Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Another Solar Aeration Project

I was looking at your top pictures again and it looks like the air hose that goes underwater goes inside a larger pvc pipe? What is the benefits or ideas behind doing that? I have about the same size pond, a little deeper and I have about 70 feet-80 feet of weighted hose on the bottom. I can easily pull up my diffuser and run the weighted hose in pvc if it makes sense to do so.

I was thinking some day about making some type of drag that I could drop in on the long end of my mostly oblong pond, stretch rope to the other side, and use my garden tractor to drag out the leaves, non-floating FA, sticks, organic nastyness etc. What held me back is worrying about dragging up my weighted air line.

If it was encased in pvc the drag might shimmy over it better? Or maybe after being underwater for about 18 months now the sediment has buried it sufficiently?

2nd question:

I'm toying with the idea of trying to keep just a tiny circle of water open in the shallow water this winter to avoid a winter kill. I'm not looking for a large plume from a membrane aerator, just maybe 8" hole? Something like Cecil posted pictures or last winter in his pond. I'd rather not have to pull up the vertex membranes and move them twice a year to bring from deep to shallow and then vice versa in the spring.

Can I make some kind of T in the compressor box with a shutoff valve or redirector valve. Then in winter I can shift over to a new short segment hose that goes into the shallow area and run on a timer or just as needed to keep a small area opened. Since that 2nd run is short and only a couple of feet into the water I don't think I need weighted hose. The run is downhill so no fears of freezing the air line.

How to make a T with valves or shutoffs?

I bought my compressor from Sue at Vertex