Showing Koi in Bags - A Discussion

[aquitori]

Unbagging of the fish was done to give the fish a clearer bag and better water conditions to last through the show.

[dinh]

Quote: Originally Posted by Bern Hi again. The original post mentioned a registration procedure which involved unbagging and rebagging which I assumed was used at the Koi Unit show. Can someone confirm yes or no? ....... rgds Bern

Bern,

Yes, Koi-Unit Show involved unbagging and rebagging for the following reasons:

1) Replacing to use the special clear bag.
2) Benching
3) Better water quality

--Dinh

[dinh]

Quote: Originally Posted by aquitori Unbagging of the fish was done to give the fish a clearer bag and better water conditions to last through the show.

whoop, did not see Tony already got the answer....;-))
Also benching too? Is that correct Tony?

[aquitori]

your correct dinh....

[Steve E]

Oregon Koi Gardens is the distributor in the US for the Konishi show bags. I got the following information from Arthur Hixon of OKG. He also has wholesale pricing available. The price for the medium bag quoted to me at the Champion show of $5.00 I believe is the wholesale price. Arthur indicated to me in his email that he is very interested in working with any clubs who would want to produce this type of show.

Here is the retail pricing matrix for the Konishi koi show bags:
Qty:............50..........500

Size

Small:.........6.95........6.30

Medium:......7.35........6.65

Large:.........7.95........7.20

The most popular size is medium of course.

Konishi-san has appointed us as the distributor for the USA. These bags are re-usable: the hobbyist that buys them can use them for years.

Tony and Dinh have already answered Bern's question about re-bagging at the Champion show. This show did not use the Konishi bags. The regular bags we normally use for transport are not glass clear. As indicated that was one of the reasons for the change. But a note of caution here, the "glass clear" bags used had a brittle feel to them, as opposed to the pliable feeling of the regular transport bags. I would be concerned about durability of these more brittle types of bags.

Steve

[aquitori]

The cost of the Japanese bags were kind of expensive. I am sure the cost of the bag will be eatten up by the entery fee. I mean we had the top judge from the US Grant Fujita and he liked judging the show the bag way as far as young koi show.

For a club to do this type of show it is far easier than setting up tanks and worrying about teardowns....One tank for clean water, one large air tank, disinfectant tank and wash tank. So I am sure that if a club like the koi-unit can do I think any AKCA club with limited budget can do.

[Bern]

Quote: Originally Posted by dinh Bern, Yes, Koi-Unit Show involved unbagging and rebagging for the following reasons: 1) Replacing to use the special clear bag. 2) Benching 3) Better water quality --Dinh

Thanks Dinh,

What were the bio-security procedures during benching ?

rgds Bern

[Steve E]

The measuring tub was soaked/rinsed in a disinfectant solution and then rinsed in clean water. If the show is held with the owner's already having a Konishi style of bag the koi would not leave the bag. The bag would be sprayed with a disinfectant and rinsed.

Tony is right about the cost of the bag. Even though that cost would be passed onto thru the entrant fee and the koi owner would keep the bag for re-use it is still an additional cost. But for a one day, young koi show I think it is a very workable method for a small club to produce a show. It is just a matter of taking all of the concerns into account and developing good solutions. With show tanks going for $420 to $480 US plus shipping plus sales tax this way of showing is definitely a money saver for the small club.

For this show I think the farthest ones were about 1.5 to 2 hours away. Not counting me as I bought my koi for the show there at Champion.

Steve

[MikeM]

I believe it is important for the hobby to increase the number of shows. Nothing else builds the hobby so well. The low cost and ease of using the bags are strong arguments in favor of their use for young koi shows everywhere.

[Arthur]

Steve,

I thank you and all for a very balanced discussion about these bags.

The Konishi show bag, although crystal clear, are soft and plyable, and 20mil thick. You can bang a bag around with water in it and it will not burst. In fact, for a test, I dropped one containing 2 gallons of water from 6' down to a concrete floor: no apprent damage.

You correctly pointed out that a club electing to do a show with bags saves money on tanks. I would add, also on water management, desease containment, and WORK (for the club and the judges). The desease and stress management alone should come out as a big advantage to attract more hobbyists.

The reason we chose to represent the Konishi show bag, and put dollars down in the venture, is because we strongly believe in the enormous advantages they bring to the show scene. Of course we will make some money selling them in the US but not a lot because of the high freight cost from Japan (these bags are heavy!) and the fact that we need to keep the pricing as reasonable as possible.

I am sorry if this sounds like and ad (I did not mean it to be, well, a little), and we do support this forum.