• Post Reply Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic
permaculture forums growies critters building homesteading energy monies kitchen purity ungarbage community wilderness fiber arts art permaculture artisans regional education skip experiences global resources cider press projects digital market permies.com pie forums private forums all forums
this forum made possible by our volunteer staff, including ...
master stewards:
  • Carla Burke
  • Nancy Reading
  • r ranson
  • John F Dean
  • Timothy Norton
  • paul wheaton
  • Jay Angler
stewards:
  • Pearl Sutton
  • Anne Miller
  • Tereza Okava
master gardeners:
  • Christopher Weeks
gardeners:
  • M Ljin
  • Matt McSpadden
  • Megan Palmer

Backyard pond for trout?

 
Posts: 51
1
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Hey everybody, I have a question. I am thinking of building a pond in my backyard, a small one about 15-20 feet diameter, with aeration, natural rocks and all that stuff. The question, can wild river trout thrive in a pond? By thrive I mean live and reproduce.
Thanks to everyone.
Cheers, Vase
 
pollinator
Posts: 5744
Location: Bendigo , Australia
521
plumbing earthworks bee building homestead greening the desert
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
From; -5-reasons-to-stock-rainbow-trout/
Can you put trout in a pond?
The most popular reasons trout are added to ponds are: ... Small trout can be added to bass ponds in fall while the water is still warm enough for the bass to be active and cold enough for the trout to live.
They then serve as an outstanding food source for pond owners looking to grow big bass.
From; trout_pond_management.pdf
Trout live in water temperatures between 33° - 75°F, but grow most rapidly in water 50° - 65°F and are less susceptible to parasites and diseases.
Ponds are unlikely to be this cool unless fed by springs or deep groundwater.
 
pollinator
Posts: 703
Location: Sierra Nevada Foothills, Zone 7b
155
dog forest garden fish fungi trees hunting books food preservation building wood heat homestead
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Definitely possible but they are more needy than other fish. Also more delicious! They need cold water but a brown trout can survive in much warmer water than a rainbow or brook trout. I wanna say 58F is prime trout temperature but I am not sure I am remembering that correctly. They also need lots of oxygen, so go big on aeration. Like John said, this whole thing will be hard to do without a cold stream fed pond.

My neighbor had a trout pond for about 10 years but ended up switching to bass as the pond silted up and got warmer. There are tons of ponds with massive trout around my area but a little higher up in elevation,probably around 4000ft. They are all stream fed.
 
Vase Angjeleski
Posts: 51
1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
How about carp, like prussian silver carp? I hear they are very sturdy and tolerate hot and cold waters.
 
Dan Fish
pollinator
Posts: 703
Location: Sierra Nevada Foothills, Zone 7b
155
dog forest garden fish fungi trees hunting books food preservation building wood heat homestead
  • Likes 1
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Not a clue there. I'd probably go with tilapia if I had a purpose built fish pond. Just because everyone does it so there must be something to that.
 
John C Daley
pollinator
Posts: 5744
Location: Bendigo , Australia
521
plumbing earthworks bee building homestead greening the desert
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
From; /pests/invasive-animals
Tilapia were introduced into Australia in the 1970s as ornamental fish and are now a major threat to Australia's native biodiversity.
Females carry their eggs and small fry in their mouths, and these can survive for a long time after the adult dies.
Therefore, releasing living or dead fish into waterways can cause new infestations.
Tilapia is a restricted noxious fish under the Biosecurity Act 2014.
From; Wikipedia
Tilapia  become a problematic invasive species because of the  new warm-water habitats such as Australia.
But in North America it is the fourth-most consumed fish in the United States dating back to 2002.
The popularity of tilapia came about due to its low price, easy preparation, and mild taste.

'In the United States, tilapia are found in much of the south, especially Florida and Texas, and as far north as Idaho, where they survive in power-plant discharge zones.
Tilapia are also currently stocked in the Phoenix, Arizona, canal system as an algal growth-control measure.'

 
pollinator
Posts: 147
Location: North Idaho
81
  • Likes 3
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
At my last foster home we built a 20 acre spring fed pond average depth of about 26 feet.  My foster father Cliff stocked it with trout about every 5 years to keep the population up.  I always thought that if we maybe got eggs and placed them a quarter mile up the stream that fed it maybe they could reproduce but we never tried it.  

I do know that fisheries breed trout so I would imagine you could in a small pond as well.  Generally speaking though trout will not reproduce in a pond under normal circumstances.
 
master steward
Posts: 7748
Location: southern Illinois, USA
2866
goat cat dog chicken composting toilet food preservation pig solar wood heat homestead composting
  • Likes 2
  • Mark post as helpful
  • send pies
    Number of slices to send:
    Optional 'thank-you' note:
  • Quote
  • Report post to moderator
Much depends on your location.  In my area it is possible if the pond is deep enough to keep the water cool. The only lake in southern Illinois that I am aware of that has a reproducing trout population is 90ft deep.
 
What? What, what, what? What what tiny ad:
Learn Permaculture through a little hard work
https://wheaton-labs.com/bootcamp
reply
    Bookmark Topic Watch Topic
  • New Topic