Extract from Koi Talk - South African Koi Keepers Society
PERSONALITY OF THE MONTH – PAUL VILJOEN
Contributed by - Janice Gardiner-Atkinson
For February’s social meeting">
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Extract from Koi Talk - South African Koi Keepers Society
PERSONALITY OF THE MONTH – PAUL VILJOEN Contributed by - Janice Gardiner-Atkinson For February’s social meeting, we visited Paul Viljoen’s place in Tableview and what a surprise was in store for us! Not only did we get a wonderful spit braai, 9 different ponds, a 93 cm fish called Garth, some gentle rain for a change (and they even had electricity, which most of the rest of us didn’t), but we were also treated to Paul’s and Aggi’s unbounded enthusiasm for Koi keeping, an energising and motivating experience for us all. Read on, in Paul’s words, how he got into Koi keeping and what his plans for the future are….. Almost throughout my entire life I lived in beachfront houses and I became so use to the sound of water that I almost get uncomfortable without it. After my divorce three years ago, I left my beachfront house with the waves in my ears behind and moved to Table View. When the lack of the sound of water drove me crazy, Aggi, my partner, suggested to me 18 months ago that I should build a pond and get Koi fish. My hobby and passion were always fish, except, I would go to Dassen Island almost every weekend with my boat to catch crayfish and fish. Fish was just something to catch and eat. Well Aggi was determined, she pitched up at my house a few days later and surprised me with four big Koi. I was forced to fill my children’s portapool with water and put the fish in there and the pressure was on. No filtration, no UV, so the water turned green very quickly and I realised, only one way to go, and that is the proper way. I started to dig and the more I dug, the bigger the pond got. With no experience in either building operations or ponds, I personally created a 10 000 litre pond with concrete and fibreglass in two weeks, but only after a lot of blood, sweat and tears. After so many disappointments like waking up the next morning only to see yet another leak and no water, and after building up layer on layer of fibreglass, I finally transferred the 4 Koi to the newly created pond. What a pleasure!! They were welcomed with Champagne and the works. Being in a stressful job with my own firm of Attorneys, I used the pond to unwind after a hard day at the office or in Court and it gave me a great haven to escape to. I soon realised what a great personality Koi have, eating out of my hand, each having their unique habits. Needless to say, I got hooked. After twelve months and hundreds of PVC fittings I had 300 Koi and created nine more ponds on my residential property. I also realised that Koi keeping is a specialised field and I was forced to do some study. I joined SAKKS, read every Koi book I could lay my hands on, studied every internet site I came across, met a few very knowledgeable people and Aggi’s seven years of practical experience was a boon. I became quite knowledgeable within 6 months and then decided to share my knowledge and created my own web site on Koi. I received a great response from all over the world and sold quite a few fish through the site, and Aggi, who is a professional artist, sold quite a few Koi paintings as well. After my not so successful first attempt to breed in February last year, I bred two very successful batches in November and December and the almost 2000 babies (after culling) are developing great. What a challenge and what a satisfaction!! I have now reduced my quantity to 170 to make space for more Koi that I want to bring in from Malaysia in April. So, the one thing is leading to another. My kids did get their portapool back ..but only for a while. Every time they get a new pool, it gets filled with fish again and they have now given up. At least I have now got an excuse to get myself a smallholding, as there is not even space for one more pond unless I go to the roof of my house. Currently I am creating a mud dam on a farm of one of my clients in Wellington to accommodate some of my babies. My friends already told me that I went Koi crazy after the initial 4 Koi that were forced onto me only 18 months ago. Well, so be it. I was asked about my favorite fish, well.. without doubt my 93cm gentle giant Matsuba. Unbelievable how the other fish respect her size, and for all you know, her knowledge. As far as quality is concerned, I lost my favorite very expensive and beautiful showpiece Kohaku during spawning and will never spawn with a showpiece again. This was almost my only big disappointment since I started with Koi. The rest was just one big pleasure, the sky is the limit, and nothing is going to stop me. Go for it Paul, we look forward to seeing some of your "stars" at the show in May! Thanks for the hospitality, Paul and Aggi!
Social event at Paul's house:-
Lionel explained a bit about oriental culture and symbolism
Aggi on Feng Sui and how it relates to Koi
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to be updated soon
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