I recently visited a local breeder to assess his sanke breeding this season. The baby koi (3"-5") were definately not what I expected to see. At this size, I saw a huge range of quality (at this stage). Is this the norm? I would say after staring at the bunch (200-300 baby koi), I saw maybe two or three potentials that really stood out from the rest. The other baby sanke in the pond IMHO had a loooooong way to go. I will be watching these babys grow, I'm finding that this hobby really tests your acquired knowledge through experience (of course, I have none) very mind boggling...I had no idea that outstanding koi from outstanding bloodlines still throw their fair share of "junk". WOW! I'm really floored...
I guess the saying "1 in a million is absolutely true".
I will definitely appreciate nice koi more now, seeing how many millions were passed over so that this one could continue on as tosai or nisai.