Quote:
Originally Posted by mandyplo
Another thing you should consider before digging is ( if you're considering having fish/plants) how deep you are going to make your pond. If you want to keep big fat koi in yours like I do  then you probably will want to keep them in the pond year long, throughout the winter and all.
I live in northern Ontario and the temperatures get very cold here in the winter. I made my pond 7-8 feet deep so that it only freezes about 3 feet down, and the fish can live underneath the ice. I keep a little heater in there to keep a hole in the ice so harmful gases can escape and don't kill my fish. I also keep the filter falls running all winter for aeration. If you make it deep enough you can also sink your plants to the bottom for the winter. In the spring bring them back up to your shelves and they start growing leaves fast!! This way you don't have to worry about bringing anyone inside for the winter and your fish will grow much bigger !  you do not have to worry about feeding the fish over the winter as their metabolisms slow down so much there's no need.
I've done this for two winters now and it's the easiest, most maintenance free way. |
This is what I was looking for! How deep does it need to be to overwinter them. We are looking at a 15K to 20K gal total water volume so there's no way to overwinter the fish unless I put a swimming pool in the basement.
The only problem I'm having so far is placement of the pond. I don't have any suitable area with adequate shade and will probably have to build a structure to provide some relief from the sun. We're going to buy some trees but they won't be big enough in time to provide shade for the future pond.
