Platinum Koi

Development of Platinum Koi Fish Farm was started as a sole proprietorship in October 1993 by Servaas de Kock with his wife, Retha, as co-proprietor. Later, in December 1994, the status of the entity was changed to a close Corporation.

The Farm is located at the foothills of the Riversonderend mountains near the town of Bonnievale in Cape Province. The Boesmans River runs through the property of 155 ha of which about 8 ha has been developed over the years for Koi farming. The facility boasts a hatchery with some 38 ponds totaling 526 m3 of water for breeding, handling and finishing of Koi, and 42 mud grow-on ponds (95 000 m3 total). Through constant attempts to improve quality, our locally produced Koi have continued to improve and many a prize has been awarded at local and national shows to fish originating from Platinum Koi Fish Farm.

Servaas started off with a clear vision to develop the then infant Koi market in the Cape, to promote the hobby of Koi keeping and to improve the quality of Koi available in the shops. In order to assist with the marketing of his locally produced Koi, he joined forces with Elsabé Bruwer and Hannes Uys to form the Koi specialty shop, Kindai Koi, also as a Close Corporation, in February of 1996. Kindai Koi quickly fulfilled its purpose and a second shop was opened in Somerset West, followed by a Joint Venture with the Beckx family in Durban.

However, having established markets and reputation, the retail businesses started to detract from the focus of the core business and in late 2000 and early 2001, these retail interests were disposed of.

Due to market demands, higher grade Koi had to be imported for the retail trade from selected Koi farms in Japan and Taiwan, countries with whom the partners had developed exceedingly cordial relations over the years. Fish were also imported small and grown-on for increased profits. It was realized that it would take several years to build up sufficient stocks of quality fish of all sizes the market demanded and that this practice would have to continue for some time.

The substantial stock and breeding fish of Orient Koi Farm were purchased in July 1997 and the facility of 23 mud ponds and extensive hatchery, located in Leeufontein near Cullinan, leased. Orient Koi Farm started breeding Koi in 1992 with a small but high quality breeding stock and promising crop of Koi of several varieties. Over the years the reputation of Orient as a producer of top quality Koi was established throughout the industry, this fact being driven home by the Orient-bred Koi of the Goshiki variety that won a 2nd place in the 1998 All Japan Shinkokai Nishikigoi Show. The acquisition of orient not only greatly enhanced our production capacity but also our image. The Orient land was purchased in October 1999.

The lessons we have learnt from the history of Platinum Koi is that the business has been under capitalized ab initio.
The business depends upon reaching critical mass in order to be able to deal with distributors of volume in the target markets. Having said that, many lessons have been learnt whilst waiting for the capital to flow, i.e. those of husbandry at scale and the ability to contain costs.

The drivers of the business have been identified and essentially, quantitavely, they are those of sales, driven by production which in turn is driven by the area of water under production and the units produced per area.

Also of immense importance is the qualitative measure of broodstock. How good are the parents fish in term of the quality of product they engender, this in turn leads to the measure of broodstock which concerns itself with the numbers of quality progeny they produce.

The business is constrained by the numbers of varieties of Koi held in stock (up to 15 is possible) and the sizes necessary to be carried (a minimum of 4). When it is realized that an order can be up to a 100 of each of the 60 variables per week for 30 weeks, the volumes necessary to be carried in stock become apparent.

Basic Guidelines for a successful pond

Koi can only be reared to reach their full potential if the pond in which they are kept is a healthy and spacious environment. At the same time the ponds cape (the pond and its surrounds) should be pleasing to the eye and allows easy access for viewing the collection.

Location: Not too close to the foundation of a building. To catch morning sunlight and be shaded in the afternoon. Far away from trees to avoid attracting root growth and being plagued with falling leaves or poisonous flowers, fruits or seeds. Close to the water and electricity supply and waste drain.

The pond and filter form a living ecosystem and must be aerated and circulated constantly. It is essential for the pump and filter to run without (or at least with minimum interruption).

Creating and managing a Koi collection

The traditional foundation of most collections are the Gosanke varieties (Kohaku, Sanke, Showa) and single specimens of the other varieties are included to add variety.

• only buy Koi which are free of any disease.

• Select Koi with good body shapes.

• Select Koi without injuries or scars.

• Avoid Koi with obvious defects as these tend to become more emphasized as the fish grows.

Caring for your Koi

Water Quality

Good water quality is essential to the health of the collection. A new Koi pond will take several months to mature. Even mature ponds need to be monitored regularly for pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate for which test kits are freely available. Filters need to be flushed regularly.

Feeding

Koi are fed on artificial and natural foods. Floating pellets, paste food, shredded greens, shrimps and earthworms are eagerly consumed.

Feed small amounts at short intervals because Koi do not have stomachs to store food. Remove excess food floating on the surface after the fish have fed. Stop all feeding when the water temperature has dropped to a stable 12 degrees C.

Health Care

Naturally occurring disease organisms are present in all ponds. Healthy fish have immune systems which can keep disease at bay. If the natural balance in the pond is upset, disease may strike. This could happen when new fish are introduced with an increase in disease organisms, nutritional imbalance or malnutrition. Injuries do happen when fish bump and scrape against surfaces or when they are handled without proper accessories and patience.

Disease and injuries can be detected and treated in time by daily observation of the collection.

Platinum Koi's Retail services

Our goal is to promote Koi keeping through encouraging enthusiasm for the hobby, educating Koi keepers in the skillful management of their collections and providing comprehensive support service along with quality Koi and products to Koi keepers.

Contact us:

Platinum Koi Farm
Boesmans River
Bonnievale

Tel: +27 23 616 2083
Fax: +27 23 616 2082

E-mail: platinumkoi@iafrica.com
web: www.platinumkoi.com