| Genetics and water have a lot to do with sumi development. The most startling sumi I ever had in a koi was a nisai I added to my brand new cement pond and the black just poped out. The koi you look at when I post is going to be 6 this
may and her blacks is like watching grass grow. slowly advancing. She comes from Igarashi kazuto and had minimal black on her as a tosai. Usually It takes some 8 years for a koi like her to develop but I think she may rewrite the books.
I haven't helped her case thos, falling in love with asagi and constanly tweaking the water to get lower and lower hardness! (lol)
When I look for one or two year olds to buy I always look for a display pattern that is strong in the head and shoulders than the tail. Black is always stronger in the tail and is most hard to get the face and critical shoulder to come in. My koi kichi bought a koi GR showa from a pic on ebay and asked my thoughts before he bought. It had heavy black in the shoulder and heavy on the head and black at the base of the tail. I told him to get the koi and set a price limit. All along the dorsal this winter you can see black begining to space itself from the shoulder to the tail tube. The black is coming just as i imagined and the koi looks as if it will be really something in two years! By the way the heavy black on the face is begining to condense and more and more white is showing. Also her black in the pec is beginning to condense as well. I have a friend in Spokane that has purchased one of toshios new sanke and showas with his "new" black. saw pictures last night. I will be watching what these koi do in development. Awsome black! The guy's still the Master! |