Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Help Could I raise fish in a stagnant water pond?

I recently moved from a big city to a small town close to a mountain range. I have about 1700m2 of unbuilt land in Argentina, San Luis, close to Merlo.

The weather is mostly mild and dry, people say its the third microclimate in the world (i have no idea what that means). The median annual temperature is around 20c (68f), in summer it can be >35c (95f) and in winter <-0c (23f) (last winter only a few days were below zero tho).

I've seen a small pond (less than 2.5mts diameter circle) in a friends of the family land, where they have koi fish. The water is dark green and totally stagnant (idk if they renew it or something). I know they have had the same fish for at least a few years without any issues (they are huge).

I wanted to have something similar but with fish I could eventually eat. My idea is to build an L shaped pond in a corner of the land (max size could be around 18mtsx3mts on one side of the L and same or more in the other side, no idea on the depth (I'd probably want it smaller since I would build it by hand).

I heard that in a town close to me they raise trouts, but its a town closer to the mountain where they have access to natural running water (small creeks running down the mountain).

My main question is, since I don't have access to this kind of water, I would have a stagnant water pond, the best I could do is maybe have a portable pool filter (I do have a big pool with pump and filter but it's on the other side of the land, far away from where I want the pond so I can't make use of that). Could I still have a pond to raise fish that I could eventually use as food in these circustances?

If it's still possible to achieve what I want, what kind of fish and aireation/filtering system should I use?

I would say it is possible, but I have no experience in south america! First maybe try to find out what is legal?

What type of fish do you have down there?

Welcome Wok
It will be interesting to have someone with a pond in Argentina. By stagnant do you mean just rainwater filled?
Does the wind blow a lot? Koi can take cold conditions that some fish might not survive.
Guess you have to research what types of fish are available in your area. Please keep us updated with your progress

Here where I live there nothing, that's why I would like a pond with fish I could eat, not only because I'll certainly enjoy spending time taking care and feeding them but also because I remember my childhood when I spent the summers at the beach with my grandfather catching fresh hake, catfish, atlantic silverside, shrimp and such right from the shore or in the docks, and it's being a long time since I ate a good fresh fish.

The only thing I can buy here is some frozen hake. I know that around 50-100km from here there are river where you can catch tarariras (I think its called wolf fish in english), carps, silversides (the big ones), a few different kinds of trouts (rainbow, brook, perch, etc). dorados and shads.


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From what I know these friends of the family who have a small pond with koi filled it with "tap water" which kinda comes straight from the mountain here, I've only seen it twice (I will be there again maybe in the next month) I don't think they do too much maintenance because the water was really dark and green and they had no filtering/aeration system at sight, just a hole in the ground with water and fish.

From 0 to 95 is an interesting stretch of temps. I have no clue as to what kinds of local fish could live in those conditions. If you have electrical power close you will have no problem with the water stagnating. Or, you could use a small windmill to keep the water from satagnating.

BTW, welcome to Pond Boss.

Definitely use bubbler aeration to get good water mixing. Do not overstock too many fish which will keep water quality better. IMO If you have tilapia in Argentina start the pond raising adventure with them. Raise them during the warm season and have pond drained and dry out in winter which keeps the bottom sediment in better healthier condition.