Hi all. Thanks for your wealth of resources. I live in a small community in SW Colorado that has 2 ponds I am in charge of maintaining. We are at 8800 feet and ponds both ice over in the winter. One pond is 1.8 acres and average 5-6 feet deep with deep section at about 9-10'. The smaller pond is just under 1 acre and is fed by the larger pond via dam and spillway.


We have traditionally stocked rainbow and brook trout every year and until recently they always wintered over, with the Brookies even reproducing. In the past we had water rights which allowed us to run 2 water lines year round and kept 2 ice free spots in the winter in the deep section. We recently lost the ability to run these waterlines all winter long so the pond now freezes ovwr and killed all of our fish.

I just got the blessing of the community to purchase an aeration system which will hopefully get us back to where we are, and keep fish alive most importantly.

It's a 3/4 hp system with 3 dual diffusers. I'm curious where I should place each diffuser? In the past the ice free areas were in our deepest part(8-10') but the more I read I see people suggesting that they should be in shallower water 4-6ft deep. Any thoughts or suggestions where each of the 3 lines should be placed? I was thinking 2 deep and one in the 4-5foot range.

Also, I hope this configuration will work year round in keeping a healthy pond. The lower smaller pond wont be aerated until we see how successful the upper system is. Hopefully it benefits from the aerated water flowing from the upper pond.

I'd appreciate any thoughts or recommendations for my system and pond setup.


Thanks for your wisdom and advice.

Aaron