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#554565 12/25/22 08:34 PM
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I have a farm pond in SE Nebraska that I would like to add an aeration system to. It’s approximately 3 acres with the deepest point at around 12’. Average depth is probably around 6’. I’ve had both a windmill and solar aerator on it but still get some pretty serious summer kills not to mention my duckweed problem. All LMB, BG and Hybrids. The last fish kill pretty much wiped my fish population out. My challenge is that the pond is about 600 yards from the nearest power. Ive been told by some that it’s too far and by others that if I ran a 1” to 1-1/4” line that it would work. I don’t want to invest a bunch of money into something that isn’t going to perform. Is this do-able or am I screwed? Any recommendations?

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Originally Posted by Balucas1
I have a farm pond in SE Nebraska that I would like to add an aeration system to. It’s approximately 3 acres with the deepest point at around 12’. Average depth is probably around 6’. I’ve had both a windmill and solar aerator on it but still get some pretty serious summer kills not to mention my duckweed problem. All LMB, BG and Hybrids. The last fish kill pretty much wiped my fish population out. My challenge is that the pond is about 600 yards from the nearest power. Ive been told by some that it’s too far and by others that if I ran a 1” to 1-1/4” line that it would work. I don’t want to invest a bunch of money into something that isn’t going to perform. Is this do-able or am I screwed? Any recommendations?

You can do it. I'd run 1 1/4" line from the compressor where the power is to a remote valve box at the side of the pond and distribute the air into the pond from there, running enough summer diffusers to do a 150% to 200% water turns in a single day depending on how many hours you want to run the system. Then run 2 single diffuser membranes at least 100 yds apart in 1/4 the total pond depth for winter aeration whenever the pond is iced over to help prevent a winterkill. We have trenched in air line and pushed air further than that to 3 different ponds to get them aerated. You just have to run the calcs if you are doing a DIY system to see how many diffusers you will need and calculate the amount of air needed. I'd figure on 0.75 to 1 cfm air at the 12' depth (8 psi) per diffuser membrane. Here is a chart from Vertex, I have no idea on the lifting rates of other brands of diffusers. A "turn" is 100% of the water volume brought to the surface every 24 hours.

[Linked Image from i.imgur.com]

It won't help with the duckweed, you will need to spray it with Flumioxazin according to the label but the aeration will definitely be the way to go to help minimize or totally eliminate summer and winter fish kills. The more water surface area you can keep duckweed free the better off you will be.

https://aquaplant.tamu.edu/management-options/duckweed/

Last edited by esshup; 12/25/22 09:24 PM.

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What esshup says wrt remote compressor location. I have electric and my compressor at one pond, and run the air a little more than 600 feet to the second pond through 1" black plastic water line pipe. I have a "manifold" at the second pond with ball valves to select airflow to the two diffusers there (one deep, one shallow used for busting iceholes).


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I’m in a similar situation. I have two issues with running an air line that far. The first one is the noise of the compressor at night, will be right by our bedroom in a poorly insulated metal building. My wife would never tolerate the noise.
The second issue I have is that I need to go through a deep ravine in order to get to the pond. If these are not problems for you, I’d go for it.
I’m looking at solar as my only option.


9 yr old pond, 1 ac, 15' deep.
RES, YP, GS, FHM (no longer), HBG (going away), SMB, and HSB (only one seen in 5 yrs) Restocked HSB (2020) Have seen one of these.
I think that's about all I should put in my little pond.
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With existing windmill and solar aeration in a 3 ac pond, evidently it’s is not enough when the pond has a duckweed problem that indicates a pretty high biochemical oxygen demand that consumes more DO than a “normal” pond thus fish kills occur. IMO windmill aeration is not much benefit of pond mixing beyond ½ ac and maybe 0.7 ac for a newish pond; and definitely not an old duckweed infested pond. Solar benefit will depend of volume of air produced and water turnover rate.

Duckweed is nature's signal that the pond is old and over enriched with too many nutrients mostly dissolved organic nutrients. (see later). I only see duckweed in old sludge filled hypereutrophic ponds. Continually chemically killing the duckweed IMO does nothing to stop the cause of the duckweed. Cause is way too many of the specific nutrient blends or chemical composition that stimulates the growth of just mainly duckweed. Your pond has duckweed and not plagued with bluegreen algae, nor plankton green algae, nor filamentous string algae nor even rooted submerged plants because the specific nutrient concentrations are very specific to growing duckweed and not the other types of plants at least not abundant growths. Basically in simple terms, every water plant species has a favorable chemical 'blend' to make it a predominant grower and other plants don’t really prefer that water chemistry. Change the amount and or balance of nutrients and duckweed goes away on its own, no chemicals needed.

