koi from other than Japan?

[Ethan25]

Are there other good breeders outside of Japan and the U.S.? I have heard good things about koi from Israel and Australia, but have not seen any before. I have 2 koi that are "malaysian", and they look great, but I am not familiar with how they develop. Do they develop smaller than Japanese and american? My yellow doitsu ogon was bred Malaysian. Are malaysian fish crap in the sense of being ONLY pond fish?

Ethan

[dubtaco]

There are some excellent breeders in the U.K.!

Maurice of Koi UK is or was advertiser on bito... http://www.koi-uk.co.uk/

Can't really make a blanket statement that all Malaysian koi are crap as everytime I have been there I have only visited dealers who import from Japan.

[elunned]

Don't buy the label - buy the koi. In your budget, it makes more sense to spend some time learning to look at what makes the high-end koi special. Imports that cost less than $50 are all pond-grade. (Ogons run cheaper so you might find a bargain.) Once your eye is educated, think about getting a few better domestics that are at least 2-years old and watching them grow in your care. (Brady, Brett and Matt are excellent USA koi breeders.)

[CarolinaGirl]

Also remember that just because a koi is imported, it doesn't mean it's a good koi. There are a lot of crap koi being imported from everywhere, including japan. Like Lynne said....don't buy the label, buy the koi. There are some excellent domestic bred fish available.

[dubtaco]

Quote: Originally Posted by CarolinaGirl Also remember that just because a koi is imported, it doesn't mean it's a good koi.

And, not all koi labeled as Japanese imports are actually Japanese imports.

Buying the koi is good advice, but knowing the lineage is also important as it can help determine characteristics that may develop later.

[CarolinaGirl]

Quote: Originally Posted by dubtaco And, not all koi labeled as Japanese imports are actually Japanese imports. Buying the koi is good advice, but knowing the lineage is also important as it can help determine characteristics that may develop later.

excellent point. there was a guy on Ebay selling some horrible ugly crap a few weeks ago and claiming they were from a very well respected koi breeder. I called him on it. I sent him a message and told him he was lying. I must have been right because he changed his listing. I never got a reply from him though.

[Ethan25]

Quote: Originally Posted by elunned Don't buy the label - buy the koi. In your budget, it makes more sense to spend some time learning to look at what makes the high-end koi special. Imports that cost less than $50 are all pond-grade. (Ogons run cheaper so you might find a bargain.) Once your eye is educated, think about getting a few better domestics that are at least 2-years old and watching them grow in your care. (Brady, Brett and Matt are excellent USA koi breeders.)

see, like I said, this fish labeled a malaysian koi, I believe is an ogon. Someone told me that Yamabuki is yellow in japanese....so maybe a yamabuki ogon. The dragon scales from what I am told are not desireable in a koi, at least for showing purposes, correct? Either way, the yellow on the fish and the conformation seemed decent enough to add it to my collection (I know many of you are laughing at my use of the word "collection"....but what other word would I use?). I thought the tail tube looked pretty decent, even as a younger fish. Here is the fish when I purchased it at 5", and now at 10". I think and hope it is a female. She stands out quite a bit in the pond. She was on the thinner side when I got her....then she fattened up nicely. The head was an odd shape too initially....now it looks pretty dang good. Thoughts? Are there any problems with "dragon scale" or armored scale koi in general?


Spring:


and this past fall:

[dick benbow]

Yamabuki is the yellow gold flower ( I have a bunch growing in my japanese gareden) that the color of the koi reminds the japanese of , hence the name Yamabuki Ogon.....

Maurice already mentioned in the UK has done a fantastic job of gathering up some japanese brood stock and going into production for domestics there.

Here in the U.S.A we are very fortunate indeed to also have some first class
"domestics" available.

and there are other countries who breed koi and export them. malasia, Israel

Japanese koi are still considered the standard but as suggested the more you learn and can select koi objectively the more you can appreciate those produced here at home.

Back when I was in college the advertising course prof lectured us on a marketing ploy by salmon canners who were trying to break into the alaska sockeye market. People accepted the red meat as standard and pink or white as something wrong till one brilliant soul decided to lable thier cans "guaranteed not to turn red in the can"...suggesting something may be wrong with the processing. I say all this because many car companies today compare their product against the known standard for price and features. So much les$ than toyota, mercedes benz etc....In other words it always comes back to knowing a product and it's relative worth and that comes from knowledge.......

[Gail]

till one brilliant soul decided to lable thier cans "guaranteed not to turn red in the can"...

Lol.that is genius.

[Ethan25]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ethan25 see, like I said, this fish labeled a malaysian koi, I believe is an ogon. Someone told me that Yamabuki is yellow in japanese....so maybe a yamabuki ogon. The dragon scales from what I am told are not desireable in a koi, at least for showing purposes, correct? Either way, the yellow on the fish and the conformation seemed decent enough to add it to my collection (I know many of you are laughing at my use of the word "collection"....but what other word would I use?). I thought the tail tube looked pretty decent, even as a younger fish. Here is the fish when I purchased it at 5", and now at 10". I think and hope it is a female. She stands out quite a bit in the pond. She was on the thinner side when I got her....then she fattened up nicely. The head was an odd shape too initially....now it looks pretty dang good. Thoughts? Are there any problems with "dragon scale" or armored scale koi in general? Spring: and this past fall:

any thoughts on this ogon's growth, conformation, and color? Is the indent in the head fine? Will/can that grow out? I'd love to learn how to pick a good yamabuki ogon early on.

Ethan