Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations keeping a pond cool

We have a 75' x 100' x 14 feet deep lined pond. it gets sun from 10am to 7pm. We have Trout, bluegill, walleye, bass and a few koi in it. My problem is it gets to warm and the trout die. I have been trying to figure out how to keep it cool in the summer months. Once the ice melts in the spring we run water in it for about 9 hours a day. We have 3 seperate water lines running into it and we also have 2 run offs to keep the warmer water on the top drained off. I heard we could use frozen milk jugs to try and cool it down but not sure how to anchor them down. Was also going to try putting a tarp up over atleast half the pond hoping that might help some what. If any of you know how we can keep it cool we would greatly appreciate any information you can give.

Thanks,
D

I think the cheapest solution is to run more water volume into the pond from a well. Cecil is able to raise trout in one of his ponds by pumping 50 gallons per minute into his pond. He is about 30 miles South of the Indiana/Michigan border. Your well water should be around 53°F or cooler. You can't just run the water directly into the pond, it has to be splashed over someting to get O2 into the water and remove any harmful gasses at the same time.

If you cannot run that volume of water, I'd try placing sone shade cloth over part of the pond. There are chillers for large aquarium displays, but I have no idea what they'd cost.
Think of them as air conditioners for water.

I'm sorry, I left my manners at the door. Welcome to Pond Boss!!

we were thinking about putting a water fall in this spring plus running 1 more water line. not sure if that would help any.
We also Thought about putting some lilly pads in but that gives the herons something to hide around.
We do have a airater that runs 24/7 all year round.
Where would I find a sone shade cloth?

Kasal welcome to the PB forum, does the water your running into the pond come from a well or stream, also what species of Trout did you have in the pond.
Keeping the Temps below 70 would be good but having enough oxygen is just as important.

As esshup mentioned shading the pond would help reduce summer temps, another way of shading is to make some floating islands, simple ones could be made from sheets of 2" styrofoam.
Another way to cool the pond would be a surface fountain running during the cool nights.

maybe something like these?
http://www.euro-matic.com/hollow.html

Shade cloth is sold in many places out West in So. Cal for the nursery industry. It's sold by % of shade. Try looking in nursery supply catalogs.