Show season is upon us.. the do's and don'ts

[Nancy M.]

With the show season coming in full bloom. There are alot of things to consider, when taking your fish out to a show. Such as which shows do you take the fish out to compete? do you have an A team and a B team? What do you do to ready them for the upcoming shows? Do you think it is stressful to take your fish out to several shows in one year? How often do you show the same fish? Do you change there diet? Pond cleaning regiment?

[aquitori]

Such as which shows do you take the fish out to compete?
Well you take your fish to the shows that it will do good at. Or you compete against the best.

Do you have an A team and a B team?
If you have alot of fish then I would pick which set to bring out, or hold back for certain shows.

What do you do to ready them for the upcoming shows?
When preparing for shows you target which shows your fish will go to. Then you start your regime months before the shows to polish your fish. Everyone has a secret to the way they perpare their fish, so to each is his own.

Do you think it is stressful to take your fish out to several shows in one year?
Well, if the shows are spread apart by several months then I wouldn't worry. There are fish that do well showing and there are fish that just stress out.

How often do you show the same fish?
Depends on how the fish has done in the past, so shows wont let a GC return to compete. but other sizes are fine.

Do you change there diet?
People have this belief that if they feed their fish high protein food weeks before the show they will bulk up. Can it be done ? No. Should you change the diet? yes. Going to a lower protein diet will help a fish maintain it's overall apperance.

Pond cleaning regiment?
Increase your weekly water changes weeks before the show.

[aquitori]

Also wanted to add that if you are buying fish at the show, please consider the QT process and that if you introducing new fish with old fish that they should QT'ed...

[RayJordan]

Good comments. Spring shows have some extra considerations in my view.
First, springtime can be be a time of problems for koi. If you are having issues with paracites or bacterial infections I would say not to take your koi even the ones that don't seem affected to a show that spring. If they have had recent problems and pond chemical treatments they do not need the extra stress of being transported to a show.

Also, larger egg burdened females should not be shown in my opinion. 1st of all they will be stressed and likely spawn at the show which adds more stress and crashes the water quality which adds more stress. They are not going to do well at the show for conformation or stess reasons anyway. One way to handle this is to fast your larger female koi in the winter to get them to reasorb their eggs.

Better to show smaller or male koi at sping shows. I would not show the same koi more than twice in one year or at shows closer than 3 months. THis is assuming all went well at previous show and the koi was looking great and showed no signs of stress from previous show. Some koi seem to really stress out at a show and these koi should probuly not be shown or if you show not more than once a year.

Most koi have a very short "show ready" life. At best a few years. It is sad to me to see a koi taken to a show that is very infinished and with almost no chance to win a award. I wonder how many koi with really terrific potential were worn out and ruined by showing too early and too often instead of waiting for the right time and get it into it's peak show condtion.

I really like the young koi show format in the spring/summer and the regular all size show in the fall/winter for the reasons stated above.

[KoiCop]

this would appear to be an under-appreciated and/or under-participated in thread. Would definitely like to see more show pros posting on this topic. And a great big "Thank You" to those that already have.

As a newbie to the show circuit, y'all have brought up concerns, made points and suggested guidelines on points and issues that I'd never even thought of.

So, please, keep the tips coming, OK?

[dick benbow]

Ray, of all ther comments so far, I can't agree with yours more about the shotgun approach people take in showing with their unfinished koi.

after shows I have been grilled by owners of such koi wanting to know if it was because this was a ZNA show and they could have done better with AKCA judges.

In Japan and really close in Europe, those showing serious koi have a handle on this, but I think in America we have a way to go.....to understand when a koi is complete and ready to show.

hope those just learning picked up on the advice about the feed and water changes.....good info to retain.

my philosophy when I used to show is to plan a year in advance which show to take my koi to and they get shown just once for that year. Now with just asagi's in the pond (none of the local shows have a GC in "B") I just go and
work at benching....

My crowning achievement was Reserve Grand champion from a tosai from toshio sakai that I purchased from Tony and Arthur at Oregon Koi.

[koiczar]

All the above mentioned is GREAT/EXCELLENT advice. I concur totally! I'm trying to decide which of the fish I previously decided on last fall will go to the ABAKS April 1st/2nd. I really get concerned over bringing fish out at this time of year. We're not really going to be out of our winter season yet. Taking fish to a show to be placed outside in 6' show tanks, is not the most promising of ideas. I think the temperature can fluctuate dramatically overnight placing an unnecessary amount of stress on top of already stressed out fish. Then again, I think that because their systems are still somewhat shut down, they are calmer in the spring and don't get as hyper as they can in fall due to all that pent up energy they have (especially males). They can become really frantic when placed in a new environment with less than ideal conditions and then left to deal with all the people staring down at them. It seems to really spook them out. To show fish at this time is really a tough decision. I have a tank reserved but am still uncertain about competing.

[aquitori]

Here's what I do, I first pick the show or shows I want to show for the year. Judging on the condition of my fish I shot of the show that the fish is in it's PEAK condition. I know which fish does well certain times of the year and what condition they are in. Managing your fish for show is hard especially if your a newbie to it or someone who hasnt shown in a long time. Like Ray stated you want to bring a fish that is at peak condition to a show to do well.

[Bob Winkler]

Very good advice so far... alot more concrete "stuff" on this very subject will be offered in seminar form at the NorCal show in a couple weeks by yours truly. I will be happy to post on Koi Bito the "outline" of what we have discovered in talking with great koi keepers and used over the past 10 years of showing and judging koi at that time. (not that this is a tease to get more people to the show )

[RayJordan]

Hi Bob,
Yes, please post your outline of DO's & Don't in preparing koi for a show.