Gallagher's Omosako Shiro Challenge "Luck O de Irish" Page

[Gallagher]

Koi Info
Selected in round 5 as the 85th overall choice when Luke Frisbee initiated a trade so that I could move up 18 places.
Koi 1 - Selection Picture #85

Koi 1 #85, size when received: 6.5"

"I look much better without the measuring lines"


Koi 1 #85, size between 6/1/08 and 7/1/08: 9"
#85 went outside on the 7th of May, so I decided to wait, give her a little time to grow, before submitting her update. These picture were take on the 21st of June.
The light of day has changed her quite a bit!!


Shiro Mugi




Koi 1 size between 2/1/09 and 3/1/09:


Koi #2 - selected 129th



Koi 2 #129 size when received: 4.75"



Koi 2 #129 size between 6/1/08 and 7/1/08: 7.5"
129 went outside on the 17th of May, the water temp was 62 degrees. Over the last month the temp has climbed to 77 degrees.
He no longer wears the Sumi Tux.

He has grown though.




Koi 2 size between 2/1/09 and 3/1/09:

Pond temp when received: 58f
Pond temp at 6 month photo: 77f
Pond temp at final photo:

Pond Info
Gallons: Outdoor pond =14,000 These fish will not go outside until the end of May.
Until then they will be in a 300 gal Q tank in my basement.
Stocking rate: Q tank = 3, Pond =12
Filtration: Q tank = Trickle, Pond = 700 gal settling Chamber to Nexus W/Easy = 150 gal upflow w/2-22" grey Matala and 2- 22" Blue Matala rounds
Liner Type: Polyeurea
Turnover rate: 1X2hrs
Dimensions: 18X13X6
Water changes per week: 7
Amount of water changed %: 10

Food Info
Brand and Type fed: Sakai Hikari staple, Blackwater growth

Owner Info: I'm the Irishman your mother warned you about.
Years in hobby: 10
Years buying show koi: 5
Zone: 4a
State: Minnesota

Fun Stuff
Koi 1 sex guess when received: Female
Koi 2 sex guess when received:
Koi 1 name:
Koi 2 name:

[Gallagher]

What I like about Koi 71, oops sorry, by the Luke numbering system this is KOI # 85. The straw that tipped the 'choice scales' for me on this fish, were the body and pecs. I know, it's not much to hold on to, but those two items scream female to me. And look at how she poses, loves the camera. I'm not so sure the sumi will ever come up, however if it ever does it will compliment the shiro nicely. I'm a little afraid that my water will not help the sumi. I've had a number of Showas go kage on me and the only other Shiro I have lost a very nice menware pattern in a matter of months in my pond. This brings me to my second choice

KOI # 129
I really like the strong head and rounder face of this fish. From the picture the pecs look a little uneven but I'm betting it's an optical illusion. As for the heavy monotone sumi I'm hoping that's the baby fat of this girl and eventually, in my water, it'll shrink to an adorably simple pattern.

[Gallagher]

Well I’m back from Zihua, Mexico and I have to say I had a hard time enjoying myself since there was so much to worry about back home. First I was only able to observe the little guys for short time, I unpacked them at 7 PM, and was on our plane at 9:30AM the following morning. On top of that their Q-mate breeched the tank and was found on the floor of my basement the night before they arrived. The Q-mate was one of my Marudo Kohakus, I’m growing out as part of the Upper Midwest Koi Club’s grow out challenge.
Well he was pretty stiff when I found him but I did notice some slight movement of his mouth. Well I worked him in the water, with the force of the current directed through his mouth, and what do you know after about a half hour he was swimming on his own.
On top of all this I noticed that the air was off in the outdoor pond! That could only mean one thing, no electricity, either a circuit breaker had tripped or a GFI had. A quick check of the service box revealed that it wasn’t a breaker. As it was below zero outside and temps were dropping by the minute, I decided to wait, and inspect the filter pit when I got back from Mexico.
When I finally open the filter pit I found a foot of water on the floor and both the air and water pumps shut down. The water level on the settlement tank was a good 6 inches below the overflow and a quick inspection of all the plumbing gave no indication of a leak. The only thing I can think of that caused this was the fact that the temps got sooo cold the hole over the air sealed over and without a release opening the pumped air increased the pressure, under the ice, to the point where it pushed the water level, in the filter house over the overflow of the settlement tank, thus causing the flooding inside. What a mess!
Well all is well now both pumps are running and spring is in the air, it’s going to be 35 tomorrow.
The fish, all survived and now I have some time to update my page.


