New pond owner needs help
 

We bought a house with a pond in central Texas. The pond is about13 feet by 7 feet and about 18 inches deep. We have a bunch of shubunkins - about 30 of various sizes. My question is how to keep enough oxygen in the water during the summer where temperatures can be in the 100s for many days. Do I use a pump, plants or ...? If a pump, what is the best inexpensive solar pump and how big a pump do I need? Our pond is a good distance from an electrical outlet and although, using an electric cord is not out of the question, I think we would prefer a solar pump. Any and all advice is welcomed. We just want the fish to be happy!

Thanks,

Joanie

New pond owner needs help
 

In article 01dd01c76829$19bd1b40$6401a8c0@jgoverbeck,
"JGOverbeck" wrote:

We bought a house with a pond in central Texas. The pond is about13 feet by
7 feet and about 18 inches deep. We have a bunch of shubunkins - about 30 of
various sizes. My question is how to keep enough oxygen in the water during
the summer where temperatures can be in the 100s for many days. Do I use a
pump, plants or ...? If a pump, what is the best inexpensive solar pump and
how big a pump do I need? Our pond is a good distance from an electrical
outlet and although, using an electric cord is not out of the question, I
think we would prefer a solar pump. Any and all advice is welcomed. We just
want the fish to be happy!

Thanks,

Joanie

My pond's a tad smaller with about the same amount of fish. Plants are
important. Protects the fish from hot sun and competition keeps algae in
check. Water Hyacinth are very good since roots help filter water.
I'd look into doing a veggie filter for filtration. Google this. Don't
know how much you feed your fish, but they can poop a lot. 30 quite a
few.
I have a 1250 GPH in mine. Given my messy fish, I'm considering bumping
it up. I've got a bio-filter in my pond, I also have an external filter
(not great).

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New pond owner needs help
 

In article 01dd01c76829$19bd1b40$6401a8c0@jgoverbeck,
"JGOverbeck" wrote:

We bought a house with a pond in central Texas. The pond is about13 feet by
7 feet and about 18 inches deep. We have a bunch of shubunkins - about 30 of
various sizes. My question is how to keep enough oxygen in the water during
the summer where temperatures can be in the 100s for many days. Do I use a
pump, plants or ...? If a pump, what is the best inexpensive solar pump and
how big a pump do I need? Our pond is a good distance from an electrical
outlet and although, using an electric cord is not out of the question, I
think we would prefer a solar pump. Any and all advice is welcomed. We just
want the fish to be happy!

Thanks,

Joanie

Actually, I would spend some time going through posts in this group.
Lots of good information.
As to your solar solution,
Not having any direct experience, I think you'd just need to find one
that can power your pump and store enough power to keep it going at
night and cloudy days. You can always run a line underground through PVC
to an outlet onsite.
This is what I do.

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New pond owner needs help
 

"JGOverbeck" wrote:

We bought a house with a pond in central Texas. The pond is about13 feet by
7 feet and about 18 inches deep. We have a bunch of shubunkins - about 30 of
various sizes. My question is how to keep enough oxygen in the water during
the summer where temperatures can be in the 100s for many days. Do I use a
pump, plants or ...? If a pump, what is the best inexpensive solar pump and
how big a pump do I need? Our pond is a good distance from an electrical
outlet and although, using an electric cord is not out of the question, I
think we would prefer a solar pump. Any and all advice is welcomed. We just
want the fish to be happy!

You are right in your concerns. Warm water dosn't hold as much oxygen as
cold water. Some fish can't live in warm water for that reason. The
most efficient ways to add oxygen are underwater green oxygenator plants
and an oxygenation system with an air pump. I have a huge air pump and
it only draws 40 watts. You will be able to find a smaller pump that
could be fun from solar power. Fortunately the more sun there is the
more oxygen you need and the more power you will have. The aerator
heads should be of a shower head design and placed in the deepest part
of the pond. Air stones tend to clog up when used too long. They are
OK if you can monitor them. I like my aeration heads because they are
trouble free. I bubble the air through barley straw to keep algae down.
Since you apparently don't have a water pump, you will need lots of
marginal plants as well as the submerged oxygenator plants.
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New pond owner needs help
 

Since this thread is talking about airstones/pumps, I thought I'd add that
one can make a cheap air stone with some of that leaky hose for drip
irrigation. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State

New pond owner needs help
 

In article ,
Stephen Henning wrote:

"JGOverbeck" wrote:

We bought a house with a pond in central Texas. The pond is about13 feet
by
7 feet and about 18 inches deep. We have a bunch of shubunkins - about 30
of
various sizes. My question is how to keep enough oxygen in the water
during
the summer where temperatures can be in the 100s for many days. Do I use a
pump, plants or ...? If a pump, what is the best inexpensive solar pump and
how big a pump do I need? Our pond is a good distance from an electrical
outlet and although, using an electric cord is not out of the question, I
think we would prefer a solar pump. Any and all advice is welcomed. We
just
want the fish to be happy!

You are right in your concerns. Warm water dosn't hold as much oxygen as
cold water. Some fish can't live in warm water for that reason. The
most efficient ways to add oxygen are underwater green oxygenator plants
and an oxygenation system with an air pump. I have a huge air pump and
it only draws 40 watts. You will be able to find a smaller pump that
could be fun from solar power. Fortunately the more sun there is the
more oxygen you need and the more power you will have. The aerator
heads should be of a shower head design and placed in the deepest part
of the pond. Air stones tend to clog up when used too long. They are
OK if you can monitor them. I like my aeration heads because they are
trouble free. I bubble the air through barley straw to keep algae down.
Since you apparently don't have a water pump, you will need lots of
marginal plants as well as the submerged oxygenator plants.

