a close personal friend of mine

[JasPR]

Really? I certainly don't want to contradict you here but the marusome beni is as old as Toshio is? This was the first kiwa of kohaku and very common place in Yamakoshi until sensuke became the popular rage of the day. Are you confusing this with pink beni maruzome?

The introduction of sumi marusome was a few years before the AKCA Houston seminar ( I believe that was 2001?) . You might remember that this was part of Sakai's presentation at the seminar. He showed pictures of Sansai and details of the marusome. I recall first seeing the 'experimental breeding at his place in 1999? It was really a wild thing to see and I believe they were Nisai and Sansai back then? It was early on however as none were for sale.
I'm sure you are saying that he started exporting them here about three years ago , yes?

male or not, that fish is nice. And I thank you for sharing it. As you know better than most, males finish up quickly and usually are 'good to go' by age one, two and three. This fish is a great example of just how bright/vivid and strong male skin can make colors look. - JR

[dick benbow]

Evidentally I didn't get the point across that, while, sumi and beni in a marusome presentation by Toshio, is faily recent. I agree that marusome beni alone has been with us a few decades. But as we know new innovations have affects on development..

[clm]

It's very pretty. Almost looks like it's wearing a life jacket.

Cindy

[Lam Nguyen]

Just for our learning and with permission of Dick the Koi Coach, I just thought I would update all of you on the development of this showa. When I acquired it back in May or June per Coach's recommendation, it was about 11" in length. When I moved it from the garaged QT tank to the outdoor pond it measured 15.5".

Sex: still unknown. I suspect it is a male but I could not produce any milt when I squeezed its belly. Also, there are no rough spots on the pec fins & gill plates. Still keeping my fingers crossed.

Color Quality: as you guys can see, the beni has softened up quite considerably. This is the soft beni that I really like and could be due to the fact that it was kept indoor and not fed any color-enhancing food (it was on a saki-hikari growth/izeki/watermelon staple).

Growth: I don't know about you guys, but I am very happy with its growth so far. While it didn't pack on the kind of growth as some of the other ake nisai (I have a chagoi that went from about 12.5" to 19" during the same time period), I am still very happy with it.

The thing that I want to learn most from this koi is whether motoguro will develop in its left pec fin. I heard that if there is sumi in the gill plate, then there is a very good chance that motoguro will develop on the pec fin that is on the same side as the sumi-covered gill plate. Upon closer examination, I do see hints of tsubozumi at the base of that pec fin. Will update you guys on its development, although with how soft my water is, I suspect that it will be several years down the road.

[JasPR]

If I can, and if you don't mind, I'd like to clarify one point you are suggesting and maybe add some dimension to your comment about the beni?

Beni is not something that 'gets softer'. Softness is a function of the shiroji. When beni of this type is youthful and gathering and when the 'coats' are still few, the beni plate's uniformity of color is at war with the growth rate.
So a fast growing body thins out the immature beni until two things happen: 1) the coats of beni thicken the plates 2) the growth rate naturaly shows with age.

Don't confuse yourself with the big 'S' softness, which is a skin condition with the small 's' softness, when trying to explain the opposite of HARD beni. Hard beni is a type of beni characterized by inelastic characteristics ( typically bright but 'breakable' surface beni).

to bring it all home, your fish is simply outgrowing the concentration of it's current beni cell count within the plates.

My two cents-- JR

[l113892]

Even though there is not motoguro on the left pec, I think the sumi pattern balances well for now. Hopefully you have a female.



Mike Pfeffer

[PapaBear]

JR,
Looking only at the beni comparison from the original pix to current my conclusion on your description revolves around the appearance of hoshi in the scales as the growth stretches the young beni whereas in the original pictures it appeared solid throughout (typical of a good fish at that size).
Is that the correct way to look at your description, or did I miss it?

[Lam Nguyen]

Quote: Originally Posted by l113892 Even though there is not motoguro on the left pec, I think the sumi pattern balances well for now. Hopefully you have a female. Mike Pfeffer

Thank you for the comments Mike and yes, i do think that the lack of motoguro is balanced well w/ the sumi on the gill plate. I just think that the koi will be more stunning if motoguro develops on the left pec fin. And yes, I do hope that it will turn out female.

[gcuss]

I like your showa Lam. And just spent the last 15 minutes re-reading the previous posts... Wouldn't ja know it? These mentors of ours are correct..

As Coach pointed out, you can see the scalloping becoming a bit more prevalent in the kiwa.

At first glance, the beni didn't appear softer to me, it looked thinned out slighty taking creating more of an orangey type colour. I associate this orangey color with softer beni as well, but knowing that it was darker before hints that it's just thinning from growth.

Larry: I often wondered if hoshi was created from the cells thinning to keep up with the growth and if the color is deep enough, the center lines of the scale retain the original color... Of course, I'm probably bass ackwards and the center color is the future color comprised of new pigment...

I think the sumi has continued to develop in tasteful areas and you've done a great job with keeping up the confirmation! Nice work Lam!


Keep us posted! I'm learning.

Grant

[KoiCop]

Hello Lam . . .

Nice to know 'someone' has taken good care of this fish since this thread's inception. Lovely koi.

And I'd like to thank you for updating this koi's progress. These update threads are some of the very best ones for learning. Don