Well, in wanting to get a start on the aeration system, I ended up ordering a solar aerator kit. I realize that I will eventually need much more aeration, and a full AC powered system that can run 24/7/365 but I wanted to begin small and portable and just get a 'feel' for what is involved in pond aeration. So far there have been successes and failures. Apart from receiving a faulty solar controller that literally smoked out on me within the first ten minutes, once replaced I found that one of the two air hoses I purchased is low quality so I am getting regular blowouts. After the first few blowout, I pulled the line and found a strip of rubber that must have gotten in the hose durning manufacturing. I removed that and had another blowout. Checked the aeration pad and found another ball of rubber inside. After yet another blowout, I snaked the hose as far as I could then used the shop air compressor to shoot a ball bearing through. Then, feeling confident there was no more debris, I ran the system but noticed that one aerator pad was producing much more air than the other (big turbulence instead of fine bubbles). So, finally I switched the two aerator pads as it seemed that one pad had slightly more resistance and one hose had slightly more resistance. Now they seem to be producing equal amounts of air bubbles. I still need to check on it today or tomorrow to be sure it's not blown a hose again.

I uploaded some pictures showing the solar system I installed. I also included one picture showing the cloudy layer and weeds (lots of coontail) that is visible when the duckweed and water meal are out of the way. It seems pretty bad. Hopefully I can get a system as you describe installed early next spring.

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Last edited by DreamcatcherDB; 08/29/22 09:25 AM.