Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions GEO Lines in Pond with Aerator??

So our new house has a pond with the GeoThermal lines in the pond. My question is the previous home owners had the aerator running 24/7 365 days a year... I'm questioning is that even good for the pond and it seems like it would be hurting my energy efficiency. ( One that we have a pump running non stop and two that the aerator is not keeping the cool water on the bottom.

I am in the process of installing a Solar system that will be tied in with the Grid and really watching where we can cut electric.

Any advice?

I would think Geo Thermal and aerator are working in opposite directions for two completely different goals for the pond.

True, but if you did a loop that used 55 degree ground water for your geo system, the heat pickup as it goes in the house and cools your house and then delivers that heat outside is only a few degree gain in water temp. If you could dump all that water at 57 degrees into the pond, you would keep your bottom water cool which is a plus. Then your aerator could keep mixing the cool on bottom with warm on top to prevent stratification. The cooler water carries more oxygen which is beneficial.

Most people want closed loop geothermal to have less maintenance but open loop can be helpful in this regard. In the winter the ground water gets a few degrees cooler as it delivers its heat to your house and again could be easily dumped in the pond, or if you wanted to ice skate on the pond and didn't want the 'warmish' water in the pond you could have a diverting valve and divert the winter time output to another site in the woods etc. I know my brother's open loop system is very popular in the winter as the flowing water is a big draw for deer, birds and other critters as it is a good source of flowing water when the deep freeze hits.

So actions that could be taken?

It is a closed loop, maybe run the aerator just from like 11:00 am till 4pm?

Still get aeration for the fish and maybe let the bottom cool back down?

HOw deep in the pond?

I wonder if you could aerate couple feet above the level of the coils.

It is about 12-13 ft deep and the aerator is in about 9ft.

Is it stratified below 9 feet right now? What's the temperature at the bottom? You can drop a thermometer in a 2 liter bottle and lower it down. Come back in half an hour and compare to surface temps.

I will try that.

Also should your aerator run 24/7 or can I just run it at a certain time? Also will it hurt the pond if I just unplug it .. And leave it off for 12 hours? Was just thinking about running it during the day.

Most run them at over night, instead of during the day.