Air pump to help with oxygenation?

[rjp44]

Anyone use an air pump to help with pond oxygenation? I have a small waterfall to help with aeration but I feel it does not do enough to help add more oxygen to the water. I have a 10k gallon pond so everything is going to be on a larger scale. Your thoughts?

 

[GBBUDD]

I do use large air pumps its a 120 I use specificly for the pond I'm around 12k between the pond, cistern, and bog maybe more. Regardless I do use tge air pump that I have in my bulked so the air is not as cold outside but it's not robbing from the basement either. The key to air is to NOT have the bladder or stone at the bottom of the pond or close to the fish. They need an undisturbed area for the waters temp to just sit and with that they do as well they just chill. The walking dead. So cold there systems are very slow. Much like when we get hyperthermia you don't react or think clearly. Some have had issues using air pumps they accredited to super chilling the pond water. I just don't see that as to much of a reality so long as the temps stay above 34 from what I have red they will be fine. So as long as the water is water and not a block of ice and a open spot for co2 to escape you should be fine o2 wise

 

[rjp44]

My thoughts for adding an air pump was more for the summer months. Right now my pond is iced over but has a constant flow of fresh water into the pond. In the summer that fresh flow of water drys up and was thinking an air pump will help keep the water clarity with the addition of plants.

 

[mrsclem]

I use one in the summer months especially with temps above 80f. It does nothing for water clarity but keeps O2 levels up for koi.

 

[j.w]

I only use my big air pump for the Summer. I have a 2400 gal pond and I use the AP-40 attached to a Matala diffuser w/9" air disk. Makes for lots of tiny bubbles. The size of my aerator is prolly way overkill for my size pond but the fish seem to enjoy swimming through a volcano,lol!

 

[Jhn]

Yep,been using a large air pump for a few years, as well. I leave everything run in my pond year round, the air pump, waterfall, and bog, without issue. I do keep the air pump diffuser in the mid level of the pond, all the time. My pond is currently around 10k gallons, and it is way overstocked, with fish, turtles etc, so I figured a air pump for extra oxygenation in the heat of summer can’t hurt.

 

[poconojoe]

I use one year round. I have two large air stones connected to mine.
I made a little wooden "house" to protect the aerator pump from the weather. It's not waterproof.

In the Summer I keep the air stones on the bottom. For Winter I suspend them with a string to keep them just below the water surface. As stated, during Winter you don't want super cold air infusing the bottom where the fish are hibernating.

 

[GBBUDD]

I use the same as @j.w a single bladder with a ap-40 where i drop it close to the bottom of the snorkel in the bog. This runs all year i do not want that water to go stagnant and loose my bacteria i know a lot of the bacteria will die anyways due to the cold but keeping a lot of the other microbes and copepods etc " not a biologist" alive by doing this is my goal. The pond is shut down in December with my large family of Koi it's always an uneasy feeling shutting everything down. In the pond i use a ap 120 with a double bladder this sits on the very first shelve of the pond in about 18" of water.