We've had our front yard pond for 6 years now so I know what kind of maintenance is involved. It's only about a 7 x 8 pond with a long stream bed, but the maintenance has been pretty minimal. I haven't opened up the skimmer once this season. Although there's a Heron in our area that ate all of our fish 8" or less
. We're going to get one of those motion sensing hidden scarecrow things next season.