Hydra International - Natural Aquatic Treatments, Cleaning & Protecting the Environment

Benefits of Using Air Pumps

The One Accessory You Should Buy

If you’re not using an air pump on your pond, you probably don’t realise what a big risk you are taking. It’s amazing how many pond owners up to this day have yet to discover the benefits of an air pump.

Pond Aeration

“Aeration,” in one word, sums up the reason why your pond needs an air pump. Pond aeration is as essential to ponds as air, particularly oxygen, is essential for us to live. In lakes and ponds, not only fish are dependent on dissolved oxygen (DO) supply in the water. Many other organisms in the water also depend on it to function well and survive. A shortage of oxygen opens a Pandora’s Box of problems to your pond’s water quality and clarity, which can rapidly escalate to fish deaths sooner than you expect. So unless you are willing to take the risk of suffering the consequences from poor pond aeration, a pond air pump is a must.

Don’t Ponds Get Naturally Aerated?

Ponds get naturally aerated, but not adequately. Unlike mountain streams or raging rivers that have higher DO levels, the comparatively still waters in ponds and lakes don’t get additional aeration benefit from energised water movement. In addition, air contains only about 20% oxygen. So even if oxygen diffused from the atmosphere dissolves passively into the water, the amount is far too low to be sufficient.

To make matters even worse, several factors further decrease the level of DO in the water. Some of them are:

• Rising temperature – the demand for oxygen rises as temperature goes up due to increased metabolic rates of fish and other aquatic life.
• Fish population and size – the more fish you have in the pond, and the bigger they are, the more oxygen is used up. 
• Decomposing organic matter – fish and animal wastes, fertiliser run-offs, dead leaves, etc make up organic matter in the pond that requires a lot of oxygen to decompose.
• Submerged plants and algae – these take in oxygen in the night, which contributes to the drop of oxygen levels after sun down.
• Oxygen consuming bacteria – oxygen is required by aerobic bacteria in order to efficiently breakdown nutrients and toxic substances, like ammonia. The more nutrients and organic wastes are in the water, the more oxygen is consumed by these bacteria.
• Presence of other water solutes and use of treatment products reduce DO.

Given these facts, it’s just logical to conclude that ponds and lakes need additional help to keep topping-up their exhausted dissolved oxygen supplies. However, some unconvinced pond owners argue that their ponds have been problem-free even without using pond aerators. Maybe so, but as your pond gets older, more organic sediments accumulate, fish reproduce, fish get bigger and aerobic bacteria multiply. Increased demand of oxygen soon takes a serious toll on your water’s oxygen levels and it is just a matter of time before problems surface up.

Why Air Pumps and Not Any Other Pond or Lake Aerators

There are different sorts of pond and lake aerators available to address pond aeration. However, tests show that lake and pond air pumps are most efficient in diffusing sufficient oxygen throughout the body of water and not only on the surface. Because pond air pumps rely on air movement to oxygenate, the rate of oxygen diffused is relatively higher than other pond aerators that rely on water movement, like waterfalls and venturis.

So with efficient pond or lake aerators, you can be certain to get the following benefits:

* Prevention of fish kills due to oxygen depletion

* Keep useful aerobic bacteria active

* Promote the break-down of toxic substances in the water, like ammonia and nitrite

* Stop the release of toxic gases due to lack of oxygen

* Avoid rotten egg smell coming out of your pond caused by production of toxic gases

* Inhibit the growth of unsightly algae

* Help maintain clear water

* Raised oxygen levels in filters resulting to improved filter performance

* Healthier Fish

Will Any Type of Air Pump Do?

Not any kind of pond air pump will guarantee you the above benefits. To get the most out of a pond air pump, it is extremely important to choose the right size and quality. To find out what size of air pump will be efficient enough for your pond, check our chart to calculate size of air pump.

In terms of quality, just like you can’t expect the perks of a Rolls Royce from a Kia, so can’t you expect to gain equal advantages from different types of air pumps. If the “Rolls Royce” of air pumps at a reasonable price is what you want, then Hi-Blow Pumps are the pond and lake aerators for you. These are “THE” top of the line pond air pumps used for many years on Koi ponds for their high performance, reliability, energy efficiency and ultra silent operation.

For smaller sized ponds, a pond air pump that’s difficult to beat in terms of quality and value for money is the Yamitsu Koi Hi-Flow Air Pump. This air pump comes complete with extra spare parts and easily outperforms conventional air pumps

Regardless of its size, a pond should not be without an efficient air pump. Order the right size and quality air pumps for your pond now.