RedForeman ©® wrote:
they have two 125's they keep in basement for all the inhabitants to stay
during winter months... he was going to heat the pond until he got an
estimate on the cost of it... quite high...

It is indeed unrealistic to heat an outside pond, in most places anyway.
However, most pond fish will easily survive the winter provided the surface
of the water is kept from freezing. An airstone-type thing works for most
folks. Where is your friend located? A friend of mine here in Austin covers
his pond with plastic in the winter and his tropical lillies keep on blooming
all year round! I'll move my pl*cos to his pond for the winter once it gets
cold around early December.

--
Victor M. Martinez

http://www.che.utexas.edu/~martiv