Seven years ago that land was a hill full of underbrush. Now, a part of it has been flattened. The rest were strengthened and terraces made like terrasering. From the pond above the hills in Dago area, Bandung, side view and top view goldfish which have a certain quality were born.
The 1.000 m2 wide ground up to 750 m above sea level, has been transformed into various sized goldfish ponds: 4 m x 4 m, 4 m x 2 m, and 2 m x 2 m. In general there are a total of 55 ponds. Tens basin ponds (large water jar pond, ed) which are intended for the top view goldfish from Japan are not included in that amount. All ponds are neatly arranged and looks like spacy Sakura land nuance.
The owner has not halfheartedly made that farm. Besides the basin ponds, all other ponds are utilizing chicken claw foundation. The same foundation has made Soekarno-Hatta Airport access roads still standing firm for decades. The ponds were also made of concreted. The last phase was completed by coating the pond walls using a waterproof substance. The substance was polished 5 times up to 5 cm thickness. 'In order to prevent them from leaking up to decades,' said Ever Tagoli, the owner. The cost? Wow, it must be over 9 digits.
Utilizing vortex
Vortex filterization system which is used for koi ponds is also adopted for the goldfish ponds which took 8 months to construct the goldfish ponds. The pond base was not made flat, but it is made as a 30° slope basin. Thus, when the remaining of foods and feces are accumulated, they will be gathered on the middle of basin hole. From the hole which is connected to that backwash pipes, the organic waste are casted off . Such is the vortex work principle.
Besides vortex, Ever is also applying the first-in-first-out (FIFO) water system. It means that the water which gets into the ponds is always new. The water comes from the ground water which is retained in a reservoir of 5 m x 5 m width. ' The new water will only come in once and then it is removed. It is not recycled to be re-used,' Ever said. No wonder that the water is always looked transparent so the goldfish can be clearly seen from above.
The ponds are furnished by a polycarbonate roof, combined with a bamboo wall at the end of the ponds row. The 3,5 m high roof was made on purpose to filter the sunrays. 'Sunrays are allowed to penetrate as much as 60%,' Ever said. Another function of the roof is to prevent the spilled rain from getting into the pond which can influence the water quality. 'The roof cannot only control the growth of alga but also to avoid predators like birds,' he added.
Qualified goldfish
According to Ever Tagoli, no more than 50 goldfish should be put in each pond. The biggest pond size 4 m x 4 m is only filled with 10-20 jumbo size goldfish. The most densely populated ponds are 4 m x 2 m and 2 m x 2 m pond. In those ponds, young goldfish size 5-10 cm such as ryukin, oranda, mutiara jambul, mutiara tikus, and ranchu were treated. 'Both ponds are also the place to do selection,' said the alumnus of the Universitas Katholik Parahyangan Bandung.
The selection becomes an important part of the farm operation. It is for a reason that only goldfish which are proper to be in a contest, will be raised. As an illustration for the first phase to mold the high quality goldfish, Ever uses the selected mothers: adult of minimum age 8 months, proportional body, and bright pattern.
The next phase is to copulate males and females with the comparison 2:1. The copulation time cannot be at any time. Ever chooses morning time around 6 - 7 o'clock Indonesia Western time so that the female produces more eggs, up to 5.000 eggs/ copulate. From that amount, after a tight sortation there are only around 50 goldfish which are qualified to be raised further,' said the second winner of Lomba Penangkar Maskoki at National Star of Goldfish Competition 2007 in Yogyakarta.
The growth of the selected goldfish are then spurred with a special diet. The diet is a mixture of some subtances: one part of silk worms, one part of spirulina, one part of boiled glair, and three part of turmeric. They are stirred in water and is added a little salt as a mineral source. The woof is given twice a day. For the calcium source, Ever spreads artemia which is given separately.
Solid
The special treatment makes goldfish raised in the hills have an ideal body shape, interesting swimming style, and bright body pattern. For example is ranchu body shape. That fish from Japan has a 180° curve back and clean white body pattern. If there is a red pattern on the body, it will look solid and bright.
According to Pieter Aguswijaya, a well-known breeder in Magelang and YB Hariantono, a hobbyist in Bintaro Tangerang, the goldfish pond which Ever built is remarkable. 'I saluted on what he did that make the water stays clean,' said YB Hariantono. Further he said, 'The majority of goldfish ponds are in the lowland, even in China. In a cold area the physical quality of goldfish tend to decresae and will affect the colour,' said the owner of Tropis Aquarium.
Based on that, Ever really takes care of the ponds temperature to be stable on the level 25°C. One of the ways is by coating the pond with waterproof substance. The result is the goldfish which Ever Tagoli raised still have a high quality eventhough they are kept in a cold environment.