First up #85, these pics were taken today after two weeks in the Q-tank with/out food through the 10th. They've been fed once a day since them.
I think it's best to see all sides of the fish.

[Gallagher]

Here's the verious views of #129

[Gallagher]

Well it's been a long winter here in Minnesota. Most of the fish didn't go outside until the first week in May and the water temp was around 58 degrees. Incidently that was a full 10 degrees cooler than last year at this time.
I put #85 out on May 7th and she was a little shy and was chased around the pond by the bigger girls. She happened by the skimmer and quickly found it was a good place to hide out. It took me about a wk of opening the cover and scaring her out, before she finally joined the herd and stay out of the skimmer.

I put the little guy #129 out on May 17th and while he was chased a bit, but soon found an alley in the big Sanke by following her (in formation off her rt flank and no one bothered him after that.

Here're some photos #85 she's just over 7.75" and changed quite a bit.

# 129 Has also changed and is 6.5" now.

[Gallagher]

After updating the status of my picks, I must say I'm happy with the overall growth, now that they've gone outside, however I'm not very optimistic that the Sumi will return in time to win anything this year. Hopefully it will come back. Here're some thumb nails of their progress.

[Meg]

I think the loss of all that sumi on Tux is the biggest change so far!

[Gallagher]

Quote: Originally Posted by Meg I think the loss of all that sumi on Tux is the biggest change so far!

Meg,
I can't explain it except that unless the sumi is firmly establish it'll go down the first year in my pond. I' into the second yr for one of my Kindai Showas from Brady and the Sumi it lost in the first year is coming back much stronger after it nearly lost it all. This was on a 4yr old fish too.

[Alfie102]

Hi All, I am new to all this. However, I have a chance in a competition to choose an Omosako Shiro Utsuri and wonder if any of you could give me some guidance. the fish are available to look at online at koicarp.org.uk and under the section koi stocks in the "show & grow" competition. I have looked at lots of different posts and internet sites about picking Shiro Utsuri so if any of you can take a look at the web page I've mentioned there's 49 youngstock on there to look at so I hope I can nab a nice one to grow on. What do you experts think? Any guidance would be appreciated as I am very new to all this. Thanks.

[PapaBear]

Quote: Originally Posted by Alfie102 Hi All, I am new to all this. However, I have a chance in a competition to choose an Omosako Shiro Utsuri and wonder if any of you could give me some guidance. the fish are available to look at online at koicarp.org.uk and under the section koi stocks in the "show & grow" competition. I have looked at lots of different posts and internet sites about picking Shiro Utsuri so if any of you can take a look at the web page I've mentioned there's 49 youngstock on there to look at so I hope I can nab a nice one to grow on. What do you experts think? Any guidance would be appreciated as I am very new to all this. Thanks.

Experts Hey guys, he called US EXPERTS!!!

Just Messin' with ya Alphie
If anything we've learned humility. Omosako has some development photo's on his website if you care to take a look;

‹ÑŒï‚Ì–Ê”——{Œï�ê

Just one of several, but it gives a hint at how difficult it can be for we mere hobbyists to see them as the breeders do. I look for soft translucent skin with Sumi clearly evident, but evident can be on the surface or submerged, especially at tosai or nissai stage.
Shiro's are a truly challenging fish to select at a young age, so prepare yourself to be surprised as you look around this forum at the various contestants from the beginning up to this point. As you search through them bear in mind that at the end of our competition most of them will look very different than they do today, and 4 or 5 years from now they will surprise us again