Pond Aeration and What Depth to Place Air Diffusers

It has come to our attention at Pond Owner Magazine that there are some vendors out in the market place that are promoting their products and potentially misleading customers in order to make a product sale.

We have received numerous complaints in recent months about air diffuser placements in the pond and the amount of air that a diffuser will produce.

First of all, it is not the air diffuser that produces the oxygen - it is the air compressor. Different air compressors produce different levels of CFM (cubic feet per/minute) of air.

They produce this air and can compress it a varying levels of (PSI) 1lbs per/square inch of pressure. This pressure pushes the air through the air line and then is diffused at the end of the line with an attachment called an air diffuser.

Depending on how deep your pond is will depend on where you place your air diffuser and will also dictate the amount of PSI that you require from your air compressor. For deeper ponds the more PSI the better. A low PSI producing compressor will not perform as to your expectations.

Ideally you want to place your air diffusers on the bottom of the pond for they are then able to provide oxygen right from the bottom to the top of the water column. This improves water circulation and helps stabilize the water temperature so that the fish can stay healthier. In the summer, the water at the bottom is colder and helps lower the water temperature throughout the pond. In the winter, the bottom water is warmer and helps increase the water temperature at the surface.

Beware of web sites, dealers and product sales people that tell you its better to put your air diffusers in the shallower parts of a pond. This is not proven to be accurate information and in most cases the reason they are telling you this is because the aeration system that they are representing probably does not pump enough (PSI) pressure to push air down to the bottom of your pond. Always ask the salesman what is the PSI of the air compressor in your aeration system.

An example of this is Koenders Windmills and Superior Windmills - both manufacturers of windmill aerations systems compress air up to 35 PSI. So you can place air diffusers in extremely deep ponds with PSI levels like this. However, you will find other producers of aeration systems, both electrical and Windmills that compress air up to only 6 or 8 PSI.

These units are ideal for small shallow ponds but do not be convinced that they will work in the bigger, deeper ponds.

Pond Owner Magazine looking out for the interests of pond owners.

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