Very nice. Kool winter advice also. Something I may try once out in Kamloops. Think itds to cold here in Manitoba.

Doug, there was a time when I thought the same thing about Calgary. We had a couple of weeks last winter where the temp was down below 40 for quite some time over night and never got above minus 30 during the day!

Here are some older pics of the koi pond from a couple of years back, pretty much when the pond first came online. I like these photos because the weeds haven't taken over yet LOL.

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMG_0525.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMG_0536.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMG_0526.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMG_0540.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMG_0545.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...IMG_0029-1.jpg

And here is the hoop-house that I built for it the first year. Although I did manage the overwinter the pond successfully without the hoop house last year I do plan on re-using it this year and into the future. It is a bit more work to set up and take down every year but has quite a few advantages. One of the most important being the ability to feed the fish for longer. It effectively lengthens their feed/growing season (spring-fall) and shortens their dormant season (winter).

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMG_3840.jpg

http://i1002.photobucket.com/albums/...i/IMG_3845.jpg

As I mentioned before, with the hoop house the ice rarely froze at all, it gets quite warm under there when the sun comes out and that's one great thing about Calgary. Even if it is minus 30 degrees outside the sun could be out in full force. If you google it you'll see lots of people using these hoop houses for their ponds and/or gardens.

I do have a Buddha. The coons even knocked it over once and it weighs the better part of 25 lbs.
I hate those "Little Bastards"!

I like the weeds. Makes it look more fishy. :D Nice winter shelter. Good idea.

Nice yard... even stepped! Did you do all the work back there with the deck, patio etc too?

Thanks, and yes I did. Along with landscaping the third tier. There's a lot of yard :-(. Will have you guys over before the summer is out and I've cleaned up the somewhat neglected yard a bit..

Sweet Kien. I love the overhanging deck. I'll be putting in a 17' x 33' pond in my yard mid to late August. I have 38 tons of rock coming. This rain we've had for the last 2 weeks has not helped with my landscaping. The mosquitos are also causing me to almost quit. You might not want to go deeper. I contemplated going more than 24" deep and didn't see it necessary. If you go more than 24" deep, then you have to get a permit to comply with Alberta swimming pool regulations. And as with more water volume, means more filtration needed. If your 24" is fine, I'd say leave it. It looks awesome with all those fish. Too bad the herons ate 10 of my fish :(. That's one main reason I'll have the bridge accross my new pond, for the fish to hide. Thanks for sharing. Love it.

Holy crap that's a big pond Dez! LOL. Ya, I read up on all the regulations before I put the pond in which is why the pond is only 2 feet. I could probably live with the fence around it if I went deeper but I suspect in the end such an upgrade will likely suffer in the hands of laziness. Besides there are quite a few other things I need to do. I need to redesign the area around the pond. Would like to redo the retaining wall in something nicer. I also need to redo the waterfall. It was kind of a hack job and semi proof-of-concept that never seemed to leave the "concept" phase.. :lol:

Anyway, 24" does work out well for me but like with any aquatic hobby, the more volume the better (for the fish), not for the wallet or sanity though.. :-) Again, It's always on my mind but I doubt it'll happen.

Bridges are nice. The pond I built at my parents place is a figure 8 with a walking bridge over it. We do like to sit on the deck and sometimes put our feet over into the pond and let the fish nibble on our toes. :biggrin:

How big is your pond? I think I'm going to cheat a bit and make my pond 27". I do have a 6' fence all the way around anyway, except for my gate which goes down to about 5' due to slope. Good tips on wintering. I'll be wintering for the first time this coming winter and moving my fish from the front pond to the back.