I’ve seen bottom aeration operating strongly in duckweed and or water meal heavily infested ponds, thus aeration does not do a lot to reduce duckweed. Duckweed is driven by old over-enriched organic laden ponds often those that receive lots of leaf litter that is in various stages of decay producing those dissolved chemicals that favor duckweed. Another place that I most commonly see duckweed is in drainage ditches receiving septic drainage creating the over enriched water chemistry needed by duckweed.

More additional aeration may or may not stop duckweed growths,,,,,? however more complete pond mixing may help reduce the frequency of fish kills due to low dissolved oxygen (DO). Since you have existing aeration of solar and wind, if you add a shore based compressor,, I would put those diffusers in the main deepest part of the pond basin to get the best benefit from the new system. Move the other aerators to adjacent less deep water areas. Pond areas less than 5ft-6ft deep will usually naturally mix / circulate on their own and or get DO production if the water has 2.5+ft of clarity. Duckweed covering the entire pond severely limits sunlight penetration restricting oxygen production to ALL depths and areas. Thus DO sags are then common. .

IMO you will struggle with problematic plants of some sort in this pond continuing forward until you change the pond’s nutrient load basis or condition. Whenever I see duckweed in a pond, I strongly suggest a draining and bottom sludge cleanout. IMO Thick, deep high nutrient loaded, bottom sludge is the causative agent for duckweed. Draining and cleanout is not cheap but neither are the long term year's use of chemicals and contamination from repetitive herbicides to kill all the offending plants that are going to grow due to the high nutrient basis of the old pond. Nature is wanting to turn your pond into a swamp - wetland and a few hundred years later back to dry land again - Aquatic Succession. Ponds are collection basins for anything that gets in the pond. Most all ponds have no flow-thru flusher which makes them age and fill in quicker.

I am not here "just blowing smoke" for you. Look where duckweed grows best and its uses. Growing abundant duckweed is a symptom of the conditions that favor its growth.

Use in high nutrient wastewater conditions
http://jeb.co.in/journal_issues/200704_apr07/paper_30.pdf

https://academicjournals.org/journal/SRE/article-full-text-pdf/ADACD5329785
Luxurious growth often occurs through active extraction of nutrients in sheltered small ponds, ditches or swamps where there are rich sources of nutrients, making the plant highly nutritious (Willett, 2005; Khellaf and Zerdaoui, 2010). Such characteristics have made the duckweed a useful plant in various ways.
USES OF DUCKWEED PLANTS - Duckweed plants are mainly used to reduce chemical load of facultative sewage ponds during waste water treatment (Vajpayee et al., 1995; Willett, 2005; El-Shafai et al., 2006; Shi et al., 2010; Bouali et al., 2012; Nayyef and Sabbar, 2012; Singh et al., 2012).

Last edited by Bill Cody; 12/26/22 08:46 PM.

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All really good information. Here’s a little more background on my pond. The pond itself is approximately 50 years old. About 9 years ago I drained it and dug out what I could. The pond is loaded with springs which made it a difficult task. We took the deepest section from the existing 7’ down to 13’. The water is typically crystal clear through spring into summer and typically stays full without much rainfall. The pond itself has native grasses all around it but there is approximately 40 acres of tillable that drains into it from the property across the road. There is no stream leading into it. Just a drainage ditch. Filamentatious algae has always been an issue but in recent years I’ve had to battle Sago Pondweed as well as the duckweed. I’ve been able to control the FA and partial control of the Sago.
Last spring my frustration led to a Flouridone application which took it all out. About 2 months after the flouridone my water turned green and I lost most if not all of my fish. It seems like I experience a summer kill once every 4 years but this was a big one. Thanks

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Originally Posted by Balucas1
All really good information. Here’s a little more background on my pond. The pond itself is approximately 50 years old. About 9 years ago I drained it and dug out what I could. The pond is loaded with springs which made it a difficult task. We took the deepest section from the existing 7’ down to 13’. The water is typically crystal clear through spring into summer and typically stays full without much rainfall. The pond itself has native grasses all around it but there is approximately 40 acres of tillable that drains into it from the property across the road. There is no stream leading into it. Just a drainage ditch. Filamentatious algae has always been an issue but in recent years I’ve had to battle Sago Pondweed as well as the duckweed. I’ve been able to control the FA and partial control of the Sago.
Last spring my frustration led to a Flouridone application which took it all out. About 2 months after the flouridone my water turned green and I lost most if not all of my fish. It seems like I experience a summer kill once every 4 years but this was a big one. Thanks


Vascular plants (underwater weeds) are not your enemy, they will help utilize nutrients and help keep the water clean. You just have to manage them in the places that you don't want them to grow. The nutrients will grow FA or plants, take your pick of which one you want to deal with. FA can be dealt with by stocking Tilapia (if legal in your state). If not legal, then bi weekly treatments of Cutrine Plus will be needed. In my pond, I have 5' visibility as long as the curly leaf pondweed is growing. Once it dies back then the FA overtakes the pond if I don't stock Tilapia. This year I had a duckweed problem - probably due to less than 1/2 the water volume in the pond and the increased nutrient load. Next year I will be spraying it with Clipper.


