Dick and others..Asagi opinion?!?!

[Brutuscz]

I was wondering what you thought the future might hold for this Asagi. It is currently 10 inches. This koi is domestic bred..the parents were hosokai. The hi is kind of light...will this deepen over time? Do you think the head will stay clear or turn dark? Thanks for the opinions!!!

[mitten]

Well, I don't see any blue on this fish. This fish has grey/black scales already. Nothing looks blue on this fish even in a blue bowl. Also the line of scales on the left, at the dorsal, is disturbed, an unfortunate distraction.

My blue fish change color shading or intensity during the year, but they are always blue.

Mickey the windowman

[Ryan S.]

Do you have, or can you post a side picture?

[elunned]

I would love to see Dick's take on this koi, especially the color. In a 6" asagi, the washed out color would not concern me as much, but in a 10" asagi it is a bit curious. Was it kept inside? Do you know anything about the diet?

The head does not look dingy or yellow, so once the skin thickens up, I think the head might be clean. The conformation looks nice and there are no glaring faults. I would not worry at all about the quality of the hi, assuming there is some on the belly. The lack of stray hi is a good thing. It looks like the top line of reticulation will be a bit messy, and that the reticulation may be a bit uneven, but the koi is still a baby.

I like asagi, but somehow this one just doesn't catch my fancy. Youngsters don't usually have much fukurin, but even the pale ground seems a bit dull. The photos I've seen of youngsters from Hosokai often have a pearl-like lustre.

[dcny]

The paleness of the fish doesn't bother me. In fact, I believe you're supposed to look for lighter young asagi because they darken as they mature.

To me, the head of the koi seems too short for it's body.

-Dan

[aquitori]

Weird camera shot, but it does show the Asagi pattern coming up. The fish is 10 inches with the head still a tint gray. I can accept the head being that way if the fish was a bit smaller maybe 5-6 inches. I think the head will turn gray later...But keep us informed later...

[Russell Peters]

When you are looking at young Asagi, the lighter the better. If an Asagi this age has a lot of color in its scales, then as an adult it will be too dark. I think the picture makes it hard to see the true color of the scales. It will darken in time. As far as Hi goes, Shoichi Hosokai says that it is better when there is no Hi on the Koi until it is four or five years. The reasons are the same. The more Hi when it is young, the more it will have when older.
As far as the head staying clear, that depends on the environment it is raised in and the quality of the Koi. Time will tell.

[Brutuscz]

Thanks for all the input. I had a beautiful 10 inch asagi and the heron got 'em this week. Also got my new kujaku and a hesei nishiki. Gotta kill that damned bird!!! Anyway, I was going to sell this one. It cut its mouth, so now I am treating it with antibiotics. When it heals, I will decide if it joins the herd or is sold. I always find it difficult to pick an asagi. You want the scalation soooo perfect, and it is difficult to find. I appreciate the input to help my decision.

Just for the fun of it, here is one I sold before the heron made lunch of my koi. It is 7-8". What do you think of this one?

[dick benbow]

there are some posts I hang back from because I think we have some knowledgeable contributors to the board and I think we need to hear from them.

The grey pattern being dull doesn't bother me. my favorite asagi from toshio
was grey (light) like that right up till she turned 3 and then the blue started coming in.

But at this age the red should be more alive and fiery. the fact that there's not much of it can be a good thing but at this age there should be a touch of red on the cheeks atleast. My favoite didn't start showing red in the tail till after her
blue back and net pattern developed. She never has developed (she's 4) any red in the dorsal. So what i'm saying is a slow developer is best. Her red is up to the lateral line now. It barely showed along her side at 2.....

But....by now the forehead should be a lot cleaner, I'm uncomfortable with the heavy grey at this age.

My take on it is that it may very well develop into what will look like a typical asagi but it just doesn't seem to have the proper skin for it all to come together in time to be an exceptional one of it's kind.

If we were gonna promote a poster child for what an adult should look like we'll go back into the picture posts of the louisville show and dale torok's GC in "B"....

[aquitori]

I usually look for clean face, light pattern and atleast some red on all the fins....There are alot of Asagi tosai brought in every year and I seem to find alot of potential...