Showa Appreciation

[lildude]

I recieved a wonderful Matsunosuke Showa from PSkoi as a gift. I want to know more about it, I am very excited about showa in general. I know they take a long time to develop into their final colors.

Please tell me what you think about this koi, does it have potential?
Does it have good shiroji (I think it does)

Please tell me the cons about the showa too.

[MikeM]

The pattern is not very balanced, but I think you have a very nice Showa to learn from. DickB will tell you that it takes years to really know what you have. Learn how to bring this one along and you will be very happy to have it has a teacher.

[aquitori]

First off the fish is free. Now if it were something I had to buy, I would pass on it. The emerging sumi is coming up in an unbalanced way. The beni looks good, but cant really tell with the shiroji. I think you need to get a koi bowl to take pics of the fish.

[lildude]

I really want to learn a lot about showa, especially this breed of showa, But first I have to learn kohaku, then Sanke, and then showa.
I just wanted to see what this showa may bring.

I hear that showa, especially this bloodline, take around 3-5 years to fully mature. I think this will give me enough time to become familiar with this koi.

[aquitori]

Quote: Originally Posted by lilhelper I really want to learn a lot about showa, especially this breed of showa, But first I have to learn kohaku, then Sanke, and then showa. I just wanted to see what this showa may bring. I hear that showa, especially this bloodline, take around 3-5 years to fully mature. I think this will give me enough time to become familiar with this koi.

In general Showa in any bloodline take a couple of years up to five years. How is your water in your area hard or soft?

[dick benbow]

This gift koi is a wonderful opportunity to see how toshio's new showa beni and sumi change and develop. Sometimes 8 years is needed to really know what's happening. Document your water and see how it affects the development.

when selecting showa for purchase be sure and look for straight heads, one of their weakest characteristics is bent head and it can be hard to see with all three colors on the head.

i got a tosai showa from toshio this spring to learn from for myself. My koi kichi's Sharon and Dan Olson also got showa and sanke to grow on as well
from toshio. We're preparing an artcile for koi USA to document the growth and changes. You might want to follow our lead with measurements and pictures to document changes of your own koi, then compare your experience with ours....

[lildude]

Quote: Originally Posted by dick benbow This gift koi is a wonderful opportunity to see how toshio's new showa beni and sumi change and develop. Sometimes 8 years is needed to really know what's happening. Document your water and see how it affects the development. when selecting showa for purchase be sure and look for straight heads, one of their weakest characteristics is bent head and it can be hard to see with all three colors on the head. i got a tosai showa from toshio this spring to learn from for myself. My koi kichi's Sharon and Dan Olson also got showa and sanke to grow on as well from toshio. We're preparing an artcile for koi USA to document the growth and changes. You might want to follow our lead with measurements and pictures to document changes of your own koi, then compare your experience with ours....

Oh yea! Wow, finally an article in koi usa that matters! Sorry, not to satisfied with koi usa right now, they keep putting out articles that arent always the best.

[lildude]

Quote: Originally Posted by aquitori In general Showa in any bloodline take a couple of years up to five years. How is your water in your area hard or soft?

I add calcium carbonate to my pond for the biological filter, so I am guessing the water is moderate hard.
I heard that sumi needs harder water to develop good, but then again, I have been mistaken.

[aquitori]

Quote: Originally Posted by lilhelper I add calcium carbonate to my pond for the biological filter, so I am guessing the water is moderate hard. I heard that sumi needs harder water to develop good, but then again, I have been mistaken.

Well, depending on how hard your water is you dont want the fish to finish before it has finished in conformation...

The body is long on the fish as well as the head. The fish will grow big, it's just timing when everything will finish.

[dick benbow]

excellent point about hardness and finishing! For right now Lil' helper focus on providing a healthful growth situation for the koi. It is better to let the koi develop on it's own terms then to force anything.

When Dan and Sharon showed the photos to Toshio on their trip to japan a few weeks back, Sakai - san felt that they had done as well as his cement grown tosai. So that was a great compliment to the Olson's for their water keeping. It is our intent to monitor these koi for a period of 3 years and give reports. The top 3 are inside this winter being grown, the others are in a protected pond experiencing winter. This Twist will give us some understanding to see if the others can catch up or is there value in continuing to feed in the winter. Don't want to say anything more to take away from Dan's hard work on preparing the first of 3 articles....