[PapaBear]

Quote: Originally Posted by LammiKoi Wow, it looks like this is another way for dealers to rip people that are new to the hobby off. I was at a koi shop a few days ago looking for a potential baby champion. It just so happened that the dealer just received a shipment of koi btwn 4-6 inches long. I asked how old they were and he said that they were tosai that just hatched in March/April of this year. I was thinking to myself, "dang, these are pretty big koi for 3-4 months old"! Are these really tosai that are born in March/April of 2007 or are they really nisai born in spring/summer of 2006?

Spring shipments can be from an early spring hatch or last fall, either of which would still be tosai. Even in our tiny little spawn from this may, grown in a fry tank far below the standards used by the Japanese breeders, we have quite a few fish that are 3-5 inches long at barely 2 months old. If a rank amateur like me can grow a flock spawn that easily you can bet the Japanese have no trouble doing the same from a planned spawn of high quality parent stock. (I've gotta thin them out to make room for the 1 month olds that are getting a bit crowded in their tank too)