Del, thank you for sharing your feedback on the Hiblow pumps. Ours is still going strong and the water quality continues to improve. At the same time we continue to see increases in both the quantity and size of fish. Can't say enough good things about it.

St. Isidore's Farm: I noticed you said you used a small drill bit to open up the diffuser. i am just wondering if the end of the air hose could be capped off and drilled with the same size drill bit and just allow the air to come up straight out of the hose itself. maybe drill it to say about 2 or 3 feet from the end of the hose sitting on the bottom. Could possibly save a little money on buying a diffuser. What's your thoughts?

Where did you get this set up for $317.00?

Chad West ended up getting the unit itself from ebay. Notice I bought the hiblow hp 80 not the hp 100 LL. We have a pond that is only about a 1/4 acre so didn't need the 100 model, therefore it's cheaper. I can't remember where I bought the airline and diffuser now. I just kept looking online for the best deals. There is also a blue diamond pump that is pretty much the same set up at a cheaper price then the hiblow but I decided from reviews I've read to pay more money cause the hiblow have such a great customer review. Look around on ebay, Amazon, Google searches and you can find what your looking for, I'm sure. Hope this helps ya out, Chad.

Del Brewer thanks. I have a smaller pond as well.

david Bruce Did you get to execute your planned up? Post vids please

You're welcome! Thanks for watching and commenting. I will say that the Airmax systems look to be much nicer and better quality than the "Bigmax" systems. Also, depending on the depth of your pond, there are limits to the Hiblow compressors. It works GREAT for us, and has been extremely energy efficient, but it might not be the best solution for everyone. What I can say is that aeration absolutely makes a difference in water quality. Best wishes!

I'm glad the video may have saved you the time and trouble. I can say for sure that I was disappointed in the delivered quality of the "BigMax" compressor. For that amount of money you should not have to use wire nuts to connect power to the unit and have a motor run capacitor dangling by wires. Best wishes whatever route you end up going! Thanks for watching the video and commenting!

Hopefully, it's every bit as good as ours.. Making a one year update video on our unit is on the long list of to-dos. We can say this - it's still going strong and doing a great job aerating our pond after running 24/7/365.

YEP. ITS THE BEST ONE THERE.

Thanks for the comment Monica. Yes, a regret about this video was that I didn't address this issue more thoroughly in the video. I spoken to it a number of times in the comments, so I hope folks read them before buying. I also noted in the description under the video - that it can only push air in water that is 6-7 feet or less.

David, glad to hear that it was helpful. Check out the comment I just pinned from Del Brewer. He bought a Hiblow 80 and seems really pleased with his setup. All the best to you and yours!

Sound like the emergency setup i have going now. Unfortunately I have to have the compressor next to the pond and its loud af.

Brandon Harton you're welcome! Glad it was helpful. A year later and the Hiblow pump is still going strong and the pond looks better than ever.

Good deal!! Hope you've noticed a big difference in your stock

Yes, we have! Hoping to shoot an update video here in the near future. Pretty crazy the difference it makes in the fish activity. I know there were fish in our pond, but we could never see or catch them until we started aerating.

Thanks for watching! Good luck with your pond.

I guess that makes two of us that had issues with the "Big Max" aerators. Wondered if it was just the one that I received - obviously not. I'm cautiously optimistic about the Hiblow aerator. Out of the box it is just a better product and it's working great so far. Big difference in the pond water quality. I'll look forward to hearing how it works out for you.

Randal, how did the new pump work out?

So much for the update......

@@monty7336 I just realized I never responded how the Hiblow pump worked. I bought a Hiblow HP100LL Linear Air Pump. I've had it 6 years now and it's been fantastic. It runs continuously (in NY state) and uses less than half the electricity the Big Max unit used. 5 years ago I bought a solar powered unit from Missouri Wind & Solar that is powered off of a 100 watt solar panel. The pump with that kit was similar to the Hiblow pump. That setup from Missouri Wind & Solar has worked great as well.

Thanks @@randalweaver2321, I bought one a few years ago (based largely on your review) and it's been terrific. Thanks for making great content!

Thanks for the feedback. I can tell you that the Hiblow aerator is still going strong. Two things I might do differently at this point. Definitely invested the money in the weighted hose, however much of it you need, and don't worry about the diffusers - at least not at first. We have two lines running out of the aerator and ended up taking the diffuser off one of them. That open line produces much more aeration to the pond, and you can see ripples in the water from that line all across the pond. This is exactly what you want. Looking at it yesterday, the water is even clearer this year, and more importantly, we have even more ACTIVE fish. Good luck with your project and God bless!

