koi from other than Japan?

[CarolinaGirl]

Ethan, the tail tube looks odd to me. It looks lumpy?? Also, while the color is pretty now, ogons can darken with age making that one too dark and possibly blotchy orange as it matures. A baby ogon should be very pale in color. Still.....it's a nice pond fish and if YOU like it, that's what counts.

[Ethan25]

Quote: Originally Posted by CarolinaGirl Ethan, the tail tube looks odd to me. It looks lumpy?? Also, while the color is pretty now, ogons can darken with age making that one too dark and possibly blotchy orange as it matures. A baby ogon should be very pale in color. Still.....it's a nice pond fish and if YOU like it, that's what counts.

OK, so ogons need to be more of an easter type yellow rather than electric yellow....

so that patch on the nose may turn more of an orange color then.....

[Ethan25]

Quote: Originally Posted by CarolinaGirl Ethan, the tail tube looks odd to me. It looks lumpy?? Also, while the color is pretty now, ogons can darken with age making that one too dark and possibly blotchy orange as it matures. A baby ogon should be very pale in color. Still.....it's a nice pond fish and if YOU like it, that's what counts.

I think the tail tube thing is from ripples in the water.

[HEADACHE6]

Ethan , I too went with a bright Y. Ogon and I have learned as others have said , " You want to pick the pale Ones" . If you look at the head of your koi , you can see what looks like orange on each side of the gill plate & in the center of the head . This has a good chance of getting worse with time .

[PapaBear]

Doitsu scaled Koi are commonly bred and very popular with many Koi keepers, Armour scaled are a different subject.
Look at some pictures of a nice Shusui and you'll see well placed large "doitsu" scale patterning. I recommend Shusui as the color patterning makes the scale placement stand out well.
Armour scales are messy, random, and not considered desireable (except among a few lonfin breeders who jack up the prices as though they were "special") In a way they are special... Kind of like the Koi worlds equivalent of riding on the short bus to school... (sorry to be so tacky)
As for your yamabuki, it is hard to tell how it may go. The body is filling in well, the color is pretty decent, and the dark patch on the head is fairly common, especially on young koi. Good color in the pond.
As already mentioned, there are several good domestic breeders around as well as Maurice in the UK. You won't find any Aussie Koi available for import as they have had stringent import/export restrictions in place for years which has hurt the quality of their domestics for the most part.
Since you are working with a thin wallet (I can identify with that ) good domestics will yeild you more bang for the budget buck. MOST of the inexpensive Japanese imports are culls and it takes a very practiced eye to find gold in a lead mine. We obviously have some very good importers who advertise on this forum, and I wouldn't hesitate to do business with any of them, but their good imports are going to cost you a lot more than what you've been paying... You will also be getting a huge difference in quality to go along with the price tag.
Breeders in the US like Matt, Brady, Brett, Richard, are producing some very nice Koi at much more reasonable prices and they will shoot straight with you about what you are getting. THAT is important when buying better Koi. An honest relationship with your source.

[Ethan25]

Quote: Originally Posted by PapaBear Doitsu scaled Koi are commonly bred and very popular with many Koi keepers, Armour scaled are a different subject. Look at some pictures of a nice Shusui and you'll see well placed large "doitsu" scale patterning. I recommend Shusui as the color patterning makes the scale placement stand out well. Armour scales are messy, random, and not considered desireable (except among a few lonfin breeders who jack up the prices as though they were "special") In a way they are special... Kind of like the Koi worlds equivalent of riding on the short bus to school... (sorry to be so tacky) As for your yamabuki, it is hard to tell how it may go. The body is filling in well, the color is pretty decent, and the dark patch on the head is fairly common, especially on young koi. Good color in the pond. As already mentioned, there are several good domestic breeders around as well as Maurice in the UK. You won't find any Aussie Koi available for import as they have had stringent import/export restrictions in place for years which has hurt the quality of their domestics for the most part. Since you are working with a thin wallet (I can identify with that ) good domestics will yeild you more bang for the budget buck. MOST of the inexpensive Japanese imports are culls and it takes a very practiced eye to find gold in a lead mine. We obviously have some very good importers who advertise on this forum, and I wouldn't hesitate to do business with any of them, but their good imports are going to cost you a lot more than what you've been paying... You will also be getting a huge difference in quality to go along with the price tag. Breeders in the US like Matt, Brady, Brett, Richard, are producing some very nice Koi at much more reasonable prices and they will shoot straight with you about what you are getting. THAT is important when buying better Koi. An honest relationship with your source.

Thank you all for the comments. I appreciate them. I would have to agree about the domestic fish thing....most of what I have seen in Japanese imports locally has been tough to judge, most likely because they are the culls (or just plain not Japanese). Im going to look into Brady Matt Brett and Richard. I have heard good things about Brady and Brett, but not RIchard or Matt. Then again, I am new to this whole thing.

As for the Yamabuki, thanks for the analysis. There were around 15 of these to pick from when I bought it last year, and I chose this one because the armor scaling was the most organized of the group. At the time, I also liked the color the most. I had no idea that the yellow could darken and turn almost an orange. Hopefully it won't happen, but if it does, its a learning experience, right? Either way, the fish seems healthy and grew nicely its first summer in the pond. I am hoping for an additional 5-6 inches this upcoming spring.

[PapaBear]

As already mentioned, pick'em pale is a good practice when looking for yellow anything Koi. One thing that may be darkening things up on it is your water as well. All water is not created equal and ph, kh, gh, all affect the way certain colors will develop or crash. A $$$$$$$ Koi can fall apart in the wrong water, so get to know your water before you start spending serious money on Koi. You may find out that there are certain varieties you should just avoid so you can concentrate your efforts on the ones that have the best chance of doing well.