Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Diffusers

Should I run rhem 24-7 during the winter or should I cut them back some?

It depends on what the winter snow and ice cover is and how long the water water temperature is below 48F.

Someone familiar with the Winters near Lampasas could give a more definitive answer, but Bill has laid out the ground rules. If I may attempt to expand, below 48deg dissolved O2 is high and fish metabolism is low, therefore aeration is not (nearly as) warranted. But if you get dirty ice/snow cover that blocks sunlight from penetrating into the pond, plants produce no O2 and the plants and fish are both consuming it. Under these conditions you want to do SOME aeration (enough to blow a hole through the ice, not so much that you cause supercooling).

My bad - I am in Texas - very little snow or ice - typically an overall mild winter

timK Whenever the water is at or below 50F and the pond does not have lots of dead muck bottom layer I would not run the aeration. At 50F the wind can pretty well mix the pond. If you want to be on the safe side you could run the aerator in winter 1 hr per day. Plus as Theo said the water at 50F holds a lot more DO. At 50F DO consumption by bacteria, phytoplankton (nite) and other life forms is a lot slower and less per day compared to water above 65F-70F.

Thank you - good information

anyone know of a good thermostat to be able to record the temperature in my pond - I assume the temp near the bank in shallow water is way different from the temp in deeper water??

I just use an inexpensive swimming pool thermometer on a marked string so I can also get measurements at depth.

I doubt it is perfectly accurate, but for my purposes, I just need it to be "repeatable" to provide useful data.

thank you Sir for the info - I will try the pool thermometer