Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Hauling brook trout, Cecil?

Wood - If you put the drums inside your Explorer and added ambient water (34-39F)to the drums from the hatchery those larger volumes of water should not warm up enough in 2-3 hrs in the vehicle to pose temperature problems. Note, I would not use excessive heater action in the vehicle during the trip home and carry along some ice or snow to adjust temps half way home if any cooling is necessary. Do you plan to add some diffused air agitation to the hauling containers or use oxygen in the bags of the hauling containers? You might want to call the hatchery and briefly discuss their suggestions for hauling options. Ask them what is the water temp where the fish are being held.

By using ice additions during the trip home, I would try to slowly and gradually achieve final water temperatures in the containers at the hauling trip's end that approximate the temps of the final pond water which should be around 37-39F. Water temps measured in a hole just below the surface ice will be cooler than 39F possibly 34-36F. But if you measure the pond water temps at depths greater than 3 ft they should be very close to 39F. With this method, time spent tempering the water temperatures at the end is kept to a minimum.