Is this a Isa showa or sanke?

[RookieKoiGuy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Brutuscz I would say showa on the left, sanke on the right. I almost went to buy that sanke, I like that one.

me too
Showa on left/Sanke on right

[MikeM]

Sorry... not a show with serious competition.

[koiczar]

Jomoma

How long have you been in the hobby and how long have you been interested in show competition quality fish? I saw these two fish on Kodama's auction site. The sanke interested me at first, but then upon closer inspection I notice it has a RED EYE. If the red was just "above" the eye it might be forgiven, but in shows, if the whole eye is red, this is a fault as it is distracting from the overall appearance. Also, I would like to see at least a slight break of color at the base of the tail. It just doesn't look "refined" and that's what sets a show fish apart from a high quality pond fish. There are other things but let's start there. Otherwise, I like that fish too. The showa is very unique. Ice Cube is a fitting name, but as Mike M mentioned, you can see underlying sumi on the head, within the square and in front of it. In this case, pictures don't lie. It could be that it "appears" that it is gone but it could have been stressed enough during shipping for it to have temporarily faded slightly to give that appearance. I have found that Kodama is pretty accurate when he states the size and sex of the fish in the auctions. Have you actually measured these two? Could be the showa has a bulkier body than the sanke and just "appears" to be that much larger. Or else the sanke is actually smaller than advertised. For what you paid for that showa, I doubt it is that large and was born in 2006! That would make it approx. 18-20 months old. As far as showing these fish, I think they need AT LEAST another 1-2 years before they're ready to compete. Be patient. Besides, the competition at the NWKGS is pretty heavily contested with high quality fish. Make sure you don't take something to a show before it's time. Maybe start with a show locally so the transportation is easier and you can learn how it's done and what quality you need to compete for top honors in the various size categories.

Good Luck

Mike

[jomoma]

lol, I have a kohaku that is the real deal. she is my best show fish and should have a great chance of getting best in size. there is no doubt that the kohaku is top notch but i do not have a picture on my computer to show of if.
The hi showa i put up, i was thinking of selling it last summer, but now i am keeping it. Ice cube i will never sell!

If i do bring the koi to the show which is pretty close and the biggest around here i will have my kohaku and that sanke that could do well but i will bring the showa's to see what people think.

I got one more pic of my now 3 showa's how about this one? i know it's no grand champ but it's the only other fish except my shushi that i got a picture of on my computer.

[luke frisbee]

Girlie!
IF the head sumi comes up on Ice Cube it may create a "Wow" factor. the reason being; the Ice cube looks like a scar (evenif it never was)...but if the sumi comes up then it will not be seen as a scar

[jomoma]

Ya, thanks. I would have stayed away from the red eye if it were a kohaku but i liked the sanke with thi hi mark on it's head. And, i got the showa first and decided to take a shot at the sanke to get a shipping dicount, but then they said the showa was to big and needed it's own box.
i went with air cargo and still got it cheeper than ups though. The showa is huge. Maybe i can take a pic of the two together to show you guys. when i got it it was on it's side lifeless and it big body protruded half out of the water. i thought it was dead. till i tried to pick it up. it's big.

The head looks really white but you can see a faint black if you look hard. less than the pic shows though.

I've been keeping koi less than five years. I can tell the showa and sanke were more unusually than show fish before i got them. they seemed to go together so i got them.

my kuhako is the best as far as it would pass the show fish test. no red eye, pure white, super red and great show pattern.

[jomoma]

you see ice cube and it does not look like a scare at all. very perfect rounded type of square. i never saw a fish like it so thats why i got ice cube.

now, it's my favorite fish.


oh, and when i first looked at it at kodama in the pics the tail looked alittle scrambled but the tail looks good.

[jomoma]

The water obsuces alittle because i put some jungle labs fish fungle bactiera fizz chips in the water that turns it blue.

They didn't need the medication but i was at the pet store to get some ammonia detoxifier since my biofilter is not at full speed yet in my holding tank and i saw the fungle bact. jungle fizz tablets for 3.00 and got it just to zap anything that mite be there.

her are the pics of the size differnts. i couldn't get them exzactly head to toe but it looks even more off if i would have. there is a huge difference and kodama lists it as 3 cm apart.

[jomoma]

I guess the tail isn't the best. atleast on those pics but it's not that bad.
i just tried to get a better pic but i couldn't. tomarrow i may get some photos posted with better shots.

here's another shot.

[PapaBear]

In the first set of pictures Ice Cube appears to have a pencil thin mustache of sumi as well as submerged sumi within the window of shiro. Either would put it in the Kindai Showa camp in my book, but time will tell.
The Hi Showa is a long way from a show fish for several reasons to my thinking. I like the general look of it for a pond fish, but the beni has some breakup going on, some of he sumi has a definite brownish color to it, and the pec fins are poorly formed. Nice in the pond, but don't take it to a show. The other fish will make fun of it and give it an inferiority complex...