Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Water Temperature

Hey all, im new to the fish pond world. I really want to construct an indoor trout pond to hold brook trout. I was just wondering how i would keep the water between the recommended temperature range for trout (55-65). Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks much!!!

Welcome to the forum!

1) Water exchange from your well - make sure you oxygenate the water before adding it to the trout pond.

2) Water chiller for an aquarium. Sized appropriately for your pool of course.

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=16+2148&aid=2910

Hope this helps. If it doesn't, ask away!

Yes that is very helpful! Exactly what i needed. My next question for you is what should I feed them? Can I have live fish in it for feed? I was thinking golden shiners just because they are easy to get where I live.

That depends on the size of the golden shiners and the size of the trout. The forage fish have to be small enough for them to eat. Trout feed on commercial trout pellets readily, and you can get an automatic feeder so you don't have to be there every day at the same time.

Your trout will grow much more economically if you feed them pellets instead of live fish. It will take about 8-10 pounds of fish to increase weight of the trout one pound, but it will only take 1.5 to 2 pounds of pellets for the trout to increase weight of one pound.

Unless as Esshup suggests it's complete flow through you will have issues with water quality and sick fish. That is unless you are well versed in partial flow through and the possible use of a biofilter and automatic waste control.

If your pond/tank is circular makes sure your flow is tangential to the outside wall both at the surface and below the surface to create a centripedal flow (tea cup effect) that will move solids to a center drain. It's imperative that you remove settleable and suspended solids on a regular basis or you will have sick fish.

Your other option is a raceway. Anything in between the two indoors will just be a waste collector and be a nightmare to keep clean.

Ok so pellets are for sure the way to go. This has been a dream of mine for a long time but I have no clue where to begin so you guys have been very helpful. Any tips would great. I know your all knowledgeable about this type of thing so any info I can get is appreciated. What about the price that's really what's holding me back. It seems like it would be very expensive to have a trout pond in the house. Is it as bad as I think it will be?

A pond in the house would involve refrigerating the water. That cost is expensive.

Or you could leave the windows open.... Have you thought of running copper tubing inside a refrigerator then onto the water and pump it back

Pat
Edit: closed loop system

A ground loop similar to a geothermal ground loop as a RAS to cool maybe?

It seems like there are a lot of options to keep the water cool and oxygenated enough to sustain brook trout.what's the easiest way in the professionals opinion?

Way out there thought. If you have control of the room temp where the pond is, doesn't that pretty much dictate what the max water temp is?

Correct it does but if my family room is comfortable at 75 degrees, and the water temp needs to be max 65 I need to drop it 10 degrees. Just would like an easy way to do that.

I can adjust my heating and cooling system in my home by zones. My sister likes 65 for the guest room when she visits, I like my bedroom at 68 for a good nights sleep. Just set up your pond room on a separate zone and wear a light jacket when fishing.

Haha good idea bill, simple solution is say

To me it makes the most economical sense. Indoors and you want 75 degree air and 65 degree water then you pay to cool the water and pay to warm the air. Keep the indoor air temp the same as the water temp or the way that it works is you pay to warm the air, the air transfers heat to the cooler water raising the temp of the water and then you pay again to remove the heat from the water. Put on a jacket or pay a whole bunch to fight air temp and water temp against each other. Your call.