Howdy!

I've been prowling through the archives here looking from some good
advice on aeration of a large pond.

I live in central Texas and just finished digging our pond about two
months ago. When full, it will be approximately 2 surface acres and
contain (my best guess) a little over two million gallon.

I have seen and read about powered aeration systems, but am concerned
about operation cost. Ones that seem large enough seem to draw
hundreds of watts or electircity, which translates into $25-40 per
month to operate.

My water is a nice green color and visibility is currently at 3-4
feet, but there is only about five foot of water in it. The average
depth will be 9-10 feet with some low spots in the 11 foot range.

It will be stocked with catfish, bass and bluegill. Not heavily
stocked nor heavily fished.

Help!

"Thanh Rodke" wrote in message
om...
Howdy!

I've been prowling through the archives here looking from some good
advice on aeration of a large pond.

I live in central Texas and just finished digging our pond about two
months ago. When full, it will be approximately 2 surface acres and
contain (my best guess) a little over two million gallon.

I have seen and read about powered aeration systems, but am concerned
about operation cost. Ones that seem large enough seem to draw
hundreds of watts or electircity, which translates into $25-40 per
month to operate.

My water is a nice green color and visibility is currently at 3-4
feet, but there is only about five foot of water in it. The average
depth will be 9-10 feet with some low spots in the 11 foot range.

It will be stocked with catfish, bass and bluegill. Not heavily
stocked nor heavily fished.

Help!

see: http://aquaticeco.com/, Clarence

There have been a number of discussions on rec.ponds over the last few
years. Do a google groups search with key words "acre pond aeration" and
group as rec.ponds.
--
RichToyBox
http://www.geocities.com/richtoybox/pondintro.html

"Thanh Rodke" wrote in message
om...
Howdy!

I've been prowling through the archives here looking from some good
advice on aeration of a large pond.

I live in central Texas and just finished digging our pond about two
months ago. When full, it will be approximately 2 surface acres and
contain (my best guess) a little over two million gallon.

I have seen and read about powered aeration systems, but am concerned
about operation cost. Ones that seem large enough seem to draw
hundreds of watts or electircity, which translates into $25-40 per
month to operate.

My water is a nice green color and visibility is currently at 3-4
feet, but there is only about five foot of water in it. The average
depth will be 9-10 feet with some low spots in the 11 foot range.

It will be stocked with catfish, bass and bluegill. Not heavily
stocked nor heavily fished.

Help!

also see:
http://www.aquaticeco.com/index.cfm/...kDetail/ttid/4,
Clarence

"Thanh Rodke" wrote in message
om...
Howdy!

I've been prowling through the archives here looking from some good
advice on aeration of a large pond.

I live in central Texas and just finished digging our pond about two
months ago. When full, it will be approximately 2 surface acres and
contain (my best guess) a little over two million gallon.

I have seen and read about powered aeration systems, but am concerned
about operation cost. Ones that seem large enough seem to draw
hundreds of watts or electircity, which translates into $25-40 per
month to operate.

My water is a nice green color and visibility is currently at 3-4
feet, but there is only about five foot of water in it. The average
depth will be 9-10 feet with some low spots in the 11 foot range.

It will be stocked with catfish, bass and bluegill. Not heavily
stocked nor heavily fished.

Help!

On or about 10 Nov 2004 16:21:34 -0800, (Thanh Rodke)
wrote something like:
I've been prowling through the archives here looking from some good
advice on aeration of a large pond.
I live in central Texas and just finished digging our pond about two
months ago. When full, it will be approximately 2 surface acres and
contain (my best guess) a little over two million gallon.

It will be stocked with catfish, bass and bluegill. Not heavily
stocked nor heavily fished.

If that pond is not heavily fished it will become heavily stocked.
--
Crashj

(Thanh Rodke) wrote:

It will be stocked with catfish, bass and bluegill.

I would re-think the bluegills; they're prolific little buggers, and the
bass are much easier to filet!


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

On or about Thu, 11 Nov 2004 02:53:26 GMT, Gary Woods
wrote something like:

(Thanh Rodke) wrote:

It will be stocked with catfish, bass and bluegill.

I would re-think the bluegills; they're prolific little buggers, and the
bass are much easier to filet!

The bass will eat them whole, thank you.
--
Crashj

The same thing happens in the small backyard ponds as in your 2 acre pond,
only they don't realize apparently............If you can see 3-4 feet down,
then congrats.... You have a healthy pond....Started filling about 2 months
ago and its turning green? Congrats again...Its a healthy pond....What have
you planted around it for erosion control? Check websites at your local
county gov on retention pond make-up and find lists for which plants to and
not to use . Check your local Home Depot/Lowes for leftover Christmas trees
for great underwater fish cover as well as lining problem parts of the
banks....They get marked down to .01 here on the 26th of Dec.... Aeration
will occur naturally when the temps change and the water temp in the depths
change.... Stratification is the term to Google...It will explain a whole
lot more on what is happening in your pond...Then there is winter draw down
time, liming the pond, fish species ratios, etc. which all actually gets
into a whole lot more fun than the typical "backyard" hole...... If you get
bales of Barley Straw in there that will help reduce most of the algal
mess...Is there an inflow and outflow? (creek or natural underground spring)
If so then there is also a source of aeration/exchange.. Largemouth bass,
bluegills, redear sunfish, and channel cat make the best mix for stocking
warm water ponds. All but the bass should be stocked now in November........
Theres more out there.....

"Thanh Rodke" wrote in message
om...
Howdy!

I've been prowling through the archives here looking from some good
advice on aeration of a large pond.

I live in central Texas and just finished digging our pond about two
months ago. When full, it will be approximately 2 surface acres and
contain (my best guess) a little over two million gallon.

[snip]
The average depth will be 9-10 feet with some low spots in the 11 foot
range.

Your best guess, is way too low
2 acres is 87120 square feet, Assume an average depth of 10 feet (let the 9
and 11ft spots even out)
That gives us 871200 cubic feet of water. 1 cubic foot of water is 7.48
gallons.
That gives you approximately 6.5 million gallons. About 3 times more then
what you estimated.

Any kind of mechanical method of circulating the water is going to draw a
lot of power, to circulate 1 million gallons of water a day, you'll need a
pump capable of about 41000 gallons an hour, or 700 gallons per minute. A
large air pump, in the 3/4 to 1 hp range is likely to also be energy thirsty
as well.

Depending on how much wind you get, I've seen some windmill powered airpumps
that could help you save some money. Maybe one or two windmills might do the
trick.

Snooze

http://www.remlingerfishfarm.com/windmills.html
Here's a link for windmills

I saw in one of the prior posts talk about barley strawfor reduction of
algae. In my 1/2 acre pond it has seem to work very well I also use copper
sulfate once a year to make sure I don't have any problems. Keep us
informed and good luck.


I've been prowling through the archives here looking from some good
advice on aeration of a large pond.

I live in central Texas and just finished digging our pond about two
months ago. When full, it will be approximately 2 surface acres and
contain (my best guess) a little over two million gallon.

[snip]
The average depth will be 9-10 feet with some low spots in the 11 foot
range.

Your best guess, is way too low
2 acres is 87120 square feet, Assume an average depth of 10 feet (let the
9
and 11ft spots even out)
That gives us 871200 cubic feet of water. 1 cubic foot of water is 7.48
gallons.
That gives you approximately 6.5 million gallons. About 3 times more then
what you estimated.

Any kind of mechanical method of circulating the water is going to draw a
lot of power, to circulate 1 million gallons of water a day, you'll need a
pump capable of about 41000 gallons an hour, or 700 gallons per minute. A
large air pump, in the 3/4 to 1 hp range is likely to also be energy
thirsty
as well.

Depending on how much wind you get, I've seen some windmill powered
airpumps
that could help you save some money. Maybe one or two windmills might do
the
trick.

Snooze

http://www.remlingerfishfarm.com/windmills.html
Here's a link for windmills

I saw in one of the prior posts talk about barley strawfor reduction of
algae. In my 1/2 acre pond it has seem to work very well I also use copper
sulfate once a year to make sure I don't have any problems. Keep us
informed and good luck.


I've been prowling through the archives here looking from some good
advice on aeration of a large pond.

I live in central Texas and just finished digging our pond about two
months ago. When full, it will be approximately 2 surface acres and
contain (my best guess) a little over two million gallon.

[snip]
The average depth will be 9-10 feet with some low spots in the 11 foot
range.

Your best guess, is way too low
2 acres is 87120 square feet, Assume an average depth of 10 feet (let the
9
and 11ft spots even out)
That gives us 871200 cubic feet of water. 1 cubic foot of water is 7.48
gallons.
That gives you approximately 6.5 million gallons. About 3 times more then
what you estimated.

Any kind of mechanical method of circulating the water is going to draw a
lot of power, to circulate 1 million gallons of water a day, you'll need a
pump capable of about 41000 gallons an hour, or 700 gallons per minute. A
large air pump, in the 3/4 to 1 hp range is likely to also be energy
thirsty
as well.

Depending on how much wind you get, I've seen some windmill powered
airpumps
that could help you save some money. Maybe one or two windmills might do
the
trick.

Snooze

Thanks to everyone who responded.

I do have an inflow and outflow of water. It is supplied by a very
small underground spring and a wet weather tributary. The trib runs
about 6-9 months of the year and varies during non-raining periods
between 20-50K gallons per day. As such, my only real issues may occur
during the summer months when there is not pass-through water.

Do barley bales become 'used up' at some point? IE, what is their
useful life in controlling algae?

One thing to note on the gallon calculation. The pond is U shaped and
the cals listed do not account for the 3:1 banks. At most, I'll be in
the 2.5 M gallon range.

Be design, my full flood stage is over 15 M gallons. However, this
would only occur during a 100 year rain. I will probably never see it.
I have outflow culvert capacity (two 3-foot and two 4-foot) of about
10 million gallon per hour. During that rain, I am sure it will
destroy my pond by flushing the fish down stream....Of course, water
will be about 50 foot from my front door as the spillway is being
overran....I don't imagine I'll care about the fish at that point!!!!!

Thanks again!!!!

Thanks to everyone who responded.

I do have an inflow and outflow of water. It is supplied by a very
small underground spring and a wet weather tributary. The trib runs
about 6-9 months of the year and varies during non-raining periods
between 20-50K gallons per day. As such, my only real issues may occur
during the summer months when there is not pass-through water.

Do barley bales become 'used up' at some point? IE, what is their
useful life in controlling algae?

One thing to note on the gallon calculation. The pond is U shaped and
the cals listed do not account for the 3:1 banks. At most, I'll be in
the 2.5 M gallon range.

Be design, my full flood stage is over 15 M gallons. However, this
would only occur during a 100 year rain. I will probably never see it.
I have outflow culvert capacity (two 3-foot and two 4-foot) of about
10 million gallon per hour. During that rain, I am sure it will
destroy my pond by flushing the fish down stream....Of course, water
will be about 50 foot from my front door as the spillway is being
overran....I don't imagine I'll care about the fish at that point!!!!!

Thanks again!!!!