I'm curious why you're so excited about koi, but so down on goldfish.
Given the amount of work that's going to be involved in keeping a
pond, you may want to forego the fish altogether if you're not really
into it.

I personally think that Sarasas are great to watch, especially when
they're upwards of a foot long. The tails are just incredible.

My comments about feeder goldfish were mainly regarding the poor
handling and disease that can come with those.

You shouldn't have normally have eye problems with pond goldfish
(they're not the "bubble-eyed" variety), and all of mine "swim right"
so I'm not sure what you're referring to. Are you picturing aquarium-
sized goldfish in a pond? Because, that's not what it's like at all.
They can grow 15" long. Granted, not as large as Koi, but that just
means you room for more of them.

If you're so down on goldfish, though, just start with a few koi and
see what happens. It sounds like that's ultimately what you want in
there anyway, so why bother with anything else?

The grid over your pond does easily come off for cleaning, injured/
dead fish removal, debris removal, etc. right? I'm still trying to
imagine a metal grid that size. It sounds really heavy. You'll
definitely be needing to get access to the pond water, especially
without a skimmer.

Dave