Idea: I want to build a little (250-300 gallon) pond in the backyard of
my suburban north-Florida home.

Question 1: Will this little pond be a serious haven for mosquitoes and
every other nasty, winged insect (including fire ants that love black
plastic like my planned pond liner spread over the ground)?

Location: My backyard is fully fenced-in (5-foot high wood fence) and
is located in the middle of a residential area. The site I selected is
about 30-35 feet away from my patio area, and one end will be located
at the top of a hill the other end will be about 5"-6" lower. I
figured I can just berm up the lower end. Then drape the end of the
plastic pond liner over the top of the berm to hold the berm in place.
(The soil in my yard, like most of Florida, is very sandy.) There'll
be a small (8-foot high) Dogwood tree located on the south side and a
section of my backyard's fence will be located west side of the pond
and will shade the later evening sun. In all, the pond will probably
get about 6 hours of direct sun and a couple hours of semi-shaded.

Questions 2 & 3: Is this location okay? Or will it get too much sun...
and end up being green, algae-filled swamp in a matter of weeks?

To add interest to my little pond, and to keep the bug population in
check, I figured I'd add some inhabitants. I figured the best thing
to add would be some local tadpoles, minnows (little bluegills/panfish
or whatever they're called in this part of the country) a couple
adult frogs, and maybe a turtle or two.

Questions 4 , 5 & 6: Best to stay with local creatures, right? What do
you think about adding some African Cichlids (in place of the local
fish), from a tropical fish store? Cichlids are tough little fish,
surely they could survive in my pond, right?

I also want a little water fall on one end of the pond.

Questions 7, 8 & 9: How gallon-per-hour pump should I use? How many
hours a day should the pump run? Should my pond have some sort of
filtration system?

Question 10 & a bonus: Are ponds worthwhile or are they more bother
than they're worth?

Please give me your thoughts, ideas and experiences.

Patrick