Importance of Oxygen

Oxygen is the most important constituent of water body health. Oxygen is an essential element for all aquatic organisms that breathe. Therefore, there is a direct relationship between the oxygen concentrations and exchanges occurring in a water body, and the physiological status of aquatic organisms.

Without oxygen at the bottom of the water body, anaerobic bacteria (those that live without oxygen) produce acids. These acids not only increase acidity but also cause a massive release of phosphorus and nitrogen, two major fertilizers, from the organic sediment and into the water column. These same anaerobic bacteria put toxic gases in the water including hydrogen sulfide (that rotten egg smell), ammonia, carbon dioxide, and methane. These gases are all toxic to fish, beneficial bacteria and insects.

The concentration of dissolved oxygen found in a water body and available to the organisms, insects, fish, etc., is the result of many dynamic processes. The primary sources of dissolved oxygen are the atmosphere and photosynthesis. Oxygen-using processes, both biological and chemical, counterbalance these sources of oxygen. Any oxygen concentrations found in a water body at any specific time are the result of numerous dynamic changes.

The most important factor in getting oxygen to the bottom of a water body is that it must be done without mixing the nutrients in the sediment, and the anoxic water at the bottom with the water column by turbulent mixing. The toxic bottom gases must be removed without mixing them with the rest of the water body.

Oxygenating the bottom binds up to 97% of the phosphorus and nitrogen in the water to the bottom sediment where it becomes food for beneficial, muck consuming bacteria and insects. The insects then become one of the best foods for fish, improving fish growth, health, and number.

CLEAN-FLO’s unique aeration process is much more effective than normal aerators and achieves many benefits that conventional aerators cannot attain. Read more about lake aeration.

Algae on the surface before Clean-Flo’s inversion/oxygenation

Oxygen from the surface to the bottom produces a beautiful pond