# Blue tilapia and spring fed ponds.



## Bazzin05 (Feb 2, 2011)

So this is probably a dumb question but if you stock blue tilapia in a pond that is spring fed, would some of them be able to survive the winter hanging around the springs? I know the water temps will be warmer around them but not sure if anyone has experience with this.

Thanks


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## hang_loose (Apr 2, 2008)

Odds don't look to good but some may survive. They will have to be big enough to not get eaten by other preds (they slow down a lot in cooler water).


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## Bazzin05 (Feb 2, 2011)

Thanks Hang_loose. I was thinking the same thing but was just wondering since the springs are constantly pumping out water that is much warmer. I know I have a natural spring in my back yard that flows good all year and the I actually have to weedeat the grass around it twice during the winter or else it will be 2' tall buy spring. So I was just thinking that if grass keeps growing would the water stay warm enough for tilapia to live and maybe even keep growing.


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## creekcrawler (Oct 5, 2004)

Dang. If I had a spring fed pond, it'd be full of trout/


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## Lundy (Apr 5, 2004)

I have had tilapia in my pond the previous 3 years. 

If the water would stay warm enough, above 55-60, I guess they could make it through the winter. Mine survived until early November each year

Tilapia put in or born in early summer will be way too big for any predators to eat them when they get slow. Any born late will be easy meals


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## Bazzin05 (Feb 2, 2011)

Thanks for all the info guys! There are actually 3 different spring fed ponds on the property. They stay warm enough that the surface rarely freezes solid over top of the springs that are 15' down. It schools all the fish up in those areas all winter long. Might be worth a try one of these years just to see what happens.


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## M.Magis (Apr 5, 2004)

It's seems highly unlikely that the springs are producing water warmer than 55 degrees. Water freezes at 32, there's a big spread between those two temperatures. Check the water temp near the springs next winter, it'll be a lot cheaper than buying fish.


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## keith_r (Jun 18, 2010)

my tilapia (in my basement aquaponic setup) made it through the winter and water temps got down to 48f - i have blues and niles.. lost a couple out of 100, but most were fine, just stopped eating


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## Bazzin05 (Feb 2, 2011)

Thanks fellas. I will definitely drop a thermometer down into the water around the spring next winter and see what kind of temps there are down there.


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## [email protected] (Dec 22, 2006)

Water is most dense at 39 degrees and it sinks...the reason turnover occurs in the fall/early winter. At some point, that pond will be very close to 39 degrees top to bottom unless we're talking about a goldfish pond with several GPMs flow. It would take tremendous amount of Spring flow to overcome this temperature difference to keep tilapia above fatal levels. I am 99.9% certain none would survive...but I would seriously consider trout myself if they could survive the summer. If trout won't make it through summer, there's no way tilapia will make it through winter.


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