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#536646 06/18/21 05:35 AM
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I am looking to place aerators in my 2 acre pond. Depth is 10 feet at deepest and average depth around 6-8 feet. I am considering a 3/4 horse with 4 aerators with 100 feet of weighted hose for each. Suggestions on what models any of you have experience with and that I should consider? Thanks

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I would add them to the deepest areas. It is my understanding the diffusers won't help much in the 6' water depths. No expert here but I do have some experience with diffused air. Running 5 in my 3 acre pond. I shut down the 6th diffuser because it was in the shallows and I got a better boil running five. I am sure others will jump in to help


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Some of the most mentioned diffusers here at PB are the Vertex and Matala brands. I know you can get the Vertex models from Hoosier Pond Pros...

https://shop.hoosierpondpros.com/Aeration_c3.htm

That's where I bought my diffusers and weighted hose.

The Gast pumps are also a common name thrown around here. My Gast/Vertex system has been in operation for about 4 years with no complaints.

I have my 3 diffusers set off the bottom about 3 foot in my 1/4 acre pond in 6, 7, & 10 foot water (to help reduce the tendency for my pond's muddiness). I have no thermocline with this set-up so the water is getting turned top to bottom, but my small pond is basically the ideal bowl shape for this to work well. I think a larger pond would want deeper diffuser settings and further spacing between each. I imagine 2, spread out, in the deepest area, 1 closer to the middle depths and another near the shallow end in, or right above, the average depth.

Consider running an additional diffuser, or two actually, as the 3/4 hp Gast should be able to handle it given you run the 5/8" line.


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Originally Posted by Quarter Acre
Some of the most mentioned diffusers here at PB are the Vertex and Matala brands. I know you can get the Vertex models from Hoosier Pond Pros...

https://shop.hoosierpondpros.com/Aeration_c3.htm

That's where I bought my diffusers and weighted hose.

The Gast pumps are also a common name thrown around here. My Gast/Vertex system has been in operation for about 4 years with no complaints.

I have my 3 diffusers set off the bottom about 3 foot in my 1/4 acre pond in 6, 7, & 10 foot water (to help reduce the tendency for my pond's muddiness). I have no thermocline with this set-up so the water is getting turned top to bottom, but my small pond is basically the ideal bowl shape for this to work well. I think a larger pond would want deeper diffuser settings and further spacing between each. I imagine 2, spread out, in the deepest area, 1 closer to the middle depths and another near the shallow end in, or right above, the average depth.

Consider running an additional diffuser, or two actually, as the 3/4 hp Gast should be able to handle it given you run the 5/8" line.


thank you - the Matala is the one I am considering - 4 diffusers and 3/4 hp - around 2 grand

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Question - setting up my aerator - I have the compressor in my large enclosed well house - in summer the temp is around 80 degrees - if I run a fan that blows on the compressor should it be ok? Do not want it to overheat

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Originally Posted by tim k
Question - setting up my aerator - I have the compressor in my large enclosed well house - in summer the temp is around 80 degrees - if I run a fan that blows on the compressor should it be ok? Do not want it to overheat
I have a somewhat similar situation, with the compressor located in the oarhouse (6' x 8') at one of my ponds. I have a 4" flexible dryer vent that brings outside air from the North (coolest) side of the building to the fan's inlet. In hot weather (May - September), I aerate primarily at night.

80 degree air blown over your compressor would cool pretty well, I think, but the temp in your wellhouse will rise notably with a compressor running. The oarhouse gets comfortably warm when the compressor is running for icehole formation (with the cooling fan OFF and the window closed) in the Winter. A 1/2 hp motor puts out about the same heat as a 350 watt electric heater* - without air exchange, it builds up.


* 1 hp = 746 watts


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The "normal" ambient temp rating for Gast pumps, for example, is to "Operate at 32ºF - 104ºF (0ºC - 40ºC)." (from the user's manual). This gives some leeway as I am sure the pump gets hotter than 104ºF, but this is certainly what you would shoot for inside your well house (open air temp). Around my neck of the woods, it's common to see temps above 100°F in any enclosed structure, let alone on days above 100°F outside in open air (maybe 120+°F in the building). So, you want to keep the well house interior as cool as possible. This, in most warmer weather climates, means to ventilate the well house. If your well house gets above the recommended temps without the aeration pump, the pump will just add to the heat and you should put a fan through the wall (or roof) and a vent on the other side so that fresh air can be moved through it.

The key is the temps inside your well house on the warmest of days. e.g. - if your well house gets to the 100 degree mark and all you have is a fan blowing air around inside the well house...it's just moving the heated air around and it will continue to gain heat without an exchange of cooler fresh air. Now, if your well house stays around the 80 degree mark, a fan would certainly help the pump stay cooler so long as the heat from the aerator pump (and other pumps that might be in the well house) does not build up above the recommended ambient temp rating.

