Ponds are most enjoyable features, but they come with a price tag of
being responsible for the critters that live there. It should be
deep enough so it doesn't freeze solid and has enough room for fish
and whatever to hibernate under the ice. The ice must also have a
hole to allow gasses to exit, otherwise fish waste and mulm (bottom
buildup) will rot slowly during the winter and the gasses formed will
kill your wet pets. If there is enough shade to keep the water
temperature below 90 degrees in the summer you shouldn't have to worry
about too much sun.

Download rec.ponds and read a while and look at the url's in the
messages, you'll get a lot of good ideas there.

Regards,

Hal

On Sat, 05 Jul 2003 18:32:46 GMT,
(Jacquard_The_Ripper) wrote:

We're not sure
about the pond yet. We're pretty handy and want to do it ourselves.
It gets very cold here in the winter. The backyard is a mixture of
sun and shade, mostly dappled shade.