Pond Boss Forums INTRO New Forum Member Introduction Spring fed Trout pond project

Hi everyone
New to the group and looking forward to learning some things about ponds. I live in New Brunswick Canada.
I worked in Aquaculture for the past 17 years and know salmonoids pretty well.
I also own 200 acres of remote woodland with an awesome series of springs that do not run dry in the hottest summers.
I intend to cut the lumber/firewood from an area just below the spring source and eventually dig a pond using an excavator. I have lots of questions regarding proper design, spill way or stand pipe, how large or small to build, how may GPM is needed and if foliage will be an issue?
The area is currently hardwood trees.
Main Spring is producing approx 45 gpm at min.
There are 3 other springs with in 150 ft that would support the main spring in supplying water.
Lowest water temp recorded this past winter was 7c.

Any input or advice would be appreciated. Now to start surfing the forums for great information. Thanks

Sounds awesome, Hillcrest! I've experimented with rainbow trout this winter and have been mighty impressed. Great taste, great fighters, great growth, even though they can't survive much more than about six months down here.

Two questions. First, how hot does it get in summer? Will the water exceed what trout can take? Second, what kind of oxygen levels do these springs have? Trout need more O2 than many warm water fish, and sometimes springs don't have much.

That said, I wish you the best of luck.

Hi Anthropic
My spring runs consistently at 10c in the summer. That’s about 52 F. A good temperature range for growing trout. I have never seen it go above this temp but I’m sure a pond will gain “heat” as the exchange will be slow.
Although I haven’t measured the O2 yet the trout that I raise in a 20ft fibreglass tank being fed by this spring so very well. I have about 50 (now 2 lb) trout in there since Sept 2018. I do plan to run the water from the main spring thru a degasser to add ambient oxygen. If I break up and fall the water through approx 20” of biomedia it should hopefully reach near 100% Saturation.
However, I will try to get a reading on the O2 soon. Thanks

Sounds neat