If you have a pond, you’ve probably heard about pond fountains and aerators. They’re both designed to oxygenate the water, right?
Well, yes, but that’s where the similarity ends. Pond fountains and aerators really couldn’t be more different from one another. Here’s what you need to know about them.
What Do Pond Fountains and Aerators Do?
Pond fountains are designed to make your pond look attractive — that’s all.
Sure, they do oxygenate the water, but because they’re only returning a small amount of water to the pond, they don’t do it very effectively. You’d need a pretty big pond with a pretty big fountain if you were to rely on a pond fountain to oxygenate your water.
Aerators, on the other hand, are the most efficient way to oxygenate your pond.
An aerator is a device that pumps air through a hose which is then released into the pond at the bottom. The air bubbles rise up to the surface of the pond, and each one that rises to the surface releases the oxygen in the air into the water.
That’s why aerators are so effective. You see, air is only about 21% oxygen. Because of that, it takes a lot of air to oxygenate your pond.
For that reason, you want an aerator with a powerful air pump. That is, unless you have a really large pond.
How to Choose the Right Aerator
The size of the aerator isn’t the important factor here. The most important factor for you to consider is how deep your pond is.
You see, the deeper the pond, the more water you have, and therefore the more water your aerator will have to oxygenate.
That’s why you need a powerful air pump if you have a deep pond. The air bubbles will take a long time to rise up to the surface of the pond, and the longer they take to rise, the less oxygen they’ll have left in them.
On the other hand, if you have a shallow pond, you don’t need to worry about your air bubbles taking too long to rise. In that case, you could save some money and get a less powerful aerator.
How to Calculate How Powerful Your Aerator Needs to Be
The general rule is that you want your aerator to be able to replace all the water in your pond every two days.
To figure out how powerful your aerator needs to be, you need to know two things:
- How deep your pond is, and
- How many gallons your pond holds.
Once you have those two measurements, you can use the following formula:
Gallons / 48 = Minimum Air Pump Output
The “minimum air pump output” is the number of gallons your air pump needs to be able to pump every hour.
To find the right air pump for you, simply find the air pump that matches or exceeds your “minimum air pump output.”
Keep in mind that air pumps are always rated in liters per minute (LPM). There are about 3.7854 liters in a gallon, so you’ll need to convert your “minimum air pump output” into liters per minute.
Here’s the formula for that:
(Minimum Air Pump Output * 3.7854) / 60 = Minimum LPM
Do the same thing to the LPM value on your air pump, and you’ll be able to easily see if it matches or exceeds your “minimum LPM.”
Pond Fountains and Aesthetics
If you’re really into aesthetics, then you’ll probably think that the best looking ponds are the ones with a pond fountain in the middle and a row of pond aeration diffusers around the edge.
That way, you get the best of both worlds: a beautiful pond with oxygenated water.
Just bear in mind that you’ll need to bump up the size of your aerator to accommodate for the extra surface area of your pond.
