only (ex. cold water fisheries), but for the most part the compressors are designed for continuous use. It is better for the pond and the compressor to run the aeration system continuously. You avoid oxygen fluctuations and the daily start up of the compressor can potentially wear it out prematurely.

just doing some off the top of my head arithmetic, I've been told it costs about a dollar a day in electricity to run a system. That is $30.00 per month, and running it half time could help you save $15.00 per month for six months. So you might save $90.00 in electricity by running part time. If I did that I'd put the $90.00 per season away to help pay for the $100.00 or so in getting the pump rebuilt every year or so instead of every three years like I do now.