Mary Allen
Golden, orange, and white-black fish swim leisurely in the dark, crystal-clear water. Samuel Vonlanthen has a view of his koi pond from the terrace. A visit to a koi lover.\
From the black depths in the clear water, it shimmers in a sunny yellow. Is there a hidden treasure there? Now the glow is more intense, larger, and has contours! A koi calmly swims up, glides into the middle of the pond, forms a circle, and floats to the edge where reeds thrive. On the surface of the water, it opens its round, largemouth and smacks it. Samuel Vonlanthen smiles. He kneels on the granite slabs at the edge of his 65,000-liter pond and puts his fingertips in the water. The fish gently nudges them, a shiny orange-red and an almost whitish koi also seek contact.
«The orange-beige ones are Karashigoi, the brown ones are Chagoi. Both color forms are particularly trusting,” says Vonlanthen. He sprinkles koi pellets on the surface of the water, which now begins to bubble. More and more elongated, brightly colored dabs of different sizes circle around and open their mouths to suck in the food.
Nothing on the street in Hilfikon AG, where Vonlanthen’s house is located, indicates that a fairytale world is hidden in the garden. Paradise begins at the back of the building. Fish lovers can watch their koi from the terrace. “I’m lucky because the garden slopes down to the creek and has three tiers,” says the 43-year-old, smiling and following the circles of his koi with his eyes, which are now gliding majestically through the water again, as if they were carrying wisdom from antiquity himself.
Koi have been bred for 2,000 years to be viewed from above, which was the only way to admire a fish back then. The view from the terrace is therefore ideal. Spots in red and white, or zipper-like drawings on the backbone come into their own. Other koi have black-rimmed eyes, brownish-gold tops, and red cheek regions. The treasures of Asia have plenty of swimming space. The pond is 15 meters long, five meters wide, and two meters deep.
Dual Filtering
The dream of koi came about slowly. “I’ve had aquariums since I was a child,” Vonlanthen recalls. 20 years ago he started again with aquarists and got into it straight away. His pool held 540 liters. He likes special fish. «My passions are puffer, porcupine and boxfish, moray eels and rays.» Such delicate sea creatures now live in huge aquariums indoors. It was the purchase of the house that made the desire for koi germinate.
The former clerk and owner of a telephone service company soon developed the dream of his own koi paradise in the garden. “In the beginning, I didn’t think too much about it,” says Vonlanthen with a laugh. He wanted to dig the pond himself during his two-week vacation. “I started with the shovel and cart, but stopped the exercise after a day.” When the excavator drove up, it had twelve large troughs of earth removed. “Together with my father Jimmy, we spent every free minute building on the pond for nine months.” He had previously needed a building permit from the municipality for such a large, artificial body of water. He concreted the wall all around so that the soil wouldn’t slide off. Finally, he laid out a pond liner on a fleece.
In a trough, there is a large box in which a drum filter is hidden. “The water is pressed through the sieve and thus freed from suspended particles.” The dirt is regularly hosed off. Two fluorescent tubes irradiate the flowing water with ultraviolet light. Above all, this prevents the growth of floating algae and kills germs and harmful bacteria.
The pond water is drawn in via three underground pipes. At one point, it is also extracted at the top so that suspended particles are filtered out. The water is not only so crystal clear because of the technical filtering that Vonlanthen sometimes swims with the koi himself in summer, but also thanks to the marsh plants that thrive around the elongated pond in troughs filled with gravel that are 50 centimeters deep.
The Koi are Chipped
The granite slabs make the transition from water to the land look very natural. At a semi-circular point, the freshly filtered water gushes into a swamp where the fish cannot go. Water mint also exudes its fresh scent here. “I designed the banks so that hedgehogs can climb out again if they fall in,” says Vonlanthen. Numerous mountain newts, common frogs, and common toads also stayed in the swamp zone.
Fish are particularly sensitive pets: “If the water quality is not right, they suffer.” Medium-hard water is ideal for koi. He never changes the water, just fills it up. He doesn’t need to heat it. “When the water temperatures get cooler, the koi are less active.” But the pond would never freeze over. In winter they often swim at the bottom. It varies with summer and winter lining. The latter sinks to the bottom.
There are currently around 30 koi swimming in the pond. “I kept buying from time to time.” Since he always buys koi from the same company, there is less risk of illness or bacterial intolerance. “But there are fish veterinarians who specialize in koi and their diseases.” They would anesthetize fish, patch, and treat wounds. Koi are valuable. However, one cannot be sure whether a young, promising Koi will remain so beautiful. “Young ones are less expensive because they can lose their special coloring,” says Vonlanthen. If you buy adults, you take a smaller risk.
Particularly valuable cultivated forms, so-called Kashira Marwari, cost around 12,000 francs. Good, two-year-old koi are available for 1,000 francs. Most are chipped. It could happen that koi would reproduce in the pond. “But I don’t want that, that’s why there are perches in the water that the young eat.” Breeding must be carried out according to very specific selection criteria. The most famous farms are in Japan and partly in Israel.
«Ah, here, this fish is an absolute highlight!» calls Samuel Vonlanthen as his Orenji Ogon swims up. He glitters golden. “There are dazzling koi and those without scales, the Doitsu,” he enthuses. His floating treasures from the black depths inspire him anew every day.