| Reply to cocoboy: re bonsai koi
Chris, I am familiar with the fish you are talking about. Those fish came from Ikarashi Kazuto. Yes, they are his smaller 2 year olds. His larger 2 year old fish mostly come from his "jumbo" tosai that he and most of the breeders in Japan select for growth and pattern and place in smaller numbers into the mud pond. Those are the fish that you see as nisai at harvest that are from 16" to 24". The smaller fish, usually 12" to 15", are fish he plans on selling, so he usually places more of them in a mud pond to put "some growth" on them. These are by no means "bonsai" koi. They usually will grow just fine, given proper conditions, when you get them.
You can ask a breeder about purchasing "bonsai" 2 yr old fish. They usually range from 5 to 10 inches in length. These are where you can sometimes find a candidate for "baby champion" for a show competition. Because they haven't grown out, most of the energy stored was put into developing depth of color and finishing too early.
Mike
|