For what it is worth, it still going strong.

Glad I could share something folks actually find helpful. It really is an impressive process. The water in our pond gets clearer and clearer, and my brother caught an 8+ pound largemouth bass yesterday. Thanks for watching and commenting.

Thank you for watching and taking the time to comment! God bless!

Gonna need close to 5psi at that depth, with a rubber diaphragm aerator. 9ft is pushing it w/diaphragm style. Might wanna put it at that depth, but mount it up off the floor of pond about a foot or 2 ft. That way u will still draft I'm that depth. Yet stay above the silt & debris that lays on bottom. Don't take my word for it though, tell the manufacturer exactly what your doing, & how many spots your going to aerate.

I would like to do this also. Need a new compressor for my 1/3 acre pond and would like to go solar power. How is yours doing now and do you have any tips or insights for me? Thanks David.

@@MrIndyjoe Havent installed it yet, had a bunch of medical issues and still not clear of them.... bout to go to my neurological surgeon today to see if I am going to need back surgery. Sucks to be old LOL.........BUT I have bought a 250 watt panel, since I posted and waiting for the inverter. It is a shame that HIBlow doesnt offer VDC, that I can find. Beware of "kits" these are usually low CFS delivery... only good for tiny ponds. For your pond, I think the HiBlow 100 may suffice, but double check. My cranking amps on this 120LL is 1.85 (VAC), so I went with a 250 watt panel. I will test it on my pool asap if I dodge the back surgery bullet. I am stuck on HiBlow. I have been using a HiBow (VAC) on my septic here at my house for 6 years now..... NOT ONE PROBLEM If there are any problems with this approach, I expect it to be with the reliability if the inverter. We will see. if you go with this plan and beat me to the punch, pls let ME know how it works out, Good Luck my friend

It has helped our pond tremendously. Things I would change about this video: run out ONE weighted hose, then use a T connector to split to two separate ends. I would not use diffusers. Both of our became clogged and we just have open lines creating good boils of air. Diffusers are nice, but they will get clogged in a pond and require maintenance. Besides, we're not using diffusers and the pond still look great and the fish are super active. Best wishes!

St. Isidore's Farm so you have a T and just an open end of a line no diffuser?

Glad it was helpful. One thing I want to add - this works well for a shallow pond like ours. If your pond is deep, you might want to consider other options. That said, it is working EXTREMELY well on our pond. God bless and best wishes.

Great question! Thanks for asking. Here is a somewhat long answer: the aerator runs off a meter that is separate from our house. The good news is that only a few items run off that meter. Bad news is that it's still tough to really isolate the cost of the Hiblow aerator, especially since we have a deep freezer running out there and I know it's working harder because of the heat. The bill is usually about $35 a month. This past month it was about $37. That seems about right according to what the folks at Septic Solutions said, which was that it should coast about $6-7 a month in continuous operation. We're only running it at night right now, which means a little over a third of the day. So I'm guessing it will turn out to be about $6-7 a month in continuous operation, which we will do once we get into some cooler fall weather. Bottom line is that we didn't see a huge spike in the electric bill once it started running. Hope that helps. Good purchasing the house. God bless!

We purchased a brand new HP-100LL. We would have liked to purchase an even larger compressor (HP-120, etc), but wanted to keep the cost down. Good question about the refurb from Septic Solutions. I suppose you could call them and ask what the warranty is. We just didn't have good luck with the "Big Max" refurb, so I wanted to stay away from them this time. Doesn't mean Septic Solutions won't sell a good refurb. As to the airstone, I guess the bigger the better, so long as the compressor can push enough air out of it. I would get at least the 12 inch and possibly get a T splitter and put two in the same spot. You'll notice that a lot of pond supply places sell really large diffusers with as many as four airstones. Hope this helps. Thanks for watching and commenting!

St. Isidore's Farm

Buy a sump pump, garden hose and a sprinkler head...put sprinkler head on floating platform and you have a fountain

Aeration may not completely solve your problem, but it will help. Oxygenated water will absolutely improve the water quality, it will reduce algae, but won't eliminate it. The research at this link might be helpful: conference.ifas.ufl.edu/aw13/Presentations/2-Wednesday/Grand%20Floridian/Session%208b/0325%20Wagner.pdf

Get some grass carp to help out with algae plus they are fun to catch

Our pond is downstream of several other farm ponds. Not sure of the source because it is several properties away. I wouldn't think trout would work well, just because of how hot our summers get.

Oh I see. Thanks for the info.!

Doris, it should work just fine. No real difference between a 3/8 and 5/8" hose - except that the 5/8' hose will be more expensive.

