"Russ,
I have been keeping an above ground pond that I built to test the concept now for over a year. The response I get from people when they see it has been remarkable. Everyone really seems to enjoy watching the fish through the clear sides. With all other backyard ponds the problem has always been seeing into the pond through the surface. The clear sides of my pond also has an important benefit for the plants . Light can get in from all sides so aquatic plants grow very well. I take advantage of the good plant growth to allow my pond to be run without a filter. The plants naturally provide the process to convert the fish waste to plant food. My tank is 260 gallons and heavily planted with pond lilys, amazon swords, parrots feather, sagittarious, and duckweed. For fish I have about 250 fancy guppies, two large sailfin plecostomus (they are my window cleaners), one Hawaiian sculpin and a rather large sarasa comet goldfish. There is also a bunch of bullfrog tadpoles and a half grown bullfrog. To keep this menangarie going I change half the water about once every ten days. The pond has provided many enjoyable days sitting around it watching all the life. I think you'll really enjoy having a backyard pond like this."