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Blagdon Pond Air Pumps 2

Blagdon Pond Air Pumps Double outlet pond air pump, complete with 2 x 10m lengths of airline and two 50mm round air stones. Suitable for aeration in garden fish ponds up to 500 gallons. One year guarantee.


Why is aeration needed in a pond?
All fish need oxygen to live and this can be supplied in several ways. A water pump circulating the pond water will add air as it disturbs the surface of the pond. This effect will be further enhanced if returned via a waterfall. If you have a small number of small fish, this may be enough to keep them alive and in good condition. A venturi in the pipeline will greatly increase the amount of oxygen in the water being returned to the pond but requires a relatively powerful pump to operate and will not add any oxygen to the filters. An airpump can be used to supply extra air via flexible tubing and can aerate several different areas. Remember that the bacteria in the pond filters also need oxygen.

A working biological filter is a living organism in its' own right and will use up a great deal of oxygen. If not supplied with sufficient aeration it will never be able to properly fulfil its' function of breaking down the harmful by-products of the fishes' metabolism and the water returned to your pond will also be low in oxygen. The best way to avoid these problems is to place a few airstones in the filter box to ensure maximum efficiency.
There are several factors that affect the amount of aeration needed: obviously the more fish you have, the more oxygen is needed, also larger fish require much more oxygen than small fish.

Warm water holds less oxygen than cold water and also fish are more active at warmer temperatures and so use up more oxygen. It should be obvious from the above that a heavily stocked Koi pond in the height of summer will need a great deal of aeration. Use of an air pump also gives a "Belts and braces" effect, if your pond pump stops working and no water is circulated, at least there will be some oxygen going into the water.
Hints on using an airpump

Choose a pump that is plenty large enough, if in doubt choose a larger model. A small shallow pond will be okay with a general pond air pump, but anything over about 30 inches (75cm) deep requires a specialist Koi air pump. Smaller types will not have the pressure to operate at this sort of depth.
The pond air pump must be situated in a dry, well-ventilated position, this can be in a garage or shed if necessary as there is relatively little loss of pressure even if operating several feet away from the pond. If running several airstones from a single outlet use an adjustable manifold to balance the flow. If you try to run airstones at different depths without control taps the shallower stones will bubble like crazy while nothing will come out of the deeper ones. For maximum aeration clean any algae off the airstones regularly and change them every few months. Remember they will clog up with dust from the inside as well as with algae on the outside, clogged airstones will put back pressure on the pump diaphragm and may lead to damage.

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