Fading sumi on SU

[gspotmc]

Has anyone experienced fading sumi on shiro utsuri?

[HEADACHE6]

My guess is most of us have .

Here is a Shiro i'm playing around with for fun , just waiting for the Sumi on the Head to come back (Been waiting 2 yrs.) .

[aquitori]

Quote: Originally Posted by gspotmc Has anyone experienced fading sumi on shiro utsuri?

Havent that experience fading sumi, but have had probelems with sumi coming up. Is there an age to the fish in question and breeder?

The only reason a sumi would fade would because of water conditions.....

[HEADACHE6]

Quote: Originally Posted by aquitori The only reason a sumi would fade would because of water conditions.....

[aquitori]

Quote: Originally Posted by HEADACHE6 My guess is most of us have . Here is a Shiro i'm playing around with for fun , just waiting for the Sumi on the Head to come back (Been waiting 2 yrs.) .

This shiro you posted is still young, I generally would judge the future of the sumi after 2 or 3 years to get an idea which direction the sumi is going.

[aquitori]

Quote: Originally Posted by HEADACHE6

Let me reword it:

There are many factors that can attribute to sumi fading:

Water conditions, poor genetics, etc...

[HEADACHE6]

Quote: Originally Posted by aquitori Let me reword it: There are many factors that can attribute to sumi fading: Water conditions, poor genetics, etc...

So you are saying the "Quality" Sumi should stay up once it is up ?

What about all the talk about Sumi going down in young koi , only to come up better & stronger later in the koi's life ?

[saratogatan]

Not so. Let's see if I learned something from tonio's postings:

The quality of sumi depends on genetic and other factor like water condition. You should give the sumi at least 2-3 years to get a feelig which way it is going. The sumi maybe going up and down over this period, and it may have a lot to do with genetic and environment, but you should know better after 2-3 years.

stan

[MikeM]

Shiro Utsuris have temporary 'baby sumi' like many other varieties. As said above, you really need to wait until after the second growing season. At that point, disappearing sumi may be cause for serious concern... maybe not? In regard to sumi 'rising', Omosako-san has commented that sometimes the sumi does not rise on the head until six or seven growing seasons. If it was there as tosai, and shadows of it can be seen as sansai, Omosako-san says to be patient. ...Easy for him to say. Not so easy for the hobbyist to do.

[aquitori]

Quote: Originally Posted by HEADACHE6 So you are saying the "Quality" Sumi should stay up once it is up ? What about all the talk about Sumi going down in young koi , only to come up better & stronger later in the koi's life ?

There are different "phases" sumi goes through, you see this even more so in Omosako Shiros. If you look at the sumi type too they are very different from breeder to breeder, depending on if they are using Omosako Oyagoi.