The term Bonsai Koi....

[bekko]

We hear about stunted fish which did not grow due to environmental constraints and are later unable to grow because of poor development early in life.

Then, we hear about compensatory growth where a fish who's growth was constrained by environmental factors will grow very rapidly and "make up for lost time" after being placed in favorable environmental conditions.

I have seen both things happen in koi but do not understand why you get stunted fish sometimes and compensatory growth at other times.

In goldfish, stunted fish are recognized by having larger than normal eyes for that particular variety.

-steve hopkins

[Ryan S.]

I think the result of SMG's experiment was that the smaller koi caught up. But I never heard all the details, now long they were stunted?

[Ryan S.]

I keep Koi in a 220gal preform pond also. Very little food, not many water changes. At 16 months they were roughly 6", at 28 months now they are about 9". My 2yr throws way to much food in there this year, or I think I could have keep them down smaller.

[Koi-san]

This Kohaku was purchased in Oct. 2003 at 6". This fish is about 7" now.

[cocoyboy]

Now thats bonsai!

Quote: Originally Posted by Koi-san This Kohaku was purchased in Oct. 2003 at 6". This fish is about 7" now.

[kingkong]

Actually these koi suffer from dwarfism or are stunted. "Bon" is tray and "sai" is planting,The word Bonsai has nothing to do with minature or runt creatures.

[woodyaht]

Yup, Antonio, that would be me you are talking about. Bought 2 fish, didn't really even look at them was just told they were "good" fish, and I relied on the dealers advice, and later on I asked if they were from this years spawn thinking the breeder might have held them out from going in the mud pond, and found out that they were bonsai .
But hey, you already know the story .

Quote: Originally Posted by aquitori Anyone bought bonsai nisai thinking they were tosai this fall harvest?

[aquitori]

Quote: Originally Posted by woodyaht Yup, Antonio, that would be me you are talking about. Bought 2 fish, didn't really even look at them was just told they were "good" fish, and I relied on the dealers advice, and later on I asked if they were from this years spawn thinking the breeder might have held them out from going in the mud pond, and found out that they were bonsai . But hey, you already know the story .

In any case, I was talking about the other Chris...Cocoyboy....The 3 fish you bought were actually very nice, were they bonsai? I would say yes...for what the quality was on the fish they were very good. By the way how are those fish doin?

[aquitori]

Quote: Originally Posted by Koi-san This Kohaku was purchased in Oct. 2003 at 6". This fish is about 7" now.

2 years later it is still 7"? That is crazy.......

[koiczar]

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