Originally Posted By: Bill Cody
Do some research here about geothermal systems and loops in the pond. There has been several discussions / topics here about that, but I have not followed them since I don't think it is a good idea to have the loops in a pond for fisheries. My loops are in the ground (6'-7') and my fish are in the pond. IMO bottom aeration interferes with geothermal efficiency esp in mid summer when at our latitude a well aerated pond will have bottom temps of 75-84F - depending on compressor run times. Deeper ground temps are around 50F whereas winter temps of the pond will be 39.8F.

HSB can be raised easily in a pond as small as 0.2 ac. Feeding pellets to HSB results the their fastest growth and biggest sizes when raised in ponds. They can be raised without feeding, its is just they will not excell as fast without pellet feeding. BG as main forage for HSB is not the best choice. Often other fish shuch as LMB or CC have to be included to get good population control of the BG. HSB & LMB work well together. Consider GSH as an open water dwelling forage species with HSB. There are ponds near me with YP and HSB that seem to 'work' pretty good.

A few links to forum discussions: Others here may help provide other links.
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=245030
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=102683
http://forums.pondboss.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=95204


Would an open loop change anything with this? or if i decided to go w/ SMB instead?

Last edited by Indygunworks; 08/06/12 12:07 PM.