Thank you for watching and commenting! God bless!

Heather P , LoL, I have the same question. I was curious as to the depth of the diffuser in the far end ( it was mentioned that water depth was 15', just not sure how deep the diffuser goes). I also was wondering if there was any kind of regulator on either of the hoses because I couldn't believe that the diffuser in the deep end ( especially if it was 15' deep) was still pushing out air!

...I should add, with the shallow hose not in the water.... sorry

Heather, sorry for the delay in reply. Busy weekend for us! The Hiblow 100LL would work in the shallower end, but not in the deep end. Our Hiblow pump is still doing great a year later ( I'm hoping to upload an update video soon). The challenge with it though is that it cannot pump air into deep water, because it is not strong enough - also why it is so energy efficient. The PSI of water is about .43 per foot. So at 14' you would have about 6PSI of water pressure. The Hiblow 100ll will stop being able to push air at 6-7 feet, so it would be close. I appreciate the desire to aerate from the deepest part of the pond, but in our case it hasn't seemed necessary. Our deep end is about 15'. We have two hoses going out to about 4' and 5' and it has helped the pond tremendously. Hope this helps. Don't hesitate to ask other questions.

Jason, good catch on the depth. No, our hoses only run out to about 4' and 5'. They do not go to 15' because they would stop pushing air. The Hiblow pumps will stop pushing air at about 6-7'. I'm hoping to do an update soon.

Hehg1ajather P

Glad to hear it's helping clear up your pond. Getting ready to do a one year update/review video of our system. One thing I'll address is the clogged diffusers. To be honest, we pulled one diffuser so that we just get an open "boil" of bubbles from one hose, and then smaller bubbles from the other diffuser, which needs to be cleaned with a brush. No suggestions on how to keep them from getting clogged. God bless!

@@StIsidoresFarm raise the diffuser off the bottom some and flip it so the holes point down. If they're only on top. I don't know how yours is designed. Holes pointing down won't let sediment settle on the holes when off

It's running great! My only suggestion is that you can't go wrong with a Hiblow aerator and only run one weighted line out from the unit, then put in a T and have two outlets. Also, I wouldn't use diffusers. They both clogged on our pond. Now we just run open hoses and everything looks great.

@@StIsidoresFarm Is everything still looking good running open hoses? Please advise, Thank You.

Very good question, to which I can't say I have a solid immediate answer. We were blessed to have had previous owners run power down to our pond, so this wasn't a problem for us. That said, pushing air that distance will probably be cheaper than running electricity at high enough amperage over that distance to run the compressor without issue or damage to the motor. Also, rather than running heavy duty hose, which will be more expensive, I think you could probably run PVC pipe and bury it a few inches. The issue will come in the PSI output of the compressor. It's going to have to work a lot harder to get the air that far AND THEN push up from the bottom of the pond. How deep is your pond? You can actually calculate the PSI of the water at that depth to figure what the compressor is having to push against. I suspect you're going to have to get a larger compressor. Other option might be solar. I've been seeing a lot of posts and videos on solar set ups for aeration and they seem to work well. Cost is a bit higher initially, but it may save you money, time, and trouble up front. That is probably the route we would have gone were it not for the power source by the pond. Hope this helps. God bless!

I have done some research on solar, but to be honest I still question if the technology is really there yet, I almost have to wonder. I'm going to get some better measurements today, just to see exactly what I'm looking for. My other thought is to run some power that way myself, problem there is I'm no electriction and I'm wondering about the voltage drop over that distance would be.... This is a nice pond, not huge, about 120 X40 feet, around 8 foot deep at the most. But it is disgusting, very stagnant, very stinky, been wanting to do something with it for a while, but with the power situation it has always held me back...

I suspect you're right about solar. We have a sixty amp service that was run about that far. You could certainly save yourself a lot of money by renting a trencher and taking the most labor intensive part of the job away from an electrician. Then they just have to do the work at the panels. You can also by the cable yourself (they sell it at Lowes and Home Depot), and run that, too. Then the electrician only needs to set panels. What I can say is this - aeration will make a big difference in the pond water quality.

Oh for sure, I no that aeration will do doubt make a huge difference, was just down there this morning looking things over and thinking about my options. Either way, thanks for the input and again, good video with allot of good information.

You're welcome - thanks for watching and commenting!

Interesting - I've wondered if this hose is available somewhere for a better price. Looked up 3/8" ID fuel hose. Quick search comes up with it for sale cheaper, but not in lengths over 25 feet. Would be great to find the same sort of hose for a much better price. As to the Hiblow compressor - yes, it does work great. Really happy with it.