Mohan Ghandi
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May 1, 2007, 3:52 PM
Post #22 of 39
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Re: [HWONG] New koi photos to share
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Hi Wong,
Last few days, I was working like a cow on a file and just finished today. What a relief? I was looking for ways to break loose and reduce the pressure on my head.
Yah came across your posting and the vivid discussion. Heard your call for contributions-
Here you are:
I have said umpