Reefer420 said:
how deep is your pond? i've read you should make one at least 6 feet deep to keep racoons, etc. from eating the fish- or else put a screen over the top of it...
it has to be at least 3 ft deep to keep from freezing fully in the winter, right?
Wow, I can snorkle or even dive in 6'. 3' is fine.
Dig the soil right after a rain will help you a lot. I did my old 4'x6'x24" one in 30 minutes right after the rain not including the time to decorate. Never have problem with raccon. Haha, I had a big dog which looks out after my house, yard, me, my cats and even fish. Actually, it also look after my neighbors pigeon. He feels sad upon seeing a pigeon died. He drove away stray cats, a golden one in particular, from doing my super fat cat that I let her take a slimming course in my backyard. HAHAHA.
Aquascaping is completely different from SW reef in a tank though. If your pond is not too deep/big, you should always have a lot of floaters, like water lily, duckweed .... to shade the water, so that the water does not overheat. Ha, duckweed got overheat themselves too, so need a lot of them to help out. Somehow, if you start with only a little they will die off while if you start with a whole bunch they will grow more. They are extra food for your koi too. Algae issue are more likely to overrun your plants in hot water, so keep in cool. I tested water temperature in a 30G garbage as high as 95+ F in the summer!
Gborgia,
Koi does not spawn as fast as "gold fish" and as for
"gold fish" you mentioned, I assumed you are actually talking fish feeder Comets.