I normally have to use TWO UV lights in my pond to control algae but this season I'm using only one. My trusty aeration kit has significantly reduced my algae problem and the aeration solution is the cheapest and most effective I have ever used! Nothing else in my pond set-up has changed and this is the first time in over a dozen years maintaining a pond that algae hasn't been a problem!!!)
I highly recommend this product!! But I do have one caveat: the instructions recommend a one-way valve (not included) to keep water from siphoning back into the pump if the power goes off. I was a tad annoyed that this item wasn't included in the kit but it cost only a couple of dollars at PetSmart and well worth the peace of mind.
I have a small plastic container near my pond that I use to protect the aeration
pump and my uv transformer. No problem drilling a hole for the power cord and airline (actually the hole was already there because of my uv clarifyer transformer needing protection).
I've recommended this product to all my friends with ponds. At Amazon's price of $30.00, I'm purchasing another for back-up.This pump works great. It is larger than it appears in the pic. I'd say its about 9 inches long, and about 3.5 inches high. Maybe 4 inches thick. I have a 2200 gallon koi pond and this pump makes plenty of air for it. It produces a lot of bubbles. And if you have somewhere to put it, then you can't even hear it run. I just ran a long airline, and I never even hear this pump. It is also pretty power efficient. It doesn't come with an air stone though, for actually making the bubbles. You are going to need one of the larger airstones because this pump flows a lot more air than some of the smaller ones. I would recommend the big 5 inch circular one from petsmart or someplace like that. And you need to let the stone soak for a long time before using it, just like the package says. Or else it won't make bubbles near as well. Learned that from personal experience. All in all, this pump has served me very well. I would certainly not hesitate to buy another one. It has lasted fine in the freezing cold, and in the punishing texas heat.
Buy Laguna Aeration Kit for Ponds Now
Pros:Can pump air to a decent depth. My pond is about 5 feet deep at it's lowest point and I had to weight the air-stone and drop it to about 4.5 feet or so. It kept pushing a respectable amount of bubbles at that depth, but much more that that and the output drops considerably.
Price. It's ability to pump at the depth I had it would have choked anything you could purchase at a local store at this price point. The depth will probably decrease it's usable life, but I had it running 24/7 for 4 months straight.
Air-stone and tubing is included. Nothing remarkable about the air-stone, but the tubing included with mine was much longer than the indicated 30" (inches? probably a typo, should be 30'), mine was closer to 25 feet. It's also the more expensive silicone tubing as opposed to the cheaper vinyl tubing that eventually gets hard and stiff.
The styrofoam float is a bit of an eyesore but it will keep the stone at whatever depth you need if you use it.
Cons:
In my opinion it is pretty loud at its highest setting. Not so loud that it is completely nerve-wracking (I've had smaller indoor aquarium air pumps that were louder after a while), but it's definitely not what I would consider quiet. You will notice it if you don't have a pretty vigorous waterfall or other background sounds.
If you were thinking about using it inside the home, it could probably run quite a few air-stones at the depths of your average indoor aquarium; however, the sound would be unacceptable to me in the house. I never tried to build a sound dampening box for it, so that may be a viable option.
Summary:
I used this in the hottest part of the summer to get additional movement and aeration in my pond because my bottom drain is not aerated. I think it's a little too loud for the area I have to put it in (near a seating area), so I'll probably relegate it to the far end of the patio and use it in a quarantine tank or try my hand at some hydroponics.
I think it's definitely worth the asking price, but obviously you'll need to spend much more if you need it to be quiet and run at deeper depths.Bought this to keep my pond oxygenated through the winter. Planning on housing the pump in a plastic tub with lid to keep it dry and feeding the aeration tube into the pond. Hope the fish and frogs are happy (and alive) as they hibernate!For years I would keep my pond pump running during the late fall and winter months, which meant that I had the clean the filter each week, a real pain in cold weather. I came across this product tht claimed it would provide aireation for the fish during these times of the year. This is my second one, the first lasted through two fall and winter seasons, but the power supply had lost some power. This is an excellent product and it should last me for another year or so. One thing it is important to know, you do not have to run this unit from inside your house or garage (as suggested in the instructions). Just get a plactic box (e.g. Rubbermaid) with a top, cut a hole for the air line to the pond and one for the electical cord and two holes on each side for ventalation. This keeps the unit dry and it has worked without fail 24/7 in below freezing temparatures. AT $49 or so, it is a real bargain.
0 comments:
Post a Comment