Kohaku ·
Nisai selection 2016
We took some time to review the nissai last weekend; these are the remaining koi from our 2015 spawning that have been growing on along side the females this summer.
We benefited temperature wise from the tank being within the polytunnel, as normal, but growth is a little down on last year. The largest ones are only 45cm this time around. The main reason is that I’ve not heated the water. The other aspect is the females tank goes through periods where food is withheld through the summer – before each spawning, and before each show. The main purpose of that tank is to house the females and prepare them for spawning – not for growing on fish. And the only reason I have tosai in there to grow to nissai is simply to do with lack of space.
The main growth period is coming up from now until December – and on that… I turned on the heater at the weekend and sods law… there’s a fault. So one more thing to get fixed, and the timing is inconvenient because I’m losing growing weeks. And there aren’t many of those left. I will have a think about which fish are my best prospects for shows next year and I may make some strategic choices about how I grow them between now and next spring.
In all honesty, whilst I can see that all of these nissai are nice looking fish. Generalising, I’m happier with the bodies and skin than I am with the depth of the reds. Don’t get me wrong… when you consider these fish are home bred… I’m very happy with the reds – and on some of them, I think the red is really good. I guess, I’m starting to get more picky!
Tonight, I should be on a plane flying to Japan. Unfortunately I've had to cancel my trip. Too much time over the last couple of months spent on koi, and not enough with the family. A trip to Japan now just doesn't fit, and frustrating as it is, I've had to cancel the trip.
Ok, back to the nissai... here are some pics, and also some video... The pics are not that great, but they do show the koi and it's something we can use to refer back to in the future.
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| this kohaku always divides opinion... not enough red perhaps, and the small patch of red on the shoulder needs to thicken up so it's more consistent with the red on the other pattern elements. i have better quality koi, but with this one - i just like the flow of the pattern. |
Here's some video of the nissai keepers. (except the few that returned from the All England show that are still in quarantine and not in this video)
Here's a video link: youtube link
And, some more pictures:
