Kohaku Babies. Advice on culling needed

[dtbh]

Quote: Originally Posted by dick benbow I really like the beni on the female. Stable, thick, uniform thru-out.

I agree with you. This is the type of beni I like as compared with the beni of the Hoshikin male which I personally feel is too "harsh" and not as pleasing to the eye. I am glad that most of the babies have acquired this physical property from my Rose.

[dtbh]

Entered Babies #3,4 and 7 into our 5th Malaysian Koi Show under the 40BU category recently. Baby #4 managed to get 3rd.

The babies are now 8 months old. Here are the latest :

Baby 1 developed a bent back.

Baby 2 is41cm

Baby 3 is 38cm

Baby 4 is 39cm. Attached is her latest photo.

Baby 5 is 43cm

Baby 6 is 45cm

Baby 7 is 39cm.

[MikeM]

Such a nice thick tail tube. They are all growing well, too. ... Glad to see that you kept all the fish.

[dtbh]

Baby 1 has been adopted by a friend.

Baby 2 is now 48cm. Female.
Baby 3 is now 44cm. Female.

Baby 4 is now 44cm. Female. More and more the best of the lot with great beni and shiroji. If only the "maruten" is any bigger.....

Baby 5 and 6 have been placed in a hobbyist pond to see how they perform under a different set of environment. Baby 5 is a male. I expect them to be near 50cm since they were 45 cm 1 month ago.

Baby 7 is 43cm. Female. Good beni and shiro but lousy body.

You all can compare this latest update with what you have expected in your earlier postings.
Cheers, dtbh

[jacovors]

Hi dtbh,

For 11 month old koi they sure are big. I would say if you have increased the number of fry born you would get some show stoppers for sure. The quality is there.
I am impressed and appreciate the update.

[estanque_koi]

Hi Dr Teh,
have had big problems with my ADSL conection at home, is not working at all for weeks and there was no way to get it fixed so far! Just have some free time at work to have a quick look at the Forum...
Congratulations for getting such a good result in the 5th Malaysian Koi Show with one of your Tosai. What a success!
I'm very impressed. They are really big!
How did you manged to get them growing so fast?
I remember you explained your breding setup in a previous message, but can't recall how big was your breeding tank. I think it wasn't too big, is that right?
Were these "babies" growing in that pond all this time?
Largest tosai from my last year (may 2004) spawning are now about 25 cm, almost surely none has reached the 30 cm mark. The biggest are living in a rather big pond, but let to their own devices and having just the natural food they can find in the pond. However, 7 are still living in a small pool (1600 liters) and are just 15 cm despite having a good feeding regime and good filtration.

This year babies are still living in the 4 breeding pools of 1500 liters each with huge filtration. I couldn't transfer them to the big ponds due to unexpected problems with these two ponds (40 x 20 m and 25 x 16 m). The problems have been finally fixed and hopefully this next week I will take the babies to the big ponds. The babies were born in early april, and right now they meassure up to 10 cm (but mean size around 6 cm).
I wish they could grow as fast as your young koi!
All the best,
Diego

[dtbh]

Dear Diego,

Always glad to hear from you.

I used my 8x12x3 ft FG quarantine tanks for breeding. They were there for a while and was transferred to my main pond (20,ooo litres) when they were about 20cm. The warm weather in Malaysia allows me to feed them 9x/day and this must be the reason why they can grow so well.

I tried breeding the same pairing again 2 months ago but unfortunately, and I don't know why, the eggs did not hatch eventhough I am certain they were fertilised. Could be because of overdosage of the malachite green that I used for the 1st time. Anyway I will try again this September just to keep this hobby more exciting.

[MikeM]

Glad to be able to see how they are doing. An unfortunate necessity that the time came to find homes for some. While #4 deserves to be a favorite, I am pleasantly surprised by how well #7 is doing. The Beni is nicely improved over the initial photo. The pattern gets attention despite the undersized head maruten. The bloated mid-section does ruin the conformation now, but I think I would want to know about how such fish in her parent line develop before finding a new home for her. She does not have the thick tail of #4, but it is a reasonable thickness. The next 8 months could see her reach 20+" (50+cm). A growth spurt could reduce the bulge so that it is not so unacceptable. If the tail were thinner at the peduncle, then I'd not expect any improvement.

Are these in the same pond as your new Kohaku and Showa ?

[dtbh]

Hi Mike,

I will keep thes four babies and follow them thro'. I had to give away some of them to make room for the new purchases. Yes, they are all in my one and only main pond with the new kohaku and showa.

[hwong]

Quote:"I tried breeding the same pairing again 2 months ago but unfortunately, and I don't know why, the eggs did not hatch eventhough I am certain they were fertilised."

Doc, the male is raring to anytime. He has been chasing the girls in the pond lately. Wonder if there is such thing as male koi in heat? Maybe, the last round he wasnt so ready.

I keep forgeting which of the tosai has my name on it?