Koi Fish Beginner

Question
Greetings Carlo,
I recently bought my first house and am interested in Building a Koi pond but have been running across information that is making me think twice about it.  I live in Colorado.  Anyways,
The area where I would like to put the pond is about 6 feet away from two 8 foot tall Blue Spruces-the needles may cause a problem when the tree grows and I am wondering if this location would likely not work out in long run.
Second, The area that I could dedicate to the pond is about 8'X 8'.  I can dig to about 3.5 to 4 ' at i8ts deepest point without a problem and I would like to know whether koi would be happy in this size enviroment or must I dedicate a larger area for them?
I have more questions but perhaps we coukld begin here.
Thank you for your consideration,
Sincerely,
Donald Mckinnon

Answer
Hi Donald!

The trees would not be so much of a problem because they don't shed a lots of needles. Of course you should have a skimmer to catch most of them before they sunk.
The number of koi could be dtermined by the filtering system in use.
I would recomend you doing some reading on the subject before getting started.
There is a wonderful book called "The Cult of the Koi"
by Michugo Tamadachi, one of the greatest koi breeders fom Japan.

Keep in touch!

Carlo