Thread: Wrong Kind of Aeration ?

Hi Folks

If anyone has seen any of my recent posts , you`ll know I`ve been having ongoing issues with my koi`s behaviour . Sulking , loss of appetite , flashing ect .

I`ve had blank scrape after blank scrape and tested the water to death - even tried "shotgun" treatments for hard to spot parasites - all with little or no effect . Also fairly sure I have nothing leaching into the pond from outside .

Not had any deaths or body damage - even though Ive had these issues for over a year - so not thinking its anything too drastic , like toxisity or large parasite infestation ect .

What I`m wondering now , is can this type of behaviour be caused by inconsistent and erratic air supply . I have to admit to tinkering with the air supply . I have a single 120 lpm pump , which supplies the bottom drain , the moving bed and a single air stone , which I sometimes use to aid the skimmer . I find that having a good flow through the BD keeps the floor clean - so I tend to alter the flow as and when required .

Also , my skimmer powers a water blade - which again - is used intermittently . I`m starting to wonder if all this constant messing about is the root cause of the upset ?

Its probably not the right time of year to be testing this theory - with the fish slowing down , anyway , but I`ll be looking to get things operating on a more constant level , come next spring .

Has anyone else noticed these kind of behaviours from changes in the air supply . Interested to hear your thoughts .

Hi Colin hope your well,
120ltr pump is a big boy,I would be experimenting by turning it down as in dumping some air to waste to see what difference it makes.

As you say not really the time of year to be doing this,but as big h said try turning air drain off.
I dont use an air drain but I have heard folk turning them off and only useing them now and again.

Originally Posted by big h

Yep.started to realise my bottom drain was resonating.The less air i put through it,the calmer and friendlier the fish were.Ive gone to an aquabar now and fish are chilled out.I have spoken to someone who actually heard their aerated drain resonating while in their house,turned it off and fish were different.I would highly recommend you try it.Cheers

Heard if this a few times now ! Don't have a air drain so can't comment but sure there is a few threads now on the matter .

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Originally Posted by john1

Hi Colin hope your well,
120ltr pump is a big boy,I would be experimenting by turning it down as in dumping some air to waste to see what difference it makes.

As you say not really the time of year to be doing this,but as big h said try turning air drain off.
I dont use an air drain but I have heard folk turning them off and only useing them now and again.

Hi John .

I run it through a manifold , and split it between the BD and the moving bed - which has 4 air stones . So I never have that much going directly into the pond . I`m always messing with the valves and changing the flow rate - which is probably not helping the fishes happiness !

As I said , though , A good output through the BD does help with cleaning the bottom - especially as mine is irregular (L shaped ) , so tends to have dead spots where the muck gathers . I`ll have to come up with something that I can stick to , to keep the fish happy . May try increasing the main pump flow - its a 20k vari pump ! (Although probably not while we`ve got the heating on in the house )

Originally Posted by big h

Yep.started to realise my bottom drain was resonating.The less air i put through it,the calmer and friendlier the fish were.Ive gone to an aquabar now and fish are chilled out.I have spoken to someone who actually heard their aerated drain resonating while in their house,turned it off and fish were different.I would highly recommend you try it.Cheers

Cheers , H . I`ll have a look at that ! I`m thinking I could probably leave the air off in the pond altogether , and just put it through the moving bed ? should still create enough 02 - I`m guessing ??

Originally Posted by hippo

Cheers , H . I`ll have a look at that ! I`m thinking I could probably leave the air off in the pond altogether , and just put it through the moving bed ? should still create enough 02 - I`m guessing ??

Agree there Colin,for years I havnt had air in the pond till Paddy came and asked where the air was?

Only had a splash return with no probs,now with an airlift I have air pushing the return and excess on airstones.

Originally Posted by big h

I know of experienced koikeepers that just run air to the moving bed and have happy fish with no air to the pond

Am not experienced but that's how I have mine running 70lt ea pump on the nexus 200 that's all .

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I must admit I prefer the lack of air in the pond as it just looks better, but it is good to run it through for a few hours to clear the bottom. I have barely used it the last couple of weeks though with the temps dropping etc and fish are happy enough. They do seem more active with the air on but maybe its because it causes more movement in the water.