In the winter, the side of the pond facing the woods is always the last to freeze and first to thaw (even though its always shaded), so I may be getting a little spring water, I'm not really sure though.
I've had koi for 3 years now, last summer was when I put the trout in and I did it as an experiment. I only put 20 in as a test to see if they would live. As far as I can tell, the only one I lost was the one I caught ice fishing and it went in the fry pan
In my area, last summer seemed to have a lot of cooler than normal nights. I'm sure that contributed to my success. Who knows what will happen this summer? We may get some hot weather and I'll have to turn the kids loose with the fishing poles to get them out.
I like the idea of floating islands, I've checked out a lot of photos of them on this site and would like to make one.
Now, if someone can just breed some cool water tilapia to eat my dang duckweed, I'll be all set!
