Koi keeper regales in joys of his passion

The timeless tradition of keeping koi will be celebrated when the national koi show takes place at Shongweni Polo Club on Saturday and Sunday, 23 and 24 July.

Athlone Park’s Bruce White has been an avid koi keeper for more than 25 years and a member of the Natal Koi Club committee for more than 10 years.

“I started keeping tropical fish and goldfish since the early 70s, and used to breed with my mentor Mr Beanham,” he said.

“If I saw a nice koi, I would buy it and I thought it was a good fish. When we moved to Athlone Park in 1992, I got involved with a Toti koi merchant Graeme Whitle and he suggested I build a koi pond.

He advised me that if I decided to, to build it properly so that I only had to build it once.”

Although the cost to build a decent pond was expensive for Bruce, he started to give it serious thought and do research. “I needed lots of space, shelter for the fish to hide if they needed to and shade.”

The perfect place was in the front of his house. The only problem was his wife’s garden was in the way, but this soon disappeared to be replaced by his 45,000-litre pond, measuring over 17 metres in length, 1.2 metres deep and an average of two metres in width.

“The priority was water management. If you look after your water, the water will look after your fish and all you have to do is feed them.”

Bruce’s main filtration is a full biological system which deals with all types of bacteria and removes ammonia from the water. Plants through which the water flows remove nitrates.

Four bottle drains in the pond keep it self-cleaning by removing sludge off the surface of the water and depositing it in a dump tank.

Bruce conservatively estimates the value of his 23 koi to be over R100,000. “My limit to spend is R4,000 a fish. Some keepers can spend R200,000 on one fish. The value is a negotiation between the buyer and seller.”

His largest koi, an orange ogon, is 84cm in length and weighs between 12.5kg and 15kg, and at 27-years-old is also his oldest.

“A koi is judged on its genetics, which determines its growth, bloodline and breeder, body shape and pattern.

At nationals in 2014 a judge from The Netherlands awarded the judge’s choice title to two of Bruce’s fishes and runner-up in the supreme champion category. Over the years his fish have won numerous first places.

But it’s not all about awards – it’s the sheer joy these magnificent fish bring to Bruce, which is evident in listening to him speak about his hobby.

“Maybe I have fish blood in my veins,” he joked. “I did a lot of fishing with my dad when I was a young boy, so maybe that’s why I have such a passion for fish. It’s not a cheap hobby, but the love and joy I get from the different varieties and colours makes it so worthwhile.”

The national koi show opens to the public free of charge from 8am, with judging on the Saturday, followed by prize-giving on Sunday.

Stand a chance to win two tickets to the show by entering our online competition

Competition closes on Thursday, 21 July at noon.