I am familiar with Vertex aerators and Ted's equipment. His diffusers do move lots of water. However, if you are comfortable letting the compressor run while you are in FL and worried about snow cover, here is what I would do. Valve off the deep diffusser. Pull the shallower diffuser up into the beach area where water is 3.5-4.5ft deep. Run aerator 24/7 while in FL. IMO one diffuser, even if it is a dual head in 4 ft of water will not super cool your entire pond enough to cause dangerously low or lethal temperature problems for your fish. It will over chill your pond but not as bad as if diffuser was in 6-10' of water. Warmwater and coolwater fish that live in WI streams during winter survive okay in water below 39F. Fish in your pond will also do okay with a shallow 4' depth diffuser operating in winter. When you return from FL turn off the aerator and do some snow removal on area of pond opposite diffuser where ice will be thicker and safer. Thick ice will soon form over the aerated area. Test ice thickness where deep snow lies on ice before traveling on ice.
Last edited by Bill Cody; 11/03/10 09:12 PM.
