"Hier staan die wes kaapse koi manne"We had another wonderful pond safari and social event on the 2nd of November as you can see from the image above, die manne het lekker gekuier en koi gepraat. Daar was omtrend 20+ mense wat hierdie geleentheid bygewoon het. With each event the koi friendship get closer and closer.
We started of at the house of Paul Viljoen, he will probably better known to most as Koi Online.
Paul's house and garden is koi keeper utopia. There are several small ponds housing a wide range of koi. There are so many ponds that i can discuss it all in detail but please Click here to see Paul Viljoen's setup.
Photo of Paul Viljoen se Backyard
Paul also runs the local forum KoiOnline where a lot of local koi keepers participate sharing ideas and offering each other help.
Nadat almal goed rond gekyk het, het ons verder beweeg na die huis van Wayne Coetzee.
Wayne se dam is baie onlangs gebou. He got started with koi about 2 years ago when a friend of his In Muldersdrift was selling his farm and did not want to leave his koi behind in the mud dam.
He had approx 12 fish. So he gave them to Wayne. Wayne told us that he had only about 6 weeks to get his pond built and ready before receiving the koi and the rest is as he says is history.
Wayne se dam is in 'n halfmaan vorm gebou en hy se die dam bevat so 11 000 liter water. Wayne Coetzee is ook 'n lid van die Koi Online forum en dit is waat hy baie van sy hulp vandaan gekry het.
After about 30 minutes be moved onto the house of Jannie Pretorius.
Jannie lives in Tableview and started his fish keeping career with gold fish. He still breeds different types of gold fish in small ponds but koi have taken over the lime light of the gold fish in his life.
Jannie's pond has total literage of 18000 liters and is perfect for displaying koi in. The pond is not deep but that does not distract from its beauty. I took a video to try and show everyone the overall effect that his pond has.
Everyone present was mesmerized by the beauty of this pond and all the koi swimming around.
Van Jannie se huis af is ons na Chris Van Tonder se huis toe.
Chris Van Tonder lives in West Beachand have only been keeping koi for a few months but has already managed to build an amazing pond. He also recently managed to spawn some of his fish. Everyone can see that he is a real enthusiastic koi keeper.
His 47 000 liter pond was constructed from ROC blocks which was rendered and fiberglasses. There are 3 bottom drains which flows to a settlement chamber that contains brushes. The next chamber contains matala matting, from here the pumps suck the water which then passes through 2 x 4 Bag sand filters. The water then flows from the 4 Bag polishing sand filters to two 3 Bag Sand filters that are used as bio logical filter that contain Bio Balls and ceramic rings. Chris mentioned that he is now planning to make some alterations to his filtration system by adding 2 Nexus 300's.
The pond is very well aerated with air being introduced into the pond through 3 venturis and the water fall. There is also a 50m pipe with holes in it through which air is pumped.
Dit is nou ook hier waar die manne so gekuier het. Chris en sy vrou het uit eie koste initiatief dit ekstra spesiaal gemaak deur ons te "treat" me drink en eet goed. Al die besoekers het die vriendlike koi kuiertjie baie geniet en vir chris en sy vrou bedank vir hierdie wonderlike geleentheid. Die pond safari het 10 uur begin en van die eerste mense is eers hier van 2 uur af daar weg. Ek het gehoor die laaste mense is eers so teen 8 uur daar weg.
As everyone can see this was a very, very successful pond safari and everyone enjoyed it thoroughly.
Please remember that our next event in December is with the Koi Network in December. We have been invited to their pond safari and year-end function on the 7th of December 2008. Please find the details below:When: Sunday 7 December 2008
Where: Constantia area
Time: 02:00pm sharp
Meet: To be announced
RSVP:
A.S.A.P. I need to get a rough idea of numbers, as there is a minimum number needed to book the spit braai / catering. Cost : R95 - per person, If you will be attending the spit roast.
For enquiries and bookings please contact Robert: 021 531-2607 or koinetwork @ dreamweb.co.za
Groete aan almal en ek hoop ek sien julle almal in december.
Wayne Barker
Http://www.KoiAdventures.co.za