This is the first time I appear in the newspaper (with my name on it and spelled correctly, too.) If you happen to have a copy of Kosmo dated 23/2/2006, turn to Rencana Utama page 19, now!
cool or not?
The article talks about Koi and I was one of the keepers interviewed. One of the reasons yours truely was chosen is the fact that most Koi keepers are not exactly young. I guess I gave them a fresher face, as I quote this gem
“Kecantikan ikan koi membuatkan ramai insan yang terpesona dan ingin memeliharanya sebagai hobi. Salah seorangnya ialah anak muda, Teoh Kar Yeong.”
Translation:
“The beauty of Koi fish captures the heart of many and makes them want to keep koi as hobby. One of them is the young man, T### K## Y####.”
Interesting isn’t it? There was no link to this blog, however, my best guess is that some of the entries posted might not be very halal for the target audience of Kosmo, a Malay newspaper. Now if only we had started the whole rowing thing before the reporters left..
Xaviera, one of our badminton partners msg me last weekend and mentioned the opening ceremony at the much talked about Sentul Park Koi Center, having read from wantan production that it is a place I would probably love to go, we decided to give it a try on the rainy and lazy Sunday afternoon.
look at em lovely jumbo kois!
Compare to other Koi farms around Klang Valley and Penang, the Sentul Park Koi Center is a completely different concept altogether, and a rather good one at that. The place is located in the quiet Sentul West, a high class residential development by the YTL group. Other than the Koi Farm, the center boosts a restaurant by 2 huge koi ponds of basketball court size, a learning center, and beautiful zen garden. The entrace is a very nicely done bamboo forest set up, much like scenery in the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
prime minister Pak Lah spotted!
As the center is still quite new, there aren’t many fish in the main pond yet, perhaps only around 2 dozens jumbo (over 2 feet) kois. The farm has a few dozen cement tanks with kois of various sizes. However, since it was an opening and everyone was rather busy, there was no opportunity to get information on the pricing of their fish.
there was a koi competition too
We didn’t have the chance to try out the Yuritei Japanese Restaurant by the huge koi pond due to the ceremony. However, the menu looks pretty tempting, and very reasonably priced at 15-20+ for a set entry. Sentul Park Koi Center is definately a place to visit even for the non enthusiasts, for a Koi keeper, it’s a definate must.
as always, my excellent map
Their official site is at www.sentulpark-koi.com
Like a fairy tale, sad episode only lasts so long, it must be followed by good news, right? So Paul called me up on Saturday to inform me about a reader and fellow Koi lover Mr. Lee wishing to donate a couple kois to take the place of the departed Shiro Utsuri, I was ecstatic.
water parameters looking good
On Sunday before going over to Mr. Lee’s residence, I checked the water parameters to make sure everything is fine and that the prior incident did not happen due to unhealthy water. I was not going to introduce any new fish if the water quality is not fit. Ammonia and Nitrit were at minimal levels, pH at a healthy 7.5 ~ 8.0 range, and Nitrate at around 10 mg/l. That was good.
Mr. Lee is an experienced Koi keeper and has a marvelous pond with dozens of very high quality Koi. I particulary like the setting with the computer area situated right behind the pond, making a relaxing work station. We had a brief tour of the house and then picked up the Kois Mr. Lee so generously gave us.
soaking the plastic bags
It was a very beautiful Kohaku (red and white) and Showa (red, black, and white.) They were about 14 to 16 inches long and carries very attractive coloration and pattern, undoubtedly very high quality speciments. I soaked the plastic bags containing the kois in the pond water for a while to make sure there is no temperature shock when releasing the fish to their new environment.
kohaku released
Water from the plastic bags is then thrown away and the fish released to the pond.
showa released
There are six fishes in the pond now. 2 Kohakus, Showa, Yamabuki Ogon (yellow), Tancho (white with red mark on head), and an unidentified blueish gray koi, perhaps a Soragoi.
all the 6 kois
To prevent the Shiro Utsuri incident from happening again. I erected a peremeter fence around the pond with some plastic netting, taking a page from Mr. Lee’s set up of his koi pond.
fence construction
It’s a simple set up, hard plastic netting fixed with cable ties on wooden stick that are hammered into the ground. I even sprayed the outer side of the wood flat black in an attempt to improve the aesthetics, but I am definately choosing safety over looks for now.
