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Mike/koiczar-I'd be excited to see pics of your koi posted! If someone would like to assist pls PM Mike asap.....( as you can see by this thread a koi buddy had to do it for me )
Mike, coupla things you can consider when trying to figure out tosai sumi. Matsunosuki based bloodline sanke tend to show their sanke sumi placement, but then it comes and goes for the next few years, not always confidence building as i've had them go some 6 years before stabilizing. It is very typical with showa tosai to throw a false black from the back of the dorsal to the end of the body at the tail. i suggest taking them outside in the sunshine and seeing if you can spy any beni underneath that might give you some hope it's there.
rule of thumb for gosanke; red is always strongest at the head and black is always strongest at the tail.
Translation: in sanke even if a koi only has one black showing on the shoulder,
chances are good the black will fill back in toward the tail. How many have seen tosai with stepped black from tail forward and the big missing shoulder sumi is all it needs right ? Go with the one that has the most critical shoulder
patch already established. Chances are better that one will turn out to satisfaction to the other one that is perfectly stepped...and for you mike and your showa love the translation is this: go for the tosai with hachi-wade and or menware as opposed to the one with nothing going on in the area weakest area for the same reason as sanke.
Conclusion: there are no guarantees in selection, each koi can be an individual but there are some learned mileposts to be able to look out for and i hope these will help. professsional breeders occassional will miss a tosai but the chances are increased with the purchase of tateshita that the odds are against you (especially in the fall ) Tara or "if" koi with much better odds are often sold in the spring just after the last sembetsu into the mud ponds. Now your knowledge and patience can be repaid.
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