Air Pump Size & Model Recommendations

[Lam Nguyen]

Hello KB forum kichis, I am in the market for an air pump to aerate my pond and would like your guys' recommendations.....or at least lead me to a link where this has been discussed. I have a 7,500gal pond that is being aerated by a 5,000 gallon per hour waterfall that is about 18" high. However this is not enough for the 28 koi that are residing in this pond, ranging in size from 7" to about 24". Maximum depth is 5'6". Shoulda known better and place BDs with diffusers........

There are so many brands and sizes that I get a headache just thinking about the topic. Any help or suggestion is much appreciated. Thank you.

[MCA]

We should target getting the dissolved oxygen at 80% or more of saturation. One way to do that is by pumping air into the pond and filters. A good rule of thumb (reference Koi 2 Kichi) is to pump at least 40L into each 1000UK/1200US gallons.

So if we do some simple math... 7500 divided by 1200 = 6.25, S0 6.25 x 40L = 250L. So you should plan to pump around 250L into your pond system. Two 120L should do the trick. For our 10,000 pond I use two 120L and two 80L.

It seems as if the delivery is a problem. Folks would typically use:
-air domes on BDs
-fluid bed bio filters
-air stones in matting chambers
-air stones in pond

Since the pond does not seem to be able to do air domes....that leaves the other options for delivery. Please don't tell us you are using a pressurized filter system.