Hi everyone,

I stay in CT, and i want to go and visit some koi farms near CT. But i don't know any local koi farm near CT, can any one please give me some guideline here?

Thanks
SAS

Can someone please help me....

Sas you can also vist Cape Koi farms in somerset west. The owner Richard runs it more like a hobby than a bussiness, or so he tells me. But its still impressive to see.

wayneb wrote:

Sas you can also vist Cape Koi farms in somerset west. The owner Richard runs it more like a hobby than a bussiness, or so he tells me. But its still impressive to see.

Hi Wayneb,

Thanks for your information.

You said the owner runs it more like a hobby than a bussiness, so will the owner allow a individual like me to go visit the farm and buy koi?

But the way, do they sell koi?

Can you please send me some contact details of the farm.

My E-mail:
hxxkax002@uct.ac.za

Thanks.
SAS

Hello All

Just an update on Platinum Koi

They are still up and running although they have literally started from scratch. the KHV issue seems to have been sorted. In fact they have brought in an independent health expert Danica Resoort, who has done a number of check with no negative results to date. All iof the parent stock for this years spawnings have been individually tested 3 times, and most were donated to the farm by koi enthusiasts.

they are now running a completely closed system and are not importing any fish, which was a contributor to the problem in the past. They should be ready to sell in about two weeks and at present have about 36 of their 42 mud dams full of 2cm.

They are no more likely to suffer from KHV at this point than anyone else, possibly even less likely, given that there are very few new fish being introduced to the farm

Best
Quinton Jones

Hi Quinton

Please read your post again! You are contradicting your self in several places. I don't think this is what you are trying to say. Remember people will always believe the first version.

I am curious ... from information given to me it would appear that once you have KHV in mud ponds you can never get rid of it again.

The Israelis now grow all their fish in cement ponds because of this.

Comments would be appreciated because if this is true then it actually means that an outbreak on a fish farm that use mud ponds will mean the farm is gone as far as Koi is concerned.

We went on a safari to the farm with koinetwork and I purchased 4 koi from platinum somewhere in april and have had no problems at all. There are a few others that also purchased koi there at the time even one individual that purchased 60 or 70 odd koi of wich none have been reported as problem cases as far as I know.

All my koi that I purchased from the farm are still in quarentine and will remain there for the next 3 to 4 weeks before they are introduced to my other ponds.

Ps. The above is my opinion and my experiance so dont crucify me if I made a mistake rather give me guidance or constructive critisism.

Pps. My speelllllling is still terrible

Hi Bubbles,

what is your water temperature?

@ Pieter

Its been 20 - 22 for a few days on and off thats why I said 3 - 4 weeks if the temp keeps constant above 20 - 22 for a week or two I would think its save to move them. At the moment Cape weather is exactly that on and off scorching one day raining the next.

Hi,

Thanks for everyone's reply.

regards,
SAS

By the way, i found "Koi Atlantic" on yellow page. Anyone know anything about this place?

Any KHV history about this place?

Thanks.
SAS

Koi Atlantic is ran by Julian Dreyer if my memory serves.

I think Koi Atlantic had a bit of a KHV episode last year but KHV is a very sensitive topic!

Hi Colyn

No your info is not correct!

If a farm had KHV the mud ponds can be disinfected by means of a lot of HTH and Virkon S. Once these have been applied the mud ponds must stand dry for +- 6 - 8 months with no water in. As soon as this process has been done then you must take the top 150mm soil of and replace it with new soil (Bentonite Clay). It is very costly one mud pond of 35m x 25m rehab cost is in the region of R60 000.00.

Hj Collin

I know you are very informed about this sensitive subject.

What will be the risk, should for eg. the last step, removing a 150mm top soil and replaced, being skipped in the cleaning up process?

Has no advanced been made by KHV research labs to help with this world wide problem?

As far as I know heating to 31 degrees could save some of them, but will make them life long carriers.

Is any rulling in place by SAKKS or SAKTA to prevent infected/saved Koi from entering an a Show?

wayneb wrote:

Koi Atlantic is ran by Julian Dreyer if my memory serves.

I think Koi Atlantic had a bit of a KHV episode last year but KHV is a very sensitive topic!

Hi wayneb,

Thanks for your information, do you mean they are confirmed to have KHV last year. Or they are just suspected to have KHV last year?

By the way, have you bought any koi from them before? And are the koi health?

Thanks.
SAS

Hi Sas

That question i am unable to answer. I HEARD that they had KHV but i personally have no dealing with them so i can't confim.

Maybe some of the other people know.

Heres their website - http://www.koiatlantic.co.za/

Wayne

Hmmm ... seems to me the topic of KHV in the Koi Community is not much different that the topic of HIV in the Department of Health.

Those that fall victim to it is scourged by the community and those that have not had it is scared out of their wits by it and then there is a large group that is in complete denial.

I spoke to a person that used to be a koi breeder some years back but he had the unfortunate luck to get KHV on his farm and he lost his total breeding collection plus his mud ponds were trashed. He tried what Collin described above only to find that in two or three seasons time the KHV was back. Rain created natural runoffs into the ponds and eroded the liner clay and exposed the old soil and BAM the virus is back.

