Measuring Koi?

[Akai-San]

Here something I never asked. How do you measure koi? Are the measurements taken end to end or is there another convention to properly measure koi?

Tip of nose to end of tail fin?
Tip of nose to end of tail base?

Just good information for me to finally get a grasp of?

thanks.

[JasonS]

Tip to tip for everything but longfins. Longfins get tip to base.

[aquitori]

Also, you have to consider the girth of a fish too, when you push the fish up against a meassuring tub the girth takes away from the lenght...

[Bancherd]

Quote: Originally Posted by aquitori Also, you have to consider the girth of a fish too, when you push the fish up against a meassuring tub the girth takes away from the lenght...

Ah so......you had just opened my eyes, thanks!

At a recent show, I saw a koi that I thought was longer than 65bu size, yet it quailified for the 65bu category.

[dick benbow]

most benching teams have a premeaured fiberglass tubs with which to do their job. the trick is to calm the koi and edge the nose so it souches one end (in the corner) and then holding the tail completely even until the end touches the measuring tape. i have seen tails pressed against the tub out of allignment and false measurements made to the detriment of a close call. In judging you want the biggest koi in the size category you can get. all things equal the smaller one at one end has an uphill battle against the bigger ones at the other end of the size category.

I usually manage to get several benchings a season in and i think the trick is to remain calm at all times. The koi sense the handler and calm down accordingly.
Before I start no matter what i was doing prior ( especially if it was stressful) I take several minutes to unwind by visualizing myself in a waterfall that is cleansing me of all anxiousness. i start at the head and "see" it draining out of my
toes till it stops. kinda like when I repot a bonsai and run water thru it until the water run clean out the drain holes!

last year I had to work on an owner of 2 obvious prize winners not to show. he had just purchased them from a dealer and the disease holes had skinned over but were not ready for the stress of the show. I know they would have broken out again and he'd of lost these two koi. it was stressful and i ended afterwards back in the waterfall before continuing with the next group. I'd love to see those two back and competing again this year! i quess my concern is always for the koi. ( the dealer is still not speaking to me!)

just a plug for the water quality guys at the show. I have the good fortune of working with a husband and wife team that do the same shows that I do. Bottom line is you can have the best koi keeper, the best bencher and the best judges, but all is wasted without the water quality!!!!!!!!