Thoughts on my sanke

[Ethan25]

I know you are all professionals here.....so I figured I would like a really good critique of my sanke. I bought it as a fry a year and a half ago at 4"...here it was then:
It survived our winter wonderfully.

I then let it grow throughout the summer...feeding good high protein food. It began to lose the black as it approached 8-9 inches:


That picture was from June of 06. Now, it is gaining the black again and I think that the hi is deepening....I can see some underlaying black that is coming up....could I get some thoughts on my koi? It is 13" long in these pictures....

[Russell Peters]

For a 4" koi you got a great sanke to work with as a learning experience. It is nice to see that you held on to it even though at one point it looked as though it was falling apart. Patience is a virtue.

[Ethan25]

Quote: Originally Posted by Russell Peters For a 4" koi you got a great sanke to work with as a learning experience. It is nice to see that you held on to it even though at one point it looked as though it was falling apart. Patience is a virtue.

what are your thoughts on its potential....I know it doesn't have a great underlying kohaku pattern...but the ginrin seems to be of good quality...

[Sangreaal]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ethan25 what are your thoughts on its potential....I know it doesn't have a great underlying kohaku pattern...but the ginrin seems to be of good quality...

Ethan, I am amazed that this koi pulled itself out of a serious nosedive as seen in your second pic. Sure did look like the beni was going to bite the big weenie and the koi end up a ginrin shiro. Right now the hi plates aren't balanced and the fish never had classic kohaku patterning to begin with, but personally, this doesn't bother me. What I want to see is that underlying sumi rise, because from what I see, it will bring the pattern into balance rather nicely if it rises like it promises it will. Nice deep shade of sumi too, which overcomes the ginrin in a good way.

Conformation looks pretty good, though I suspect this is a male koi. Ginrin appears to be thinning out, but it's hard to photograph for a true evaluation. Any possibility of a close up?

I think you did good with your little 4" fry and will be interested in seeing it develop further.

Thanks for sharing!

Marie

[dubtaco]

Ethan,

From the pics I would say it is defiantly improving with age, keep it a while longer and see what the underlying sumi does! Nice pond quality koi

[Gail]

Wow.from the second picture I also thought it was not going to recover. Ethan, I like it! Ginrin is always a hit with me anyways

[Ethan25]

Here's another closer view of the fish from the side....the ginrin seems to extend all the way down to the lateral line....and beyond....hard to tell probably without seeing it in person....

[aquitori]

If entered in "GinRin A" Class I think it will do well...But, condition the back ground (Shiroji) to white will be your true test as a hobbyist. What this fish has goin for it now is the uniformity of the GinRin on it and with a clean white shiroji it will make it standout even more.

[Ethan25]

Quote: Originally Posted by aquitori If entered in "GinRin A" Class I think it will do well...But, condition the back ground (Shiroji) to white will be your true test as a hobbyist. What this fish has goin for it now is the uniformity of the GinRin on it and with a clean white shiroji it will make it standout even more.

with this fish...it all depends on the lighting. As you can see in the photo of it where it seemed to be losing the color, the white was brilliant....

but in some pictures, it looks almost like platinum or silver:

[KoiCop]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ethan25 what are your thoughts on its potential....

If by this you mean 'show potential,' then I'm afraid this koi doesn't have much. Nice pond fish to learn from, though.