Visit to Q-Koi Fish Farm - 4
We then left the fish farm and traveled to Stellenbosch by a different and even more scenic route. Stellenbosch is the wine growing centre of the Province and a very interesting University town. Q-Koi Fish Farms (Pty) Ltd have a joint venture with Unistel Aquaculture, which is part of the University, and they have these packing facilities actually on the Campus. This part of the business is run by James Botha, and he is very experienced in koi management.

These two photos show only half of the holding tanks which are in this open sided building. The photo on the left just shows the six ponds on this side, and on the right side out of the photo is another six ponds. Two ponds are connected together as a set, so in fact there are six sets each of two ponds. When I visited the facility only the two ponds in the right photo contained fish, and all the other ponds were being prepared for filling in preparation for the 2002 season fish.
Each of these pairs of ponds has it's own filter which uses Japanese matting for the media. Some of this media can be seen here waiting to be fitted back in a filter. As well as the media filter there is a very large sand filter and a pump for each pair of ponds.
Here we can see a close up of one of the concrete ponds which had only recently been coated. The benching of the base towards the bottom drain can be clearly seen. The capacity of each of these ponds is 30 cubic metres, so each pair of ponds holds 60 cubic metres. The total capacity of the 12 ponds at this facility is 360 cubic metres.

The interesting part of this facility is the holding tanks where the fish are prepared before packing. These two photos are on different sides of the room and they are all different tanks. The fish are sorted and each tank holds the content of one box. The fish are purged and kept here for four days.
As the temperature in Stellenbosh is very much higher than in Europe at the time when the fish are shipped then it is necessary to cool the water before putting them into the boxes. In this room there is a refrigerant plant and so the temperature of the water itself can be accurately controlled. The red pipes contain the cooled water so that the temperature is lowered at a steady pace so as to give the best conditions for the koi. This photo shows the pipework that is in place above each tank.
Great care has been taken with the packing of the fish to ensure that they arrive at their destination in the very best condition. This special lining in the box has been designed to insulate the box, and in the case of any leakage then the water will remain in the box. This lining is used even for the small fish. All the fish are flown out of Capetown by South African Airways to their distributors in Belgium. Germany, and United Kingdom. This business as well as the fish sold to wholesalers in South Africa meant that over 80,000 fish passed through here in 2001 with over 1,000 boxes delivered.
Click on any image to see a larger image.

Visit to Q-Koi Fish Farm - 4

We then left the fish farm and traveled to Stellenbosch by a different and even more scenic route. Stellenbosch is the wine growing centre of the Province and a very interesting University town.
Q-Koi Fish Farms (Pty) Ltd have a joint venture with Unistel Aquaculture, which is part of the University, and they have these packing facilities actually on the Campus.

This part of the business is run by James Botha, and he is very experienced in koi management.

These two photos show only half of the holding tanks which are in this open sided building.
The photo on the left just shows the six ponds on this side, and on the right side out of the photo is another six ponds.
Two ponds are connected together as a set, so in fact there are six sets each of two ponds.
When I visited the facility only the two ponds in the right photo contained fish, and all the other ponds were being prepared for filling in preparation for the 2002 season fish.

Each of these pairs of ponds has it's own filter which uses Japanese matting for the media. Some of this media can be seen here waiting to be fitted back in a filter.
As well as the media filter there is a very large sand filter and a pump for each pair of ponds.

Here we can see a close up of one of the concrete ponds which had only recently been coated.
The benching of the base towards the bottom drain can be clearly seen.

The capacity of each of these ponds is 30 cubic metres, so each pair of ponds holds 60 cubic metres. The total capacity of the 12 ponds at this facility is 360 cubic metres.

The interesting part of this facility is the holding tanks where the fish are prepared before packing. These two photos are on different sides of the room and they are all different tanks.
The fish are sorted and each tank holds the content of one box. The fish are purged and kept here for four days.

As the temperature in Stellenbosh is very much higher than in Europe at the time when the fish are shipped then it is necessary to cool the water before putting them into the boxes. In this room there is a refrigerant plant and so the temperature of the water itself can be accurately controlled. The red pipes contain the cooled water so that the temperature is lowered at a steady pace so as to give the best conditions for the koi. This photo shows the pipework that is in place above each tank.

Great care has been taken with the packing of the fish to ensure that they arrive at their destination in the very best condition.
This special lining in the box has been designed to insulate the box, and in the case of any leakage then the water will remain in the box.
This lining is used even for the small fish.
All the fish are flown out of Capetown by South African Airways to their distributors in Belgium. Germany, and United Kingdom.
This business as well as the fish sold to wholesalers in South Africa meant that over 80,000 fish passed through here in 2001 with over 1,000 boxes delivered.

Click on any image to see a larger image.