Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations shallow pond aeration

help, help

Hi

Will a bottom diffuser be useful in an old pond with 3 feet of muck and 3 feet of water or should I use a surface high O2 aerator. Approx 1 acre in size I eventually want to clean up the bottom muck with oxygen and Bacteria

Thanks for any ideas.

If your pond is only 3 feet deep and you don't plan on dredging out the muck or silt to make it a deeper pond, then an aerator would be a waste of money. That is, unless you are wanting to aerate the water to keep it from freezing over.

I guess that's the question. What is your reasoning for aeration?

The pond is too shallow for any significant stratification.

Jimmie, IMHO, aeration would recapture significant depth, if it is only silt and muck. Aeration along with added microbes would get rid of the muck. Not an overnight occurance, but much cheaper than draining, and starting over.

A pond with water only 3 ft deep in NY is basically a glorified wetlands and should be treated as such. If you want a pond it needs to be at least 10 ft deep and better 15'-18' deep to maintain a healthy sport fishery for the long term during NY winters. A one acre pond should not require an whole lot of expense to drain and deepen. If money is a major hurddle, the drained pond can be downsized somewhat and still have the capacity to raise some sport fish. Trying to get some decent or adequate depth for northern winters with aeration and microbs will be a dissappointing project for the next several years. Then when you have spent several years with this method you will decide the results were less than expected and you will decide to eventually mechanically deepen and rebuild the pond.

Thank you all for your advice.

Best regards,

Mattymo

Good point, Mr. Cody. I didnt notice the NY post location. With 3 ft. depth, not much circulation
in any case.