Aeration can do many things to a pond including aiding in minimizing vegetation growth, nutrient abatement, raising oxygen levels, mosquito control, and many more. We will discuss all of these benefits later in this article. Some of the questions we want to answer include:
· Does my pond need aeration?
· What can aeration do for my pond?
· Is a floating fountain enough aeration for my pond?
· Will it fix my vegetation problem?
· How does it affect my fish?
· If I want minimal vegetation growth and trophy fish, will aeration help with that?
· What else do I need to do to create a healthy pond?
Let’s start looking at some of the questions we want to answer.
Does my pond need aeration?
I get this questions all the time, especially after people start researching aeration online. Ultimately ponds don’t have to have aeration, there are a lot of ponds that do fine for years without it. With that being said Aeration can be one of the best things you can do for your pond. There are many benefits to a pond that aeration brings. Lets dig into why aeration is needed and how it can be beneficial.
Some of you fishermen will recognize the term thermocline. A thermocline is that spot in the water column that drastically changes in temperature. Throughout the year, the water temperature fluctuates dramatically from on average low 40’s in the winter to on average mid 90’s in summer. Why does this matter you ask? Well the thermocline sets in when the temperature rises on the surface faster and the water on the bottom stays cooler due to not mixing well. When this happens, the oxygen in the cooler water gets used up by the decomposing material by reverse photosynthesis, therefore leaving the Middle and top layer with all the oxygen. As the temperature rises in the summer the top layer oxygen levels drop. Therefore leaving the pond with limited oxygen located at the surface down to the thermocline. With a pond being stratified, it leaves several risks to the health of the pond and fish in the pond. Some of these risks include fish kills, unsightly algae, poor water quality, swarming insects, foul odors, and muck accumulation. A fish kill happens when there is a sudden mix of the layers (high winds) causing the oxygen levels in the along the thermocline layer to mix with low levels in the lower colder layer and drastically lowers the overall oxygen level of the pond resulting in suffocation of the fish due to the lack of oxygen easily available. With the nutrients levels out of balance and water becoming stagnant, the pond can become a hot spot for water born insect larva (mosquitos). Mosquitos are not usually a problem with fish present but ponds can create stagnant shallow areas where it's hard for fish to get into. No oxygen at the bottom slows down the breakdown of organic matter at the bottom and allows aquatic vegetation to utilize the nutrients. Also creates an abundance of nitrogen and phosphurs available.
What does Dissolved oxygen/aeration do for the pond?
· Aeration allows for proper circulation, prevents phosphorus build-up and lows risk of algae blooms. May not solve the issue depending on the nutrient load, it could take a while to balance out.
· Aeration also allows the fish to easily access the oxygen in all areas of the pond increasing the habitat and health of the fish population.
· Aeration also enhances the habitat for beneficial microbes and bacteria.
· There are many more benefits to aeration.
What can aeration do and why is it the best option for my pond to help me reach my goals?
No matter what goals you have for your pond, whether it be trophy fish, lower vegetation amounts, reducing muck, or just preventing insect breeding grounds, aeration can be of assistance in aiding to reach your goals. Although there is not a cure for all your goals or even one of your goals, aeration is the best option in starting the process of reaching your goals. Aeration can help in many ways but it needs to be accompanied by other efforts to help reach your goal. Aeration aids in fish population and health by creating more area for the fish to use with correct amounts of oxygen levels, and by limiting amount of vegetation growth creating a balanced habitat for the fish. Aeration acts as an insurance policy for a healthy pond and healthy fish. Aeration helps in more ways than any other single thing you can do in the pond. For fish, you can always add artificial habitat and supplement feed but if the pond turns over and kills all the fish your efforts were worthless at that point. Stratification leaves the pond with high Ph levels where algae feeds on creating an excessive amount of algae. In the presence of oxygen, iron binds to the phosphorus and prevents the vegetation from using the nutrients. The level of control depends on the the amount of nutrients in the pond before the aeration is installed and how often more enters the pond. By mixing the layers, oxygen levels rise by water reaching the surface and creating a lower phosphorus level for the vegetation to use. We can control vegetation growth by using chemicals; but all we are doing is a chemical mowing. The vegetation always comes back and by killing the vegetation, the decomposing vegetation provides the new vegetation more nutrients to use to grow therefore the cycle never ends. By adding bottom based aeration, we aid this process by limiting the nutrients initially and then we are better able to control the growth. With the nutrient level in mind, before aeration we have low oxygen levels on the bottom of pond below the thermocline which causes the decomposing process of organic material to be very slow and continually build up sediment yearly. As any plant does, when it dies reverse photosynthesis happens meaning it takes in oxygen to decompose. With oxygen present in all areas of pond, this allows the material to continue to decompose therefore speeding up the breakdown of material and lowering the amount of accumulation each year. This is a slow process and if there if a large amount of sediment, it may take several years before a significant difference is seen.
