Need help from the Muskie Gurus for a Musky Pond

[WJC05]

Im thinking about setting up a musky pond in my detached garage out behind my house..

Pond will be 18 foot in diameter and 4 feet deep. ~7600 gallons..

I have some questions about what would have to be done however...

First off, what kind of temperature range can muskie handle? I live in Ashland, KY, so temperature is going to see both extremes.. It hits 90 here in the summer and it hits 10-15 in the winter. I wont be letting the pond get cold enough to freeze over. I will probably put some kind of supplimental heating out there so there is never any ice forming. But what about heat? Water might get 80 or so in the heat of the day and probably drop back down in the low 70s or so in the night..

And finally. How many do you think I could keep in this type of a setup? Its probably just going to be muskie and nothing else. Maybe some Bluegill for food

One more question, does their eating slow down when the temperature dips colder? Im just trying to plan everything ahead..

Also another, which type of muskie do you think would do best? I see MMF *Minnesota Muskie Farm* lists Barred, Spotted, and Tiger...

Thats all for now, Im sure I will have more questions later.. Sorry for the horrible format it is in, but Im tired and the idea just now hit me LOL

 

[Bsixxx]

90 degrees whoa

invest in a big chiller

ive heard muskies in water in the high 30's low 40's still actively hunting

and your pond should be good for about three muskies?

 

[WJC05]

90 degrees air temp, but with no sunlight hitting it directly water probably at most would hit 75 to 80 most likely. I could install a small AC unit if I had to rather than a chiller...

At what temp should I not let my water go over?

 

[Bsixxx]

ive heard hottes it shouldnt surpass 78 degrees but a ll hotter is fine

 

[jtrotter77]

I live in TN and had a few muskies I raised in a pond at pond years ago when I still lived with my parents. I never had any problems. the pond was in the garage and if it was really really hot outside its maybe got to about 82 in the garage but never for very long. but as for keeping the muskie happy. especially when temps were kinda high, I just kept waterflow/02 really high. ran a huge luft pump on each end and for filtration had a 55 gallon pressurized filter that pushed alot of topwater current.
I took a 55 gallon plastic food grade drum made two inputs and two outputs. inputs were near the bottom and outputs were on top. used 1.5" diameter tubing for input and 1" for output. Filled the drum with about 6" of lavarock for good bio material and then the rest was packed with blue filter media. screwed the lid on tight and used a 2000gph pump on each imput. The outputs attached to the side of the pond wall so the water would be pushed across the top of the water and not directly down into the water. this kept the top moving smoothly and didnt disturb the water beneath alot so I wouldnt be disturbing the fish. I used filter sand on the bottom of the pond so you could see the fish easier. at first was no substrate and they had lots of shadows to hide in. hope this helps