Better than airstones are to add a venturi to the pump. I found a guy
online who made these. Bought from him 3 years ago. No longer seems to
be selling or maintaining a website. You can access his web old pages by
going to:

http://web.archive.org/collections/web.html

and then putting in:

http://home.att.net/~oxymax/

Go to 2003 (or any year) archives and see if you can find his pages on
venturi aeration.

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New pond owner needs help
 

they arent nearly as energy efficient as an air pump for air stones. I like
having the pump and aeration in separate devices so that if one quits the
other is still working. Ingrid

"Kurt" wrote in message
...
Better than airstones are to add a venturi to the pump

New pond owner needs help
 

In article ,
"drsolo" wrote:

they arent nearly as energy efficient as an air pump for air stones. I like
having the pump and aeration in separate devices so that if one quits the
other is still working. Ingrid

Same energy as a pump, except you get both in one.
I have a backup aerator in case of failure (I used it for my "fish
motel"), but my fish would last the time it took me to replace the pump.

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New pond owner needs help
 

adding a venturi onto the pump decreases the efficiency of the pump by a
greater factor than running a separate air pump. Ingrid


"Kurt" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"drsolo" wrote:

they arent nearly as energy efficient as an air pump for air stones. I
like
having the pump and aeration in separate devices so that if one quits
the
other is still working. Ingrid

Same energy as a pump, except you get both in one.
I have a backup aerator in case of failure (I used it for my "fish
motel"), but my fish would last the time it took me to replace the pump.

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New pond owner needs help
 

In article ,
"drsolo" wrote:

adding a venturi onto the pump decreases the efficiency of the pump by a
greater factor than running a separate air pump. Ingrid

Only because you channel some of the pump's output to the venturi. In my
experience, you don't need to divert much through the venturi to get the
right bubbles. My venturi is adjustable through a valve on top where
surface air is pulled down. I don't notice a huge difference in the
output that goes to my waterfall and the pump is still pulling the same
amount of water through the bio-filter I have attached to it.

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New pond owner needs help
 

Kurt wrote:

Better than airstones are to add a venturi to the pump.

It depends upon whether you have a water pump already. A venturi is
pipe with a hole in it. When the pipe has water flow through it, it
creates a vacuum in the hole due to the venturi principle.

With a water pump you flow the water through the venturi and suck air
into it. Its work on the same principle as the aerator on the faucet in
the kitchen sink or bathroom sink.

If you don't need to pump water then a water pump is unnecessary. In an
air stone you are pumping air, not water. Air is very cheap to pump.
Air is what you want in the water. You don't need a venturi. What is
better than an air-stone is a aeration diffuser head.

If you do need to pump water, then a water fall or fountain or venturi
are alternatives to an air pump and air-stone or aeration diffuser head.
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Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA

New pond owner needs help
 

Kurt wrote:

Same energy as a pump, except you get both in one.
I have a backup aerator in case of failure (I used it for my "fish
motel"), but my fish would last the time it took me to replace the pump.

40 watts in an air pump is huge. 40 watts in a water pump is piddling.
No comparison. Look at it this way, if you want 1% air in the water,
you have to pump 100 gallons of water for every gallon of air. That is
at least 100 times as expensive. If you are already pumping 100 gallons
of water, then that is a different matter. However some people shut
their water pumps off in winter. There is not reason to shut off an air
pump and in fact it will keep the pond fresh with a hole in the ice
cover in winter.

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http://rhodyman.net

New pond owner needs help
 

~ jan wrote:

Since this thread is talking about airstones/pumps, I thought I'd add that
one can make a cheap air stone with some of that leaky hose for drip
irrigation. ~ jan

The drip hose floats and the pumped air squirts into the atmospherw not
the pond. What do you use to keep the drip hose sunk?

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Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA
http://rhodyman.net

New pond owner needs help
 

Kurt wrote:

Better than airstones are to add a venturi to the pump.

It's true this is the best way to add aeration, but in winter when I don't
want to run a pump (and the O2 content of the water is not a huge issue),
that's a major difference in energy consumption over an airstone and a 15W
pump.
--
derek

New pond owner needs help
 

In article ,
Stephen Henning wrote:

Kurt wrote:

Same energy as a pump, except you get both in one.
I have a backup aerator in case of failure (I used it for my "fish
motel"), but my fish would last the time it took me to replace the pump.

40 watts in an air pump is huge. 40 watts in a water pump is piddling.
No comparison. Look at it this way, if you want 1% air in the water,
you have to pump 100 gallons of water for every gallon of air. That is
at least 100 times as expensive. If you are already pumping 100 gallons
of water, then that is a different matter. However some people shut
their water pumps off in winter. There is not reason to shut off an air
pump and in fact it will keep the pond fresh with a hole in the ice
cover in winter.

The nice thing about my venturi setup is that I can control both the air
and the water output. I can hut the venturi down to very little output.
100 times expensive sounds huge until you look at real energy costs. All
this, of course, is providing that you use a pump in your pond.

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