Aeration systems For Fish Farms and Fisheries
Aeration systems is one of our specialities here at Lana Springs Fish Farm, over the last 20 or so years we’ve tried and tested all types of lake aerators, we regularly receive calls from customers asking what type of aerator is best and where to buy them from, theres such a bewildering range of equipment available all claiming to be the best on the market, its no wonder customers struggle to decide which system is best for their lake.
We stock various surface splash aerators, we also design and build diffused air aeration systems to suit each lake, contact us with your requirements for more info, read our story below to see the journey we’ve been on to get where we are today.
Our story.
Initially with 20 separate lakes here on site it made sense to run all the lakes off one large diffused air system rather than buying 20 separate aerators and having to supply power to all the lakes, its much cheaper and easier to move air around than electricity, so for our site initially a diffused air system suited our needs best for day to day aeration, diffused air is very beneficial for the lake however it is not ideal in the event of an oxygen crash, which can happen at any time especially in hot weather, initially we had the big diffused air system feeding each lake and two surface splash aerators with a small generator on standby just in case we needed them, over the years we found 2 x splash was not enough so 2 splash aerators turned into 4 and so on until eventually we had to supplied power to every lake and have a surface splash aerator for each individual lake, we were running all the splash aerators at night every night during hot spells just in case the oxygen levels dropped, we have a lot of monies worth of stock on site and can’t afford to loose an entire lakes worth of fish, so we had to run them all at night just in case, but this was costing us a fortune. Ive always had a dream to install a large solar system and go off grid, but the amount of power we were using made this impossible, the solution to the problem was to install oxygen monitors on each lake, again more investment, but the reduction in the amount of electric we would be using would pay for them in just a couple of years, we bit the bullet and installed an oxygen monitor to every lake. WOW what a difference, we went from using 3,000kWh per month down to just 300kwh per month, thats a massive saving, reduced our electric bill to a 10th of what it was, this also made my dream of going off grid a possibility, so we bit the bullet again and installed a 40kw solar system with lithium battery store for night time running and have managed to go off grid completely, again big investment but at todays electricity prices it should pay for itself in just a few years, so a well worth investment. Since installing our current system we have drastically reduced our running costs for the farm and I find myself spending less time worrying about what could happen, the oxygen monitors are set up to turn on the splash aerator if the oxygen level drops below 5mgpl, when the oxygen level recovers to 6mgpl it switches off again, and so on, brilliant, so I know its on when it needs to be on but not wasting precious battery power when it doesn’t need to be on, we run diffused air during the day on timers, this turns off at night to preserve the energy stored in our batteries for running the splash aerators during the night if needed.
In my honest opinion the system described above is the absolute ultimate aeration system, a scaled down version of the above is available for your fishery, wether its a single pond, large lake or a multi lake complex, we can design a system to suit your needs, wether you have mains power or not its still achievable, most fishery owners think nothing of spending thousands each year on fish stocks and feed, but rarely consider spending anything on aeration systems to keep the fish alive should the worst worst happen, as our summers get warmer the need for aeration becomes ever more essential.
Ideally to aerate a lake properly you require both diffused air and surface aeration, in most lakes diffused air is a cost effective way to improve water quality and provide general aeration and de-stratification, whereas surface smash aerators are best at dealing with low oxygen events, we stock, build and sell both diffused air systems for general aeration and surface splash aerators, these can be coupled with oxygen monitors that turn on the splash aerator on when needed. Aeration is not cheap but when you consider the value of your stock and the benefits aeration brings, it’s an absolute no brainer and well worth investing in.
Diffused air systems feed compressed air through pipework and special sinking hose to diffusers out in the lake, the water absorbs oxygen directly from the bubbles a they rise to the surface, also huge volumes of water are lifted up from the depths up to the surface where it can absorb oxygen, this process also mixes the warmer water at the surface with the colder water from the lake bed, by constantly turning the water over in this way we create a better overall oxygen content and more even temperature. Another advantage with this system is it can be used to de-ice the lakes in winter, letting noxious gasses out and oxygen in.
For sites that don’t have mains power we also produce solar off grid systems with a battery banks for night time running, there’s an option to suit everyone. Every lake is different and what suits one may not suit another, for more details please phone Chris on 07789304942 to discuss your aeration needs.
