Quote:
Originally Posted by PapaBear
If you just want a nice, healthy home for your pets a 4'-6' depth is great. If your purpose is to raise massive show stoppers deeper definitely works. At the OKC Koi show my wife and I were admiring Dan and Genes GC Kohaku and MASSIVE Yamabuki (ok, my bride was drooling all over the yamabuki
). I commented on the outstanding bodies of their Koi and Gene replied that their pond is 10' deep
with heavy currents. A perfect environment for a body builder.
As to thermal layering/thermoclines, they do exist to varying degrees in different settings. ALL liquids and gases tend to establish temperature layers which change with environmental conditions. Go for a swim in a local lake during the heat of summer and you'll have a warm surface layer at the chest, a warm bottom layer at your feet, and a cool current flowing across your midsection. The cool currents across even a 1000 acre lake will maintain an even depth from end to end because the water laminates itself.
If we use pumps to create top to bottom circulation we disrupt the natural layering and thermoclines no longer are a factor. JNorth is right about northern climes needing added depth. Where I used to live (Central Wyoming, Rattlesnake Mountain Range) the frost line was 6' deep. To keep koi there I either would have needed to have a heater or a 12' deep pond.