| Hello Dick,
no, these dark/black fry are to be discarded. Last year I had a full lot of these and believe me, no one was sanke.
The fry in the picture went to a large pond in the University Campus, right now I finished to catch some 20 or 30 that were thriving in the biofilter, and I believe there are no more than 10 or 15 "blacks" remaining in the breeding pond. I think my "dark/black" fry are somehow different from your fry. Mine have solid dark or black from head to tail, some have light yellow or orange front or head.
As I told you, I'm keeping other fry that I believe are more valuable since there is no doubt they are going to be sanke. I can see the colors and pattern quite clear. There are a few of tancho sanke, and some others seem to be developing as kohaku, although there are quite many orange fry that are different and I bet will remain orange. The largest are around 6 or 7 cm in length (2.4 to 2.7 inches).
I'll try to get some pictures of the fry that I think might be worth to keep. Of course I'm not an expert, maybe those that currently look nicer will fade away and some of the ugly fry might turn to be wonderful Koi in the future, who knows!
All the best,
Diego |