Pond Boss Forums AERATION Systems questions Aerating just at night or 24/7?

Like the proverbial cobblers kids shoes, my personal pond has been neglected this year. I was not able to source enough tilapia locally so I didn't stock tilapia in my pond this year - my customers come first. SO, there is a filamentous algae bloom along with a pretty heavy planktonic bloom. We have been really dry, the pond is down about 4' vertically from full pool in May. I've never seen it this low so early in the year.

I was at a pond 180 miles S of here last Friday (60 miles due South of Indianapolis) that had no aeration system. 10 ac pond. Total pond depth was 28 feet. Visibility on the Secchi disk was 6 feet. Lots of Naiad in the shallows - down to 3'-4' water depth. Surface water temp was 79°F, running 100% O2 saturation level at 1' water depth, O2 levels dropped to 3 ppm at 8' water depth and water temp dropped to 72°F. 10' depth water temp was 70°F and O2 levels were in the 1.3 ppm range and quickly dropped to 0.8 to 0.5 the deeper I took the readings.

Theo, the goal for that particular pond with the trout in it was to keep trout alive all summer long. It took 3 years of trying different aeration scenarios, but it looks like we have found a combination that works. As you know, this summer has been MUCH warmer than last summer, so in September when the water temps start to drop and the trout get more active we will see if they survived this summer too.