Maybe it is time for the Koi Community to hold a decent symposium and invite all the known victims of KHV and start sharing experiences openly and without fear of being victimized.

In the 80's Parvo Virus nearly destroyed the Rottweiler population in ZA with many breeders going bankrupt. A number of us got together and with the support of two vets from Onderstepoort we ended up with a Parvo Management regime that worked well. Many other breeders were really sceptic but after my third litter with zero losses some people changed their minds and today Parvo is still feared among the Black and Tan breeders but it is no longer a demon virus.

Just my thoughts.

wayneb wrote:

Hi Sas

That question i am unable to answer. I HEARD that they had KHV but i personally have no dealing with them so i can't confim.

Maybe some of the other people know.

Heres their website - http://www.koiatlantic.co.za/

Wayne

Hi Wayne,

Thanks for your information.

regards,
SAS

Hi All

Bobby

When we had the problem 4 years ago we went the full disinfecting rout. Our farm was the first farm in the world to be disinfected on such a large scale. We started off by culling all aquatic live on the farm. Then we start the disinfecting process once that was done we waited 6 months then we started the rehabilitation process. The rehabilitation process took 2 months so in all there was no aquatic live on the farm for 8 months.

During this I attended a world wide KHV seminar in the UK that was representing all the major koi producing countries in the world. Out of this a task team was established to get KHV listed as a notifyable disease at the OIE. In 2006 the OIE finaly made KHV a notifyable disease we now are trying to get it listed as a controllable disease. This will mean that the local government will be responsible for the containment and the clean up process at the infected farm. They will also then reimburse the farmer for brood stock losses only if the farm had all the preventative measures in place as stipulated by the OIE.

Then we bought in eggs from a farm that we know was KHV free and started the testing process for 6 months after a 150 negative tests we declared the farm KHV free. It is now 4 years and 758 tests later and the farm is still KHV free.

The only reason we take of the top layer is to get rid of all the tons of HTH and Virgon S in the soil.

KHV research is making headway but the virus has mutated so it is ongoing we gain a lot of knowledge from all the research that is going on and we are still working very closely with some of the most advance projects in the world. We are currently trying to get more funding for the German and USA projects so come on donated some money for them. As you know most of this research is mostly privately funded as well.

I can not comment on behalf of SAKKS but I can say that the SAKTA don’t encourage super heating. We believe in culling all possible contaminated fish even if it test negative. The rule in SAKTA is if 1 fish test positive for KHV in a system you cull all the fish in that system. So that way no possible carriers can go to shows.

Colyn

If you know the KHV virus you will know that it is temperature sensitive and that it will die of with prolong periods of time out said of a host simular like HIV. The only reason we take of the top layer is to get rid of all the tons of HTH and Virgon S in the soil not to seal the contaminated ground under the top layer. After 6-8 months the KHV virus will most definitely be dead if there was no host. There are some scientists that say even if you don’t drain a pond after you cull all the infected fish and wait 48 hours and reintroduce KHV negative fish in it they would not get KHV as the virus can not stay alive for that period of time with out a host. But I would not try it.

And yes it is only the once that have the true passion for koi and had an out brake of KHV and saw first hand the devastation that is trying to do some thing about it.

All the others just see koi as money making machine and don’t care if they sell an infected koi to a koi keeper.

After all if the koi keeper loses all his fish he will come and buy again and again and again…………….

Hi Colyn

KHV is obviously a dangerous and sensitive Topic because it affects peoples business on which they are financially dependant and so they dont want everyone to know about it.

From a Koi keepers perpective - I would be very carefull when buying koi, especially if i know a person had KHV before and I might possibly go as far as to not buy from that breeder / dealer again for a year or two. - Is that wrong of me? I dont think so, we all stand to loose with this disease - just some people more than others.

So i guess comparing it with HIV is valid.

Wayne

Hi Wayneb

I dont think you are wrong for wanting to play on the safe side because trust is a difficult thing to earn it would seem after KHV has hit a farm or any other establishment.

The only reason I purchased koi from platinum was because we had a chat with Quinton and Jonathan aswell as a lady I cant remember her name that was in charge of health issues and tests etc. anyway The way they explained to us the procedure they went through to get rid of KHV and the fact that they were open to any questions or debate in public gave me the feeling that I could trust them since there was no beating around the bush and a spade was called a spade not a rose patch.

So thats my reason for the purchases made although I am still carefull as with any purchase from any establishment.

If however I pick up problems and have the apropriate tests done I will know what I am dealing with -- Facts -- not hear say or maybe's.


Ps. As Usual these are my opinions and experiances I am open to debate and constructive critisism.

Thank you for your response Collin and yes it is true ... it is the passionate responsible breeders that are doing the most for the industry and I do agree that some ignorant and or greedy dealers do not take enough precautions. I do not believe that any person in his right mind would send an infected fish into the world.

I visited Julian Dreyer of Koi Atlantic earlier this year and yes he did confirm that he was also hit with the KHV virus on his farm at Hout Bay. Julian has a theory how this happened and I got the impression that he was very open about the issue and that he took the matter very seriously. As far as I know he is up and running again and I am sure Julian will share his experience with you.

Hi Colyn

And yet there are a lot of them that do. I am sorry to here that your friend could not recover after KHV.