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PPP, not to try and be cute or duck the question, but each fish does have a personal journey of improvement, finish and then decline. Male fish are know to move through these stages of life quicker and earlier than females. That is why male fish win most of the smaller size awards at shows. This is not surprising because they also reach sexual maturity quicker and hormones ultimately dictate finished skin in a koi.
But even within the female ranks some fish finish soon than others. and some females can hold their looks much longer than others. I'd say a typical time line for a female from juvenile to finished adult is 6 years. And ten years ago, a fish would begin to decline at about the 5- 6 year mark. Today you can see many fish that hold their looks to ages 10- 12 with very little decline. That is a lot of years of enjoyment from one fish! A lot of this depends on variety of course and within that context, ginrin, matallics and doitsu peak the earliest and decline the quickest.
I guess in the end, every koi has to be looked at as a 'cut flower' or an 'opened bottle of fine wine'?
JR
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