Valetine Tancho...Kind of looks like heart.

[lildude]

Doesnt it? i think its cool, but i doubt it will stay.

[aquitori]

lil'helper, what is the fish thing you look for when you select tancho?

[lildude]

Quote: Originally Posted by aquitori lil'helper, what is the fish thing you look for when you select tancho?

I think you want a tancho spot smaller than it should be, and it has to be between the eyes right? not crossing into them.
and the shiroji should be excellent.

[Regenmeneer]

Body?! At least I would!

[Brutuscz]

Funky...but not a keeper. Think nice and round..well placed, to resemble the Japanese flag. Perfect red and white go without saying.

[Brutuscz]

Here is my Ginrin Tancho. Won best tancho with this fish. I believe it's about 10 inches. Hopefully a female!!!

[JasPR]

tancho kohaku is the ultimate 'learning fish' for Jitai.

The rules apply for small fish here- pattern is important in fish under 16 inches. The tancho, in that case, should be round and fill the head, between the eyes without creeping off the head , onto the back. the white needs to be snow white with NO other markings what so ever. The fish needs orderly scales and no lumps bumps or bruises. If the fish is a thin male, a smaller tancho is acceptable - but it that fish's time, in that a small tancho will likely NOT be competitive in a larger size. It is the difference between 'cute' and 'powerful'.

As the fish get larger we need to see volume and females rule at that point. BUT the tancho does not have to be round! Instead, the beni, like with all kohaku, needs to be thick and of an even color. Because it is head beni it is typically darker red/orange. But do understand, good beni quality is more important than shape. And quality skin ( porcelain white) is MOST important. Finally, the tancho pattern must match and compliment the body. In some cases, a square tancho mark ( a chevron or even a rounded square) is ideal for a wide head and broad body.

JR

[Russell Peters]

Quote: Originally Posted by Brutuscz Here is my Ginrin Tancho. Won best tancho with this fish. I believe it's about 10 inches. Hopefully a female!!!

The beni on this tancho is too thin and will fail in time. Round is not always the best.

[Richard Rombold]

Tancho markings are greatly influenced by the growth of a fish. In young fish you will want to see a full mark above the eyes and not extending onto the body. The larger and fuller the better. This marking will ideally have the shape roughly of a shield. As the fish matures and the head fills out the marking pulls away and shrinks relative to the head. A perfect Tancho marking on a 12" koi will be too small to carry the body of a larger fish. There should be little fear of loosing a Tancho marking if the marking is full, deep and the fish comes from a bloodline where Beni is strong as is the case with most modern kohaku lines. A weak Tancho marking that is failing can easily be spotted and culled early.

[bekko]

I look to you guys to tell me what a good tancho should be. But, to my eye a small tancho spot is distracting because it lets too much of the yellow show on the head. It sort of spoils the red-on-white effect. The yellow in the head is what I hate about bekkos as well.

-steveh opki