HD Bubbler vs water pump for adding oxygen

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Making a aprox 3000gal garden pond, but just getting started. Pump requires daily cleaning or it stops up, don't have time to fix it before I have to leave for a few days so I thought of buying a HD bubbler to take up the slack. Always wanted to know which one works best for adding oxygen back to the water?
 

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mrsclem

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If y o ur pump is running your filter, then it needs to run 24/7. Do you have fish in the pond? Why is it needing cleaned so often?
 
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Strange that your pump needs daily cleaning.
Are you sure that's 3,000 gallons? Looks more like 1,000-1,200.
If you want better aeration, I think an aerator with one or two air stones would be the best bet. My air line splits to feed two large cylindrical air stones. I have a valve on each branch which allows me to fine tune each outlet.
 
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I'm gonna guess @chuckinnc means he has a 3000 gallon pond in progress and has just started. Although maybe I'm reading a bit too much between the lines.

What exactly is going on over there @chuckinnc ?
 

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Yeah, it looks like there's a lot of unused liner there. That hole can definately be expanded. Keep digging!
and with that kinda digger ( corner of he picture ) doesent seem like it would take too long!
 
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Yea it's a Work In Progress, I get the grandkids to pull back the liner, then try to use the backhoe to chisel out the areas where I have alot of unused liner or low water area. I did add some filtering to the pump input today so will see how that helps. Liner is 20x30' so not sure how that calculates in gallons? In top left corner I made a bog filter from old 125gal plastic pond but yet to add a second pump to feed it. As I said it's a WIP and learning process also.
 

TheFishGuy

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Yea it's a Work In Progress, I get the grandkids to pull back the liner, then try to use the backhoe to chisel out the areas where I have alot of unused liner or low water area. I did add some filtering to the pump input today so will see how that helps. Liner is 20x30' so not sure how that calculates in gallons? In top left corner I made a bog filter from old 125gal plastic pond but yet to add a second pump to feed it. As I said it's a WIP and learning process also.
I think as long as you dont have any fish life relying on much water movement you should be okay,

I also have a pump that clogs very often, and I generally find it to be insufficient intake room, as all the water is getting pulled through an extremely small area, this is why I prefer the pumps that have those large circular plastic housings with holes all over them, because if a few leaves get sucked up, there is still enough space for the maximum water to come through
 
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Awesome! Nice to have the backhoe! When I dug mine I rented a small version of a backhoe called a Terramite. It was very cool. You quickly learn where to position the machine and where to deposit the soil. Definitely better than digging by hand!

Keep us posted on that great project.

Oh, I have a very economical digital water meter type device that screws onto the garden hose. It's good to know how much water you are adding, especially if you need to add any treatments such as a dechlorinator. I think it was around $20 (US) on Amazon. Had it for years now. It's called a "water saver" and It works great.
 

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Awesome! Nice to have the backhoe! When I dug mine I rented a small version of a backhoe called a Terramite. It was very cool. You quickly learn where to position the machine and where to deposit the soil. Definitely better than digging by hand!

Keep us posted on that great project.

Oh, I have a very economical digital water meter type device that screws onto the garden hose. It's good to know how much water you are adding, especially if you need to add any treatments such as a dechlorinator. I think it was around $20 (US) on Amazon. Had it for years now. It's called a "water saver" and It works great.
what kind is it? link? I am currently looking for something like that too, tired of guesstimating the size of my ponds.
 
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what kind is it? link? I am currently looking for something like that too, tired of guesstimating the size of my ponds.
They don't seem to have the exact one anymore. The one I have is called a Water Saver and I've had it for quite a while and I remember it's not meant to be submerged, so I don't leave it out and I don't get it wet.
I can't vouch for this one, but it's very similar:

 
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just to chime in on the original question...it depends; air isn't actually 'added' to the water column via either pump or aerator stones (check on Meyer Jordan's responses re aeration), it's done at the surface of the pond via aggitation. So, it would depend on which disrupts the surface more--that's the one that oxygenates better. That said, most use the aerator as it typically uses less power to run. And that said, again, the more running water and surface aggitation (think water fall, running river, etc, so a pump can do both), the better.
 
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Well, I don't know that I've ever seen anyone dig their pond while it had water in it... I guess there's a first time for everything!

Are you adding any plant shelves or just planning for straight sides?

It's easier to guesstimate the gallons of the pond by the finished dimensions of the pond than the size of the liner. You just need to know length, width and average depth and you can get pretty close to the total volume.
 

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