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esshup has it correct. ""The nutrients will grow FA (filamentous algae) or plants, take your pick of which one you want to deal with." Available nutrients will grow something until you are able to mitigate the nutrients or the balance of nutrient concentrations that each type of plant prefers or until the most obvious plant is reduced (killed) then decays and something else regrows that likes the new current nutrient balance. Different plants can prefer different nutrient balances of the available macro and micro nutrients. Plus some plant species are generalists and will grow just about anywhere. IMO the submerged weeds are the best one to deal with. I like using grass carp(GC) at low density to just trim the underwater weeds as you trim the grass in the yard. Don't eliminate it just manage it. Allow managed vegetation to compete against the other plant species. You can use spot treatments to help reduce high plant density by 20-30% in some areas and GC to eat a lot (20-30%) of the plants - leaving 30%-50% as competition to FA and duckweed. IMO if you had a pond FULL of Sago you shouldn't have a duckweed problem at least not abundantly as this last year's session because the sago was or would be utilizing the majority of the nutrients needed by duckweed. Decide what types of plants that work best for your pond's nutrient budget or change the nutrient budget. .

My experience is FA only grows, at least abundantly, when there are excess nutrients that are not being used by other plants. No submerged plants,,,, the FA takes over and thrives due to lack of competition.

In the pond without a natural balance of various plants that serve as competition, very often one specie comes in and becomes rampant. Rampant predominant growth indicates LACK of plant balance. Kill it and another species likes those new conditions without plant competition and it becomes rampant and dominant. IMO Sago pondweed is a lot more manageable than FA and duckweed. GC will eat and trim Sago while mostly ignoring FA and duckweed. Plus Sago that competes against phytoplankton will tend to make the water clear, sometimes too clear.

Flouridone killed greenery and as it decomposed the resulting nutrient blend favored a green plankton bloom until it was killed or it exhausted all the dissolved nutrients. You are seeing Nature abhors a plant vacuum and Nature demands something to grow that likes the current nutrient blend. One needs to learn how to manage what plant/s that are easiest to manage for their pond conditions.

Balucas says "there is approximately 40 acres of tillable that drains into it from the property across the road. There is no stream leading into it. Just a drainage ditch. IMO these are your pond's major sources of annual nutrient inputs. Drainage ditches from farm land in my area are full of agri-nutrients. Essentially your pond is a wastewater treatment system for this nutrient laden drainage. Always expect there to be a high volume of plant growth that is sequestering these incoming and trapped accumulated nutrients. If you want to have some sort of basic idea of what the nutrient concentrations are entering your pond then collect some field and ditch water as it is freshly draining into the pond and have it tested by the soil lab that is used by the farmer that works the tillable 40 acres. My experience is the drainage water has a lot more nutrients in it relatively soon after crops are planted and or when fertilizers are applied. In some areas some crop fields are fertilized in fall as pre-plant applications.

Another simpler way to get some idea of the nutrient load in the drainage water entering the pond is self-testing using an fairly good lower cost aquarium test kit for primarily nitrogen. IMO when soluble nitrogen is high all the other leachable agrichemicals will also be comparatively high. For reference EPA requires drinking water to have less than 10ppm(mg/L) Nitrate as NO3.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 12/27/22 09:21 PM.

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This makes a lot of sense. My duckweed wasn’t too bad until I killed the Sago. I added a dozen grass carp but I think the Sago was too overwhelming by the time I stocked them.

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It should make sense. This is how nature operates / functions.

When using GC you should kill back or remove some of the submerged vegetation so the abundance of weeds is not overwhelming for the newly stocked young GC. ALWAYS when adding GC if is best to add them early before the weeds are at full bloom. ALSO when using GC you should give them 2-3 full years of growth before adding any more GC to see what the original stockers can do for cropping the weeds and how many weeds remain in at the end f the growing season. Usually when GC are around 8-10 years old about 1/3 to 1/2 the original number is added to keep actively growing and weed eating GC present. Old GC do not eat as many weed pounds per year as young fast growing GC.

YOU DO NOT WANT THE GC TO DENUDE THE POND. They should be just weed "trimmers" removing only a percentage of the weeds. You want around 50% of the weeds to be present at end of year so the weeds naturally compete with Duckweed and FA. Ideally some weeds should be manually removed / harvested each year to remove the sequestered nutrients. This becomes labor intensive in bigger ponds. 30%-50% weed coverage is also very good multipurpose fishery habitat.

Long term you should be planning to drain the pond,, maybe resize / rebuild it smaller and easier / cheaper to manage,,, and divert the agri-field runoff and drainage ditch so excess nutrients don't drain into the pond. As it is now, it is a swamp wanting to happen by filling in with sediment, bottom muck - sludge and heavy growths of dead nutrient laden plants.

Last edited by Bill Cody; 12/28/22 09:56 AM.

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