Pond Boss Magazine
https://www.pondboss.com/images/userfiles/image/20130301193901_6_150by50orangewhyshouldsubscribejpeg.jpg
Advertisment
Newest Members
Shotgun01, Dan H, Stipker, LunkerHunt23, Jeanjules
18,451 Registered Users
Forum Statistics
Forums36
Topics40,899
Posts557,083
Members18,451
Most Online3,612
Jan 10th, 2023
Top Posters
esshup 28,414
ewest 21,474
Cecil Baird1 20,043
Bill Cody 15,110
Who's Online Now
9 members (PRCS, Theo Gallus, BillyE, Sunil, Requa, Jason D, Jared015, Freg, Justin W), 765 guests, and 254 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
#520682 05/07/20 01:39 PM
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 238
Likes: 1
T
OP Offline
T
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 238
Likes: 1
Hello again. I recently had a consultation done by Cason and Associates to improve my pond. I have a .7 acre pond that averages around 5 feet deep, maxing out at about 7 feet. The bottom is thick muck and the only vegetation is chara and cattails that both can get quite thick. A few years back the pond was stocked with various game fish that thrived and showed exemplary growth rates. The pond was kept alive by a 96 watt linear diaphragm aerator with one diffuser. Last winter we experienced a full fish kill. The aerator broke for a short period of time and an otter cleaned up the rest. To remedy this we called out the consultation. He checked the DO at the bottom and in the weeds and took a muck sample. The muck sample results are a few weeks off but the DO readings were given there. The bottom read at about 1.5 ppm and in the chara it read about 16 ppm oxygen. This is very bad and shows how badly I need aeration. I was contacted back today and given an estimate on the aeration unit. It will cost over $4,000. This is a lot of money. I also understand that it most likely will fix most of my problems with bacteria treatments. The aeration unit being recommended is a Vertex Air3 XL2. This will be a 3 diffuser system with a 1/2 hp .37 kW compressor. The price includes all diffusers, tubing, and full installation.
My question is this much aeration necessary? Clearly my last aerator was only a band aid on a leaking dam, but is this overkill? Does anyone have opinions on this aerator. How long will it last, how much maintenance is necessary? Any and all comments are appreciated. I will provide further information if needed to help answer this question, and I will post the muck results when they come back. Thank you.

Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 2,344
Likes: 101
Offline
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 2,344
Likes: 101
Off the cuff, that system is very close to the right size. I don't believe that system is too small, at any rate. Does Wisconsin have the need to only run at night to avoid the high summer temps? If so, a larger system might be nice, but I'm betting it's proper for your pond in your area.The Vertex Air3 XL2 comes with 3 double diffusers for a total of 6 - 9" diameter heads. Vertex is a well known brand. I use their diffusers and so far so good (3rd season now). Have you estimated how many gallons your pond has in it? The total gallon estimate, the depths that you wish to run the duffusers at, the lengths of all the hoses, and the pump curve would be necessary to calulate the sizing to a higher degree of certainty. I am not familiar with the pump brand that Vertex uses, but 1/2 hp is proper for that many heads. The spec shows 35 Max PSI which makes me think that it is a positve displacement pump. That is a good pump type for deep ponds or alot of heads.

Don't expect aeation to significantly reduce the muck levels, maybe not even noticable. It will help DO levels.


Fish on!,
Noel
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 238
Likes: 1
T
OP Offline
T
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 238
Likes: 1
I should not need to shut off the aerator during the summer, in fact I will most likely run it 24/7/365. Calculating the gallons of the pond would be a bit inaccurate, there is around 5 acres of swamp connected to it that varies from 1-maybe 4 feet. As for muck reduction, with the initial small aerator, it reduced muck in an area around the aerator a good bit, but to speed this up I plan to treat with bacteria muck products to speed up the decomposition of the muck. Also the muck sample is being analysed to test how much of it is organic to consider treatment options.

Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 2,344
Likes: 101
Offline
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 2,344
Likes: 101
With your swamp situation...I would just estimate the major majority of the pond, but I invite others opinions on the matter.

Without seeing the pond or, at least, a good sketch of the pond (and swamp) with depths indicated...it's hard to detemine how much I would include of the swampy areas in the gallon estimate. 4.3 acres of swamp around a 0.7 acre pond could shift the calcualtions greatly depending on swamp depths and how readily availible the swamp waters are to the churning of the aeration system.

As for muck reductions from aeration...I'll leave that discussion to those more in the know. My pond was refurbished and one of the benefits of adding aeration was considered to be a tool to fight muck build-up, not necessarily to reduce it (I had none to reduce).


Fish on!,
Noel
1 member likes this: Linden Pond
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 238
Likes: 1
T
OP Offline
T
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 238
Likes: 1
Here is a rough idea of pond to swamp. Excuse edits, I don't want to just post google maps images online.[Linked Image]

Attached Images
pond.png
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 238
Likes: 1
T
OP Offline
T
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 238
Likes: 1
The depths I do not know much about. Front half of pond is around 5 feet average and the back half is closer to 4-3 feet. Swamp is mostly around 2 feet with plenty of muck.


0.7 acre pond stocked 2020, LMB, PS, YP.
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 238
Likes: 1
T
OP Offline
T
Joined: Aug 2015
Posts: 238
Likes: 1
Calculated my pond's volume at around 700,000 gallons


Link Copied to Clipboard
Today's Birthdays
Bob Lusk, GaryK, GrizzFan, PhotographerDave
Recent Posts
1 year after stocking question
by Requa - 03/28/24 01:39 PM
Happy Birthday Bob Lusk!!
by Sunil - 03/28/24 12:39 PM
New 2 acre pond stocking plan
by Sunil - 03/28/24 12:39 PM
Paper-shell crayfish and Japanese snails
by esshup - 03/28/24 10:39 AM
Brooder Shiners and Fry, What to do??
by Freg - 03/28/24 09:42 AM
Relative weight charts in Excel ? Calculations?
by esshup - 03/28/24 08:36 AM
Dewatering bags seeded to form berms?
by Justin W - 03/28/24 08:19 AM
Reducing fish biomass
by FishinRod - 03/28/24 08:18 AM
Questions and Feedback on SMB
by Donatello - 03/27/24 03:10 PM
2024 North Texas Optimal BG food Group Buy
by Dave Davidson1 - 03/27/24 08:15 AM
Freeze Danger? - Electric Diaphragm Pump
by esshup - 03/26/24 09:47 PM
Newly Uploaded Images
Eagles Over The Pond Yesterday
Eagles Over The Pond Yesterday
by Tbar, December 10
Deer at Theo's 2023
Deer at Theo's 2023
by Theo Gallus, November 13
Minnow identification
Minnow identification
by Mike Troyer, October 6
Sharing the Food
Sharing the Food
by FishinRod, September 9
Nice BGxRES
Nice BGxRES
by Theo Gallus, July 28
Snake Identification
Snake Identification
by Rangersedge, July 12

� 2014 POND BOSS INC. all rights reserved USA and Worldwide

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5