Choosing young fish

[l113892]

Typical US shows will have one male award- Best Male. But even then, the award would be more appropriately named- Best "Male Looking" Koi as the judges can't always get the sex correct by looking at a koi swimming in a vat. I can't see that we want to encourage more males in shows nor more awards. The males are very competitive and in some cases have the upper hand up through size 4.

[JasPR]

I agree and I feel mike has the best BIG picture view on this budding subject. Everyone focuses on the big awards and come to learn that 95% of the big fish awards go to females. But if you did the same statistic on young and baby champion, best of size one, two and three, I think you would find that 75% of those are males.
The Kokugyo prize is the award for a 'national fish' or special acknowledgement award. Brian, correct me if I'm wrong but the term is more a term/symbol of 'royality' than a first place type winner award. JR

[koiczar]

Along these same lines, unless you have the money, pond size and time to manage very large females to compete for GC or RGC, the average hobbyist would be better off with fish within the smaller size categories. Just look at the national shows in Japan. There are a whole lot more fish entered in the small to medium size ranges than in the jumbo sizes. This may, in fact, skew the percentages of opportunity, but doesn't it represent the thinking within the hobbyist sect of where they might stand the best chance of getting something for their efforts?

Mike

[JasPR]

It's true. As I've said before we all need to heed the words of the great philosopher , Clint Eastwood- " A man's GOT TO know his own limitations!"

[aquitori]

My Avatar Kohaku is male and it won Mature Champion at Gardena and I think if I am not mistaken the following year was taken by Alan Stein for his male Kohaku...

[Brady Brandwood]

"Brady do you beleive that male koi of this quality are as readly available as female koi of this quality (or is it more or less)? "

Yes, ratio-wise there are more male Koi produced per spawn than female Koi, and the numbers of quality Koi within a spawn keep that same ratio. What happens with male Koi though is they aren't given the same high quality environment as female Koi (once the sex is determined),... so most begin to deteriorate, become sexually mature early, peak early, and so on, because of how they are handled, or kept, when they are determined to be male.

The bad rap male Koi have is a little unfair. Male Koi's reputation comes from the market, and how they are kept and sold. Unfortunately the market view is the only experience most Koi keepers have of male Koi. They only understand what they've seen.

In the Japanese system of Koi "business" - once the sex is determined, MOST of the males are crowded, colored up, growth stunted, reach sexual maturity early, and sold mass quantity to dealers,.... where they get crowded again,... then sold to hobbyists relatively cheaply,... where they are crowded and stunted again in the small ponds of hobbyists who buy inexpensive Koi. This all leads to early deterioration. So these male Koi have been given no chance really to show their true potential. No, it's not the same as a female Koi, BUT the size a male Koi can reach, and the duration of beauty of a male Koi is MUCH better than they get credit for. Female Koi put through the same "system" do not do well either.

Here are two tosai, one is male and one is female. The look at this age is very similar, and the development over the 1st 4 years would be very similar if they were both grown in the same high quality environment.

Best Wishes,
Brady Brandwood

[Brady Brandwood]

Here's a good example,... all of these Nisai Kohakus were raised in the same environment,... these pics were all taken on the same day, around the same time, and in the same bowl, with the same camera. One of these Kohakus is male.

Best Wishes,
Brady

[aquitori]

Top row middle?

[jbolding]

Top row middle would be my gues too, but thier are many that could o either way.

Back to the subject at hand. So for the sake of demonstration lets say I have a 6K gallon pond and I wish to buy predominantly koi to compete in sizes 3-5. I keep my water in top condition and I feed high quality feed(s) with a 6-8 week imposed california winter. Would I be better off trying to keep male koi and maitain them at these sizes or female koi? I understand the quality would have to be there.

In general I think that competing in size one and two is too fleeting as the fish won't last long enough for me to enjoy.

[RookieKoiGuy]

Hi Jeb,
Most female seem to have better conformation
Tom