Pond aeration questions

LD1 · Jul 6, 2012

Well, its too late. I already installed it.

I used 3/8" poly semi-ridgid air tubing. At the aerator in the middle of the pond is an old ~100# chimney cement block with the diffuser in the middle of it. And I had a bunch of old galvanized pipe fittings that I have aquired over the years and will never use. These are bigger 3" or so fittings. 90's and tees. I slid them over the hose and placed them every 8 or 10 feet. I dont think it will go anywhere. Probabally 20lbs of fittings over the 50' or so of underwater hose.

wjmst · Jul 6, 2012

Sounds like you are set. Let us know what you think of it after a month or so. I am also curious as to how much your electricity increases and the amount of hours you run it each day.

LD1 · Jul 6, 2012

wjmst said:
Sounds like you are set. Let us know what you think of it after a month or so. I am also curious as to how much your electricity increases and the amount of hours you run it each day.

Well, the pond isnt full yet. Its only about waist deep so its got another 6' to go, so I dont know how effective it will be just yet. But it sure does make a lot of bubbles.

As to the electricity, I run it all day. I havent put the meter on it yet to see how many amps it draws, but it says 1.7 A. And at 120v, that is only about 200w. So think of slightly more than 3 60w bulbs. At my 0.11/kwh rate, and it using about 150kwh/month, it should be about $16 per month. But I am betting it will be less than that, because this is an actual 30 PSI air compressor, so without actually compressing air and building pressure, it should draw fewer amps. If I remember tonight, I'll put an amp meter on it.