Matala Aerator

If the compressor is being placed outside, you will need the cabinet to protect the aerator from the rain and sun. If you’re placing the compressor in a well sheltered area, e.g. a shed or pump house, that is roomy and well-ventilated, so the compressor has space around it to dissipate heat, you don’t have to use the cabinet.

The deeper an air station is placed, the more effective it is. This is because as the air bubbles rise, they get bigger, and therefore they drag more water to the surface and agitate the surface water more. This agitation of water at the surface is where aeration takes place, i.e. oxygen enters the water. You can learn more about how sub-surface aerators work here. 

Placement of your air stations is important because of the zone of influence for each diffuser. You can think of this zone of influence as an inverted cone. The air station is the small point of the cone, and the water surface above is the large area of the cone. This is why placing air stations at the deepest points of your dam is important because the deeper the water is, the larger the span of the cone at the surface. This zone of influence is also impacted by anything that gets in the way of the cone. For instance, islands or shorelines will restrict the zone of influence by stopping the agitated surface water from spreading. As part of our free water treatment plans, we’ll provide advice on the exact locations to place your air stations to ensure your entire water body is adequately aerated.

The air stations are essentially self-cleaning except for in the case where you don't run them for an extended length of time. That said, it's good practice to blast the air stations every few months by shutting off all but one air station, pushing all the air through it, and then doing the same for remaining air stations, before resetting them to their previous valve settings.

Yes, although we supply bags of zeolite as part of our kits which we recommend you use. Zeolite has the added benefit of removing small amounts of ammonia from the water, and it comes clean which means when you put the air station in the water, you don’t get dirt entering the water which is what typically happens when you use sand. The reason we mostly supply bags of zeolite with our kits, however, is because it’s part of our promise to supply you with absolutely everything you need to start building your kit in the morning and be operational by the afternoon.

Yes, with our kits we send you everything you need to start the job in the morning and have it finished in the afternoon. No last-minute Bunnings runs.

Yes, you can. Here is a DIY installation video showing you how to do it. The kit can be put together with common tools like a spanner, screw drivers etc. We also offer an installation service for customers in the Melbourne area. Or we can put you in touch with a local installer.

We recommend and supply weighted hose for in the water, so it sits on the floor of your dam, and you don’t have spaghetti-like strands floating on the surface of your water. If you use unweighted hose, the likelihood is it will cost you more purchasing materials to weigh the hose down, plus it always moves and floats again over time. This will drive you crazy. 

Although it’s outdoor rated, we recommend you bury the non-weighted onshore hose in a shallow trench to protect it from UV rays as well as the lawn mower and to prevent the dog chewing it. That said, you don’t have to. For instance, if you’re running it across a garden bed, that’s okay—it's low pressure and not like electricity that must be buried.

Yes, you can. We can provide a converter to switch the power from AC to DC, but it is an expensive way of doing it. A remote setup is a cheaper way to do it. This is available when the AC power is within 200m of the shore. It involves placing the compressor next to the power source and running a non-weighted hose down to the water's edge where a valve box splits the air into the respective runs of weighted hose and air stations. If your power is further than 200m and cost is a concern, we recommend looking into surface aerators, as the solar options are typically lower in cost.

Yes, you can because there is no power in the water. The powered compressor is placed on the shore and only air is being pumped through the hoses to the air stations.