Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Water chemistry Water Temps

Ok, I know this may be a stupid question, but here goes! What kind/style of thermometer is best to check water temps in a 2 acre pond?

No dumb or stupid questions here unless you already know the answer and are just testing or taunting us.
Best? Usually what ever is most available for you - often an outdoor alcohol (red) filled thermometer works okay. The water in the upper 3 ft is usually a fairly uniform temperature so if you get a reading at about 6" - 1ft deep this is good for general use. To start getting a little more technical you can buy a pool thermometer and tie a string to it and let it hang in the water about 3 ft deep from your dock. Next step in technical is an electronic remote sensing thermometer that sends a signal to a base unit up to 50-100ft. The one I have is from Springfield Instruments. The satellite or sending unit has a corded plug in probe and I have the probe sensor hanging about 3-4 ft deep. The base unit is in my house where I can easily monitor the current water temperature. The sending unit in housed in homemade plastic weather shield attached to the dock. Other electronic thermisters have long corded probes up to 20-50-100 ft long that can be lowered to various depths for deep water temerature measurements.

You can also use an indoor/outdoor thermometer that is wired. Typically they have a 10' or 12' long wired outdoor probe.

I have a cheap one from Bass Pro Shops and it works OK.