The size of the building (and it's max temps) will determine the size of ventilation fan you would need. Think of using a common bathroom vent fan or oven hood fan sized for your well house and consider putting it on a thermostat controlled switch so that it only runs above 80-90°F.

Should you find the need to ventilate the well house, you have another option. This is what I did to keep the fan size (and electric usage) to a minimum...I built a box that basically sits over the aerator pump with a duct connection on the top and a vented bottom. My small fan is hooked to the duct on the top and pulls air through the box and blows it outside the pump house. My pump house door is very loose fitting and that allows fresh air to be drawn into the building, up through the vented bottom, across the pump, through the fan, and back out of the building. A larger/hotter building would benefit from reversing the fan flow so that the pump is always seeing the cooler fresh air from outside the building. My pump house is so small that I did not think that benefit outweighed the possibility of drawing rain into the fan duct. This approach merely ventilates the pump with a small benefit to the building's interior temps.

The fan I used was from McMaster-Carr and came with a thermostat control - Part number #9191K32. My system has been running the warmer seasons for over 3 years now and so far so good.

https://www.mcmaster.com/catalog/127/718


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great info! thanks guys

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so only running your aerator at night does the job? I have 4 aerators in an acre and a half pond - most of pond is 6-10 feet deep plus

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Originally Posted by tim k
so only running your aerator at night does the job?
It works for me, with one 1/2 acre (12 ft deep) and one 2/3 acre (9 ft deep) ponds. Realize that my "at night" is currently 8:00 PM to 10:00 AM and gets expanded to 16 hours/day in September - all during the coolest hours available.

YMMV.


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I tried to run my system much like Theo does and found that my pond needs to run as close to 24/7 as possible. Why? I don't know for sure, but my pond gets very little wind action and has rather muddy water. The 24/7 operation makes a big difference for my pond in keeping the DO levels up at a decent range. I think most can get away with nighttime runs, but there's no guarantee. I have 3 diffusers in my 1/4 acre pond set around 3 to 6 foot below the water surface.


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The only way to know (really) is to take O2 readings at the different depths. You can get a pretty good guesstimate if the pond water temp is within 5 degrees top to bottom (on average) but you won't know the O2 levels.

I checked a customers pond yesterday that has the system running 24/7. He killed algae in the pond (24 ac/ft water) and the fish were piping. Water temp was within a few degrees from top to bottom, top was 5.25 mg/l. bottom was 4.79mg/l...............


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Originally Posted by esshup
The only way to know (really) is to take O2 readings at the different depths. You can get a pretty good guesstimate if the pond water temp is within 5 degrees top to bottom (on average) but you won't know the O2 levels.

I checked a customers pond yesterday that has the system running 24/7. He killed algae in the pond (24 ac/ft water) and the fish were piping. Water temp was within a few degrees from top to bottom, top was 5.25 mg/l. bottom was 4.79mg/l...............


So the aeration helps stop algae? Was not aware of that

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Helps keep from having a DO crash after killing the algae...

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Originally Posted by tim k
Originally Posted by esshup
The only way to know (really) is to take O2 readings at the different depths. You can get a pretty good guesstimate if the pond water temp is within 5 degrees top to bottom (on average) but you won't know the O2 levels.

I checked a customers pond yesterday that has the system running 24/7. He killed algae in the pond (24 ac/ft water) and the fish were piping. Water temp was within a few degrees from top to bottom, top was 5.25 mg/l. bottom was 4.79mg/l...............


So the aeration helps stop algae? Was not aware of that

No, that isn't what I said.


www.hoosierpondpros.com


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Originally Posted by esshup
Originally Posted by tim k
Originally Posted by esshup
The only way to know (really) is to take O2 readings at the different depths. You can get a pretty good guesstimate if the pond water temp is within 5 degrees top to bottom (on average) but you won't know the O2 levels.

I checked a customers pond yesterday that has the system running 24/7. He killed algae in the pond (24 ac/ft water) and the fish were piping. Water temp was within a few degrees from top to bottom, top was 5.25 mg/l. bottom was 4.79mg/l...............


So the aeration helps stop algae? Was not aware of that

No, that isn't what I said.

Sorry - I misread it

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Ok got my 4 aerators installed today and they are all operational. Suggestions of how much time in the coming days I should run them to ease into the 24/7?

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Originally Posted by tim k
Ok got my 4 aerators installed today and they are all operational. Suggestions of how much time in the coming days I should run them to ease into the 24/7?
15 min the first day, 30 min the 2nd day, each subsequent day doubling the previous day's time UNLESS you smell rotten eggs in the bubble plume. If you do, then keep at that day's run time until you don't smell it any more then continue with the doubling schedule.


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