We have a small but deep pond. Less than an acre. Have some nice bluegill, a few crappie, a few channel cats. Or we did have channel cats. This week we had a fish kill. I'm assuming the high temps and drought contributed to it. I think it got all the catfish, but there's definitely still bluegill alive in there and probably crappie.

Anyways, I was considering eventually getting an aerator but am now thinking of moving up that timeline a bit.

So just wondering if anyone uses them, if so, what kind ya got.... and do you have any advice?

Thanks

Used to run Powerhouse aerators.
Preferred the dual.prop, 3/4 hp.
Available in 110 or 220.
Just checked, like everything else, price has about doubled!

Made here in MD, but shop around, price used to.vary quite a bit.
I used to get best price from a place in Missouri.

One thing to note.Turltes WILL sometimes climb up on float to bask, then dive down aerator opening.
Props are plastic for a reason, lol. Get a spare.

And if using in brackish water, ADD ZINCS!!!!


Have seen them used on Craigslist, Facebook.
Seen folks use them.with a generator to.keep a duck.hole open if iced over

Yes I have one and you need one it gets hot.the bigger fish will die first.i built my pond in 2005 put bluegills,crappie and channel cat in it.couple years later came home from work and noticed a bunch of white in the pond.went down and checked it out all of the cat were dead belly up.most were 20 inches or longer.i went and bought a aerator with 2 diffusers.hiblow-80 is what I bought.dont run it all the time.havent lost any fish since.

I have one in the koi pond

Sounds like a turn over kill

I am coming to your house for sushi

https://www.thepondguy.com/product/crystalclear-pondair-aeration-kits/

This is what I have for my koi pond. It’s only about 800 gallons but they have other kinds on the site

How often do you run it?

Cut from my reply to the other aerator thread.
May help.someone out if in a tight spot, and trash pump way cheaper.



Better to put the water into.the air, than the air into.the water...
Before I had aerators, I took 3.5 hp, 2" trash pumps, and necked discharge down to.3/4", 45 degrees to ground.
Shot water WAY across pond, fine droplets falling, better gas exchange.

Was a pain, short run time, etc, BUT would get you thru a tight spot if DO crashes.
FWIW, noticed a lag, lowest DO.woupd be a couple hours after sunrise,cso.ALWAYS fired them up by 0530-0600.
Earlier if having bad issues.

That said, we checked DO every morning, so.had a good idea of what was going on.
Checked during day too, if issues noted.
When you started seeing wild swings, hold on, a crash is coming.

If it's super hot out il run it late evening until early morning.thinking iam putting cooler air into the water.it does help with algae, fish health and fish getting bigger.i usually run it full time in the winter time tokeep a spot open.my pond is spring fed.but my spring comes in at the bottom of the pond so there's no aeration from water flowing in from a hillside spring or creek.iam in northern illinois and when I lost my fish it was the middle of august.as mentioned above I've seen u-tube videos of using sump pumps rigged up to make a fountain so to speak.

Lol....granddaughter ( 4yrs old ) has named the biggest one Sushi

There is A big market for large Koi
The business got out of large pond building and only do small elaborate ponds now...most are Koi.....

You don’t want an aerator, you need bubblers. Bubblers are placed in the bottom of the pond. As the bubbles rise to the surface they bring the non-oxygenated cold water from the bottom of the pond to the surface. It also circulates oxygen to the bottom of the pod so the fish can use the deep to keep cool. It removes the thermocline from your pond. I have had the same issue you had. Added the bubblers and it has not happened since.

Iam not sure what a bubbler is but sounds exactly like a aerator. They pump air down to the bottom of the pond thru diffuser/s with a bunch of tiny holes that send fresh air/oxygen producing bubbles that rise to the top.this the exact same as what i have.

I ordered an aerator tonight. It's supposed to do exactly what you described. A compressor forces air through a weighted airline to a diffuser plate sunk to the bottom of the pond. The air then goes through the diffuser plate and comes out as millions of little bubbles that rise to the top.

That is exactly what you want. For some reason I thought you were describing a fountain. My air pump runs two aerators. Here is a picture of one.

Animals Only do you have issues in the winter after freeze up?

It doesn’t freeze over the bubbles. I’m in Michigan so it gets below freezing here.

I know a lake with bubblers on it and this time of year when its hot hot hot you can catch bass crappie and blue gill out in the middle of the lake fishing the bubblers. So that tells me they like it / need it and that's a 20 foot deep lake.