What options do we have for Aeration?
Typically the industry has two main options
1. Surface Aeation- Electric & Solar
a. Fountains
b. High volume surface pump
c. Paddle aeration
2. Bottom Difussed Aeration-Wind, Solar, Electric
a. Membrane-based diffuser
b. Perforated pipe
Which option is Best?
I like the look of a fountain, does that aerate the pond enough?
To aerate the pond properly we need to get the whole column of water involved in the process. Floating fountains are great for aesthetic value but only do minimal aeration. They only move the first 4-5 feet (depending on the size of fountain) of water; where as the bottom based aeration moves the whole column from bottom to top. While some aeration is always better than none, the floating fountains are not the most efficient way to aerate the pond. If you like the look of a fountain, consider installing both; one for aesthetics and one for real aeration to give you a quality pond while adding aesthetic value to the appearance.”
Bottom based aeration creates a column of air constantly moving from the bottom of pond to the surface therefore constantly mixing the two layers and preventing stratification. This ultimately the most efficient option for properly aerating your pond.
How to get my pond aerated?
Now that you know why you want to install the aeration, let’s look at different options you have of installing the bottom based aeration. All the different types of aeration are based on a compressor pushing air through a tube out to an air station that is sunk to the bottom of the pond. These systems include old fashion electrical, solar, and windmill. The difference of the three can be important. The electrical system is able to run 24/7 which is what you want out of your aeration so it can benefit your pond most efficiently. Solar and windmill are both considered to be more green options. The only problem with them is if you install them individually they don’t run 24/7. Solar runs about 8-10 hours per day and is limited during cloudy weather therefore not continually aiding in the aeration process. Windmills are the same in that they are only able to run when the wind is blowing. In certain parts of the country the wind doesn’t blow enough to make this option a viable option. If there is ever a question as to which one is best always go with the electrical system. If there is no efficient way of running an electrical system, then we can look at the other two options. Along with the solar and wind there are some ways to create savings with combining solar with electrical or wind with electrical. These two options operate on a censoring basis: when solar is powered up then the system runs on solar but when the panels aren’t producing enough power the electrical kicks in. This works the same with the windmill and electrical option; they save a little on the run time of an electrical system running 24/7.
In Summary
• Some Aeration is better than no aeration
• Fountains better for aesthetic value but they do minimal aeration
• Diffused aeration is best for pond health
• Rank Order options from health of the pond
1. Electric Aerator running 24/7
2. Solar powered with battery backup able to run 24/7
3. Solar Powered no backup
4. Windmill
5. Aerating Fountain
6. Aesthetic Fountain.
7. No aeration
Electrical system
Solar systems
Wind Driven
What else can I do to aid the aeration in the health of my pond?
As we said before, only adding aeration will help create a better quality pond but it cannot be considered a cure all. All the other things that can be done to increase quality of your pond are dependent on what your goals are so that we can find the best efficient option. In the fish aspect, habitat and supplemental feed can be added along with stocking to increase the health of the fish population. There are many biological nutrients blocks that can be added to the pond to help reduce nutrient levels and dye applications to reduce vegetation growth. Gypsum/polymer treatments can help clear up murky water in order to reach a good water quality. All of this also helps with the odor of old stagnant ponds. Dredging every so many years can help keep nutrient levels down, and in turn have longer term vegetation control and sediment level control. Stocking of tilapia and grass carp are also an option to aid in vegetation control.
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