We have a ground water spring on our property in Missouri that we are hoping dig out into a trout pond. Is this feasible? We are really only wanting a small pond with say 10 - 20 trout. I attached a couple of pictures of our work so far.
Hi Adam, Welcome to the forum. Glad to have you. Cecil is a trout expert and he can possibly give you the best straight forward info on the trout. There are many others here that can also give you alot of good info on them as well. I can only throw a few things out that can get you thinking about it a bit more.
I added trout to my pond in Ohio for the first time this fall. In Ohio, with an average pond, I guess that I can not expect them to last year round ( and it is spring fed). Most likely from October to April. I would think the season may be shorter for you down south. Water temp is a big concern. I cant remember what that magic number is. Springs can be colder, but aeration and water flow is a big consideration also.
Use the search features to look for past posts. You will be amazed with all the info stored here. One post will lead you to another one, and so forth. You can get lost for days with the reading. So here are a few questions that may help others guide you more, once they know your situation better.
What is the GPM of the spring? Do you know what the temp of the water is? How about during the summer? Can you aerate? Does it matter to you what kind of trout? Do you have a water source that can add to the spring flow if needed?
You may do better than you think with your seasonal trout. I have a 20 x 40 pond in my back yard that has a max depth of 4ft that I am able to keep trout in from October to Late May. I am curious if a spring pond of similar size (or smaller) could hold them through the summer.
What is the GPM of the spring? Not sure. If you dig a hole it fills in short order though.
Do you know what the temp of the water is? How about during the summer?
Water temp is in the low 50's coming out of the ground year 'round.
Can you aerate? No spring is in a wooded area.
Does it matter to you what kind of trout? Doesn't matter what kind although I prefer Rainbow because they are easy to come by.
Do you have a water source that can add to the spring flow if needed? I don't not however the spring has never been dry and there are records back to the civil war era when it was used for a pottery factory.
Just remember a spring doesn't have a one-way valve on it. If the water pressure in the pond is greater than the underground water pressure in the spring, the water will flow into the ground.
Trout don't do very well in water temps above 70°F. So, it will depend on how much the spring flowing into the pond can cool the water.
Also, most underground water (as from springs or wells) doesn't have enough dissolved O2 in it to support fish. The good thing is that once the water contacts air, it takes on O2 at a fast rate. The trick is getting the water in contact with the air. That, and outgassing is why Cecil uses a stacked colump to oxygenate his well water before it hits the pond (and to remove some iron too).
Like esshup said, dissolved O2 may be a problem. In my humble opinion dissolved oxygen is more important to trout than low temperatures (although they usually go hand in hand / correlate with one another).
From your pics, it looks like what you have dug has no place where the water is flowing out of the pool. Is this correct? Even if the water is coming out of the ground at 50 degrees it will be entering a pool that is stagnant warm water during the summer. I would think a better case scenario would be the cold spring water flowing in and replacing the warmer water which exits out to a drain. Is there a place you could siphon water to a lower area that would let you find out how quickly the the water is replaced in your hole, starting with a cheap garden hose to test it.
In my area, there are many places that I can dig and it fills up with water instantly(not from run-off). I think of it as a ground water supply, not so much a spring. The water comes in, but is not replaced with new, fresh, cold water. These get very warm during the summer because the volume of water is not being changed. We do have underground rivers, and that would be a different story.
You say that you have trout already during the winter in another pond. How about taking one of the trout and throwing it into this new pool at spring time. If you get it to live thru the summer you have some possibilities of expanding the amount of trout or the size of the pool,etc, etc. If it don't work, nothing really lost.
Turn over is very important in a trout pond not only to keep it cool but to flush out metabolic wastes which produce ammonia and nitrites. Trout are very sensitive to ammonia and nitrites.
You'll need really clear water for trout too. The gills on trout are sensitive to particulates. I know that from experience as I planted my trout initially before I had a chance to keep silt and soil from washing in. (My contractor showed up in the fall vs. the spring when he was supposed to, which didn't give me enough time to get good grass cover going. A massive gully washer storm created chocolate milky water). I had trout that had gills that were permanently fused open due to infection.
Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 11/25/1212:24 PM.
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