Went to my first koi show today

[Gemma]

Of course it was pouring rain (like on my first pond tour), but I truly enjoyed it!
Knowing that all the fish in a show are usually just a few years old, I wasn't expecting koi the size of my dog...oh my...what do they feed those fish to get them to grow that large, that fast?
Anyway I'm glad I went, I had fun! My favorite fish was a Hi Utsuri Butterfly koi, I really really want one of those now!
...and yes I came home with a new fish (of course) a beautiful Kin Kikokuryu from Beni Hanna Nishikigoi

I'm getting hooked on pond tour and koi shows!

 

[Mmathis]

Wow, sounds like fun! Did you take any pictures, especially any of your new baby?

 

[Gemma]

Wow, sounds like fun! Did you take any pictures, especially any of your new baby?

No pics,I didn't know if I was allowed to!... as for my new baby it was raining too hard I didn't even think about taking pics, I couldn't even see through the plastic bag . I will take pics in a few weeks when I have to move him/her to the new pond. it is mostly yellow with bluish on both sides, but Kikokuryu can change a lot from one year to another so it'll be interesting to see how it develops

 

[Tara]

Congratulations on your new addition, looking forward to the picture.

 

[Mmathis]

No pics,I didn't know if I was allowed to!... as for my new baby it was raining too hard I didn't even think about taking pics, I couldn't even see through the plastic bag . I will take pics in a few weeks when I have to move him/her to the new pond. it is mostly yellow with bluish on both sides, but Kikokuryu can change a lot from one year to another so it'll be interesting to see how it develops

Can’t wait for the pics! I have goldfish, so can’t really appreciate the various koi types. To me, there are pretty koi and even prettier koi, LOL! If I did have koi, I would choose butterfly!

 

[CometKeith]

Of course it was pouring rain (like on my first pond tour), but I truly enjoyed it!
Knowing that all the fish in a show are usually just a few years old, I wasn't expecting koi the size of my dog...oh my...what do they feed those fish to get them to grow that large, that fast?
Anyway I'm glad I went, I had fun! My favorite fish was a Hi Utsuri Butterfly koi, I really really want one of those now!
...and yes I came home with a new fish (of course) a beautiful Kin Kikokuryu from Beni Hanna Nishikigoi

I'm getting hooked on pond tour and koi shows!

Gemma, Congrats! Was that from Midwest Pond and Koi? I got an alert from Kodama Koi the other day that they were closing for a few days because of the hurricane in Hawaii. They gave info for how people can keep their Koi safe during the hurricane. They are on Oahu. Hopefully all their pretty Koi are safe.

 

[Gemma]

Can’t wait for the pics! I have goldfish, so can’t really appreciate the various koi types. To me, there are pretty koi and even prettier koi, LOL! If I did have koi, I would choose butterfly!

I'll have to bag the fish and acclimate them before releasing them in the other pond, that will be my chance to shoot some pic, I hope!

 

[Gemma]

Gemma, Congrats! Was that from Midwest Pond and Koi? I got an alert from Kodama Koi the other day that they were closing for a few days because of the hurricane in Hawaii. They gave info for how people can keep their Koi safe during the hurricane. They are on Oahu. Hopefully all their pretty Koi are safe.

Scary weather! I hope everyone stay safe!....but no, it was Michigan Koi Pond Club

 

[CometKeith]

Scary weather! I hope everyone stay safe!....but no, it was Michigan Koi Pond Club

That's cool. What was it like at the auction? Were there some big ticket fish? So far I'm really happy with the two Koi I bought from Grand Koi. The large young ones you saw at the auction were probably Jumbo Tosai. It's genetics that makes them so large at such an early age. Other Koi will catch up somewhat over time, but the Jumbo Tosai have more potential to get really large (28" and above).

 

[Gemma]

That's cool. What was it like at the auction? Were there some big ticket fish? So far I'm really happy with the two Koi I bought from Grand Koi. The large young ones you saw at the auction were probably Jumbo Tosai. It's genetics that makes them so large at such an early age. Other Koi will catch up somewhat over time, but the Jumbo Tosai have more potential to get really large (28" and above).

We didn't stick around until the auction (I'm not sure if they even had one), the weather was bad and most (not all) of the talk and fish were of the kind we don't have interest in.
we were given a ticket to vote for our favorite koi, and then put the ticket in a large jar for later at the banquet , but we didn't stay for that either. Both my husband and I voted for the same koi, a huge Butterfly Hi Utsuri , and again we seemed to be the only two people liking something different than the rest. We almost didn't even see this fish, it was in a tub in a corner with a tag that had no description of the fish, it just said: "long fins"...it was graceful and beautiful, just not what people other than us came to see.

Although there were people who recognized us from the previous pond tour, which I did not expect, I really don't feel we fit in this club! We would like to find a group/club that deals more with the ornamental type of koi rather than the usual white red and black Japanese ones.

The "Jumbo Tosai" you speak about, do they include the Utsuri? cause 3 of the largest ones were Hi and Shiro Utsuri

 

[Tara]

It's great you went to a koi show. If one ever happens near me, I will try to go. I really think white butterfly koi, or black butterfly koi are beautiful. Did they have a lot of butterfly koi at the show?

 

[CometKeith]

We didn't stick around until the auction (I'm not sure if they even had one), the weather was bad and most (not all) of the talk and fish were of the kind we don't have interest in.
we were given a ticket to vote for our favorite koi, and then put the ticket in a large jar for later at the banquet , but we didn't stay for that either. Both my husband and I voted for the same koi, a huge Butterfly Hi Utsuri , and again we seemed to be the only two people liking something different than the rest. We almost didn't even see this fish, it was in a tub in a corner with a tag that had no description of the fish, it just said: "long fins"...it was graceful and beautiful, just not what people other than us came to see.

Although there were people who recognized us from the previous pond tour, which I did not expect, I really don't feel we fit in this club! We would like to find a group/club that deals more with the ornamental type of koi rather than the usual white red and black Japanese ones.

The "Jumbo Tosai" you speak about, do they include the Utsuri? cause 3 of the largest ones were Hi and Shiro Utsuri

Hi Gemma. Tosai is any fish 2 years or less so it can be any variety. At this age they are still considered juveniles even though they can be up to 20 inches long! A lot of people that collect high quality Koi don't consider long fins to be true Koi so with this group that's probably why the one you picked wasn't really popular. Long fins were bred with Indonesian long fin carp to get the long fins so they are not considered by some people to be pure Koi. Today they can look like any variety but for example a Sanke long fin isn't a real Sanke etc.To top things off many people only collect Gosanke Koi which are Showa, Sanke, or Kohaku which were considered the first highly valued and collected Koi varieties. Then you can take it one step further and only collect Japanese Koi like this club which probably focuses on Nishikigoi Koi (Living jewel Koi in the Sanke, Showa, and Kohaku varieties from Japan), and even go one step further and collect fish from particular breeders in Japan. Each breeder typically has a specialty of a few different type of Koi. The two Koi I bought came from Niigata which is a very well know breeder in Japan. It's pretty much a waste for me because I'm not planning on giving them a perfect Koi environment so they reach their full potential. I just liked their colorations and they weren't expensive because they were only 5 inches. You can see the difference between Japanese Koi and other Koi once you get used to what to look for. From what I understand they cull a huge number of fish to end up with the best examples of each variety. This is a nice article on Nishikigoi from Kodama Koi. https://www.kodamakoifarm.com/what-is-nishikigoi-history-meaning/

 

[Gemma]

It's great you went to a koi show. If one ever happens near me, I will try to go. I really think white butterfly koi, or black butterfly koi are beautiful. Did they have a lot of butterfly koi at the show?

Nope, that Hi Utsuri we voted for was the only butterfly there, and the fact that its tag didn't say ANYTHING about the fish, was like it was shameful to even have it among the rest of the koi

 

[Gemma]

Hi Gemma. Tosai is any fish 2 years or less so it can be any variety. At this age they are still considered juveniles even though they can be up to 20 inches long! A lot of people that collect high quality Koi don't consider long fins to be true Koi so with this group that's probably why the one you picked wasn't really popular. Long fins were bred with Indonesian long fin carp to get the long fins so they are not considered by some people to be pure Koi. Today they can look like any variety but for example a Sanke long fin isn't a real Sanke etc.To top things off many people only collect Gosanke Koi which are Showa, Sanke, or Kohaku which were considered the first highly valued and collected Koi varieties. Then you can take it one step further and only collect Japanese Koi like this club which probably focuses on Nishikigoi Koi (Living jewel Koi in the Sanke, Showa, and Kohaku varieties from Japan), and even go one step further and collect fish from particular breeders in Japan. Each breeder typically has a specialty of a few different type of Koi. The two Koi I bought came from Niigata which is a very well know breeder in Japan. It's pretty much a waste for me because I'm not planning on giving them a perfect Koi environment so they reach their full potential. I just liked their colorations and they weren't expensive because they were only 5 inches. You can see the difference between Japanese Koi and other Koi once you get used to what to look for. From what I understand they cull a huge number of fish to end up with the best examples of each variety. This is a nice article on Nishikigoi from Kodama Koi. https://www.kodamakoifarm.com/what-is-nishikigoi-history-meaning/

I don't see how this hobby could be still enjoyable, if I had to learn and do all those things, and honestly I would get bored if I had nothing but Sanke, Showa, and Kohaku in my pond, regardless of their value.
My goal has always been to own a school of fish of various colors and patterns and I do love butterfly koi, so I guess to each their own.
I can see I'm not worthy of most club!

 

[CometKeith]

I don't see how this hobby could be still enjoyable, if I had to learn and do all those things, and honestly I would get bored if I had nothing but Sanke, Showa, and Kohaku in my pond, regardless of their value.
My goal has always been to own a school of fish of various colors and patterns and I do love butterfly koi, so I guess to each their own.
I can see I'm not worthy of most club!

Gemma, I have gone on the Midwest Pond and Koi club pond tours a bunch of times and most the people there just like having nice ponds and don't focus on the fish breeds as much. I would be interested in what you thought of that group. I saw a fantastic pond that was almost 11,000 gallons and the owner didn't know the names of the type of Koi he had. He was super nice, but not into the collectable and breeding part of the hobby. He just liked BIG fish!