[mingaun]

Quote: Originally Posted by Lam Nguyen Mark, if you don't mind, I would like to take a stab at your kohaku. I think that there are many things to like about this koi. The conformation is good with good tail joint and body length. Like Dick mentioned, 15" for an ake nisai who has only had one summer of growth is pretty good. But then again, if I remember correctly, you said that you live in China and perhaps growth rate over there is different than in the states. The milky shiroji is very soft and silky and I believe will become whiter with time. I really like the nidan pattern of this koi. Hard to explain, simple yet sophisticated at the same time. Awesome tail stop and great head pattern. She has good sharp kiwa and the orange-red beni color that many people prefer. A little heavy and wraps down past lateral line, so should grow into this heavy pattern nicely when she is 20+ inches in length. Definitely the type of pattern that I would look for in a young kohaku. I don't want to take anything away from this koi but there is no such thing as a "perfect" koi and we cannot learn without looking at her potential weakness. The first thing that I notice is that her beni is not too thick. I know that she is only an ake nisai and has been growing. But even when you look at the core of the beni scale, there is a deeper and thicker red. However, I feel that it's still not thick enough. Another potential weakness is the white window in the right shoulder beni. Will the beni break to remove this window or will it remain the same? The only other potential fault is the split tail. Will it heal completely over time? I guess time will tell whether the window will break and the tail split will heal completely. Good luck with your first kohaku and please keep all of us updated on her development.

Lam, firstly i am impress with your analysis of my koi and thank you for being frank. I believe it is spot on, though i did not realise it till you pointed it out . Actually i saw so many kohaku till my head went dizzy. In the end he showed me this one in his main pool that he keeps those he feels have better future. The moment i saw it, i took it in a heartbeat. So much for cheap kois, i just did not like them. Lam i am from Malaysia and not China, though Chinese.

Yup the tail is split a little . That in fact was bothering me a bit. It was injured when they tried to catch the koi from the pond and it jumped and injured itself. I am quite worried about it and hope that it will heal. What do you or the rest think? Would it heal?

Mark