Quote:
Originally Posted by
koiczar 
First off, I know there's a lot of info out there touting the measurements from nose to eye and a ratio of that from eye to end of gill plate. So, I went out to my pond this afternoon and took a look at ALL my fish. Now, mind you, I don't spend 20k on fish, but I have spent several K on some.My largest is a 29" ake-yonsai from Matsunosuke. She was grown out last year in a very large mud pond and grew from 24" to 29" during last summer. So, she is no slouch when it comes to growth! Having said that and looking at several of my other "high priced" fish, I don't see this ratio of 1.5 times from eye to gill on ANY of my fish. I was also always told by an old breeder here in California, and several times since then, that the length of a fish should be 4.5 heads long. This does not include the tail! You'd really be hard pressed to find very many fish that are 5.5 times in length.
Lam
This fish that Grant has posted is considered Tosai. It was born last year (probably spring), so it's just turning a year old. It is not ake-nisai until harvested at the end of the season. The Japanese will then call it nisai after this year's harvest, but in reality it would then be about 17-18 months old (on average).
Grant
While I agree, this fish is VERY THIN! It has definitely been marked for export for quite awhile. If you can get some decent food into it and provide a good environment, I think it would be a fun fish to watch develop. Remember, however, that Showa usually take quite a while to really strut their stuff, so don't be impatient. Hang on to it for at least 2 years to see what's going on. Most people think the fish magically mature in a year and when things don't go the way they expect within that time, they unload the fish. If they have the ability to see that fish in another year's time, they're sometimes amazed at what has transpired. Then, they kick themselves for letting it go too soon, or worse, try to justify letting it go by thinking that it wouldn't have turned out that way in their pond anyway, or start thinking that there's something wrong with their water quality (which may or may not be the case). In any event, PATIENCE is the key word when growing fish out, especially showas.
Mike