Is a Air Pump necessary?

I have read lots have natural ponds/VG filter no falls and they do not talk
of the need for an air pump/stone. How necessary is a air pump/air stone to
the health of the pond? Do you calculate size by gal with this type of pump
also. If not what would be a typical size for a pond, better yet, what do
you use? Joann

Joann wrote I have read lots have natural ponds/VG filter no falls and they
do not talk
of the need for an air pump/stone. How necessary is a air pump/air stone to
the health of the pond?

It all depends on the pond.

Our ornamental garden ponds usually suffer from way too many nutrients stuffed
into too small a space. The decomposition of these nutrients (fish poo,
decaying plant matter, etc.) uses up oxygen. And we love plants, so we stuff
lots of those in too. At night the plants stop making O2 and start consuming
it.

It is all a balancing act.

A good way to tell if your pond needs more 02 is to get up before the sun
rises. If you see fish gasping at the surface then adding an airstone would be
a good fix for them.

Low fish stocking is also a key to having an easy pond to manage.


k30a
yearly brother website posting
http://www.30acreimaging.com/

Joann wrote I have read lots have natural ponds/VG filter no falls and they
do not talk
of the need for an air pump/stone. How necessary is a air pump/air stone to
the health of the pond?

It all depends on the pond.

Our ornamental garden ponds usually suffer from way too many nutrients stuffed
into too small a space. The decomposition of these nutrients (fish poo,
decaying plant matter, etc.) uses up oxygen. And we love plants, so we stuff
lots of those in too. At night the plants stop making O2 and start consuming
it.

It is all a balancing act.

A good way to tell if your pond needs more 02 is to get up before the sun
rises. If you see fish gasping at the surface then adding an airstone would be
a good fix for them.

Low fish stocking is also a key to having an easy pond to manage.


k30a
yearly brother website posting
http://www.30acreimaging.com/

Unless your fish are hanging at the top of the water gasping you dont need
an airstone.

"FBCS" wrote in message
...
I have read lots have natural ponds/VG filter no falls and they do not
talk
of the need for an air pump/stone. How necessary is a air pump/air stone
to
the health of the pond? Do you calculate size by gal with this type of
pump
also. If not what would be a typical size for a pond, better yet, what do
you use? Joann

"Sam Hopkins" wrote in message
.. .
Unless your fish are hanging at the top of the water gasping you dont need
an airstone.

"FBCS" wrote in message
...
I have read lots have natural ponds/VG filter no falls and they do not
talk
of the need for an air pump/stone. How necessary is a air pump/air stone
to
the health of the pond? Do you calculate size by gal with this type of
pump
also. If not what would be a typical size for a pond, better yet, what
do
you use? Joann

Sam, I think scientifically this is probably true, but if someone is
strangling you, would you like them to stop now, or wait until you turn
blue? Either way you will probably live, but which is really better? It's
cheap and easy to aerate.

BV.

But you didn't answer the second part of my question. If airation w/
airstone is necessary what size and type do I look for. They do not hang at
the top, but they are in full sun most of the day and in only 18" of depth
until I can finish digging. They is a slight waterfall they love to play in
and swim against the flow.
"BenignVanilla" wrote in message
...
"Sam Hopkins" wrote in message
.. .
Unless your fish are hanging at the top of the water gasping you dont
need
an airstone.

"FBCS" wrote in message
...
I have read lots have natural ponds/VG filter no falls and they do not
talk
of the need for an air pump/stone. How necessary is a air pump/air
stone
to
the health of the pond? Do you calculate size by gal with this type of
pump
also. If not what would be a typical size for a pond, better yet, what
do
you use? Joann

Sam, I think scientifically this is probably true, but if someone is
strangling you, would you like them to stop now, or wait until you turn
blue? Either way you will probably live, but which is really better? It's
cheap and easy to aerate.

BV.

"FBCS" wrote in message
...
But you didn't answer the second part of my question. If airation w/
airstone is necessary what size and type do I look for. They do not hang
at
the top, but they are in full sun most of the day and in only 18" of depth
until I can finish digging. They is a slight waterfall they love to play
in
and swim against the flow.
snip

I am not sure of the correct answer. I can tell you that I aerate my pond
with a 300gph pump that is pumping up about 2.3 feet of head, and just
empties on a rock that splashes back to the pond. I dunno if that helps. I
have 3000 gallons.

BV.

How big is your pond (surface area and gallons)? How deep is the water?
Where do you live, i.e., do you have to deal with freezing water? What is
the temp of your water during the summer? How many fish do you have and how
big are they? What kind of fish, goldies or koi (the reason is in the growth
rate and eventual size)? It's not a simple answer, like "one 12" air
stone". But then again, ANY helps!

Lee

"FBCS" wrote in message
...
But you didn't answer the second part of my question. If airation w/
airstone is necessary what size and type do I look for. They do not hang
at
the top, but they are in full sun most of the day and in only 18" of depth
until I can finish digging. They is a slight waterfall they love to play
in
and swim against the flow.
"BenignVanilla" wrote in message
...
"Sam Hopkins" wrote in message
.. .
Unless your fish are hanging at the top of the water gasping you dont
need
an airstone.

"FBCS" wrote in message
...
I have read lots have natural ponds/VG filter no falls and they do
not
talk
of the need for an air pump/stone. How necessary is a air pump/air
stone
to
the health of the pond? Do you calculate size by gal with this type
of
pump
also. If not what would be a typical size for a pond, better yet,
what
do
you use? Joann

Sam, I think scientifically this is probably true, but if someone is
strangling you, would you like them to stop now, or wait until you turn
blue? Either way you will probably live, but which is really better?
It's
cheap and easy to aerate.

BV.

Theo wrote Do not buy cheap air pumps as they will fail very soon.

I got my air pump from
http://www.aquaticecosystems.com
good site
(standard disclaimer applies)

k30a

O2 enters water by its contact with it. So with that said the more surface
area you have for air to contact the water the quicker O2 can be
(re)absorbed. However, once the surface water is saturated with O2 no more
O2 will be absorbed in the pond. Very little O2 is added to water via the
air that comes out of an airstone. It's main purpose is to agitate the water
surface and create current so that the saturated surface water that was
exposed to the air drops and O2 depleted water raises to the surface.

If you had an airstone that made it so that there were always 1,000 bubbles
with a size of 1/32 of an inch in your water you'd only be adding around 12
square inches of surface area to your pond. That's a 3"X4" square.

If you have a pump that's creating current in your water you're fine. Now
using a fountain is a great way to get O2 in the water because you're
generating a HUGE amount of surface area because the water is being blown
apart into droplets and wrapped around by air. You'd be better served though
to have the pump for the fountain at the bottom of the pond. If it's input
is at the top of the pond you're saturating water you just saturated.

This is why those big air stone disks for rec ponds work so well. Ponds less
then 8-12 feet don't stratify (meaning there is no current caused by
different temperatures of water raising and failing). The disks are placed
at the bottom of the pond and make a current that takes the low O2 air at
the bottom and pushes it to the top of the pond to get saturated.

Sam


"FBCS" wrote in message
...
I have read lots have natural ponds/VG filter no falls and they do not
talk
of the need for an air pump/stone. How necessary is a air pump/air stone
to
the health of the pond? Do you calculate size by gal with this type of
pump
also. If not what would be a typical size for a pond, better yet, what do
you use? Joann