Pond still looking good isn’t it?
Finally, I want to thank Mr. Lee again for so generously donating the two excellent kois. I will make sure they are in good hands.
I was woke up by Huey Fang this morning for a bad news.. laying on the grass next to the pond was a dead koi. Appearantly jumped out after pondering the thoughts of how it would be like to live out of water, perhaps inspired by some old school Chinese stories like the Monkey God, thinking that it too, can become a god. blargh.
omgwtfbbq.. sien
The koi was a shiro utsuri, we like to call it the cow, since it’s got the New Zealand cow’s spots, but not a dalmation’s, mind you. White background and black pattern. I got this koi from the farm at Kelana Jaya near the small Giant. Right opposite of the excellent steamed rice place. The final price too, was haggled with the help of FA‘s mom, how cool was that?
14″ already you know!
From some 10″ this fella grew up to 14″, a decent size for a beautiful koi.. now dead. A very sad day indeed. I lowered the water level by 2″ and might set up some form of barrier, perhaps sacrify some asthetics to safety.. We’ll see. This is the 2nd occasion, few months ago a black and orange koi simply dissapeared. I am guessing it’s the same thing but the cat took it.
Anyone wanna sponsor me some nice Japanese Kois?
a cool and soothing atmosphere
Been a while since I posted anything on the koi pond, thougt I’d just show you noobs how sweet it looks now and explains a little about the koi pond filteration system that I had set up. The filter system is designed to require very low maintenance, and at the same time, provide a superb condition for koi to live in.
But first, lets take a look at a couple snaps I took of the pond. The plants are now growing pretty tall as compared to just a couple months ago. You can compare it with this koi pond post that I wrote a few months back on September, and also this one from August. Huge difference isn’t it? However, the green and white plants are invaded by caterpillar recently and that has inhibit the growth quite a bit. The bamboo lookalike and the red leaf plants, however, has been going bezerk. The bourgonvilla is a new addition thanks to FA.
look at the nice gardening job
the kois grew quite abit too
Now lets get a little more pro and talk about the koi pond filter for a bit. Noobs like you might need a little fishy lesson and KY’s here to provide, worry not.
Koi, like any other fish, produces waste. The primary contribution of fish waste would be ammonia, and kois don’t particulary like their living environment to be of high ammonia content. Which bring us to the why the biological filter is needed: To create an eco system that will consume koi waste and keep the water parameter in safe and healthy level for the fish.
first and second chamber of the koi pond filter
My filter is of the simple and old school 5 chamber variety. The first chamber is the settlement chamber, I leave a small net to catch bigger particles and also left the chamber empty to catch any heavy sinking debris. The 2nd chamber is filled with Japanese mat. The purpose of the mat is not so much filtration of particles, but to provide a surface for bacteria to colonise. The bacteria here serves the purpose of converting Ammonia to Nitrite, which is a bit more tolerable by the kois.
third and forth chamber of the koi pond filter
I had filled the 3rd and 4th chamber with bio balls and bio stones respectively. These too are mediums for which different types of bacteria will colonise and make up the biological filtration system. The 2nd type of bacteria will convert the Nitrite to Nitrate.
fifth chamber of the koi pond filter
Brush occupies the last chamber. I had added this as the last step simply because I bought the brush the latest. Thiese too serve the purpose for bacteria colonization. As to which type of bacteria thrives best on which surface, I don’t have a simple scientific way to find out. Then again, my filter system works just fine, with healthy water parameters.
plants to soak up the Nitrate
So, if you’re following me, the Ammonia is converted to Nitrite, then to Nitrate. Well, the kois don’t really love Nitrate either, though they tolerate it much better than Ammonia. Hence this is where the plants come in to make the full eco system, apart from the healthy coating of algae on the wall and bottom of the pond, I have added a few rooted money plants to soak up the excess Nitrate. As a bonus, they are rather asthetically pleasing, I am trying to grow them around the water fall area.
flushing the filter
To keep the pond clean, I simply flush the 3 bottom outlets of the filter for about 10 seconds each daily. Usually in the morning when I feed them. When the flushed water gets to be somewhat green, all I need to do is to shake the filter elements and flush all the dirt out. The process takes not more than half an hour and only need to be done once a couple months.
Awesome, isn’t it? Don’t you wish you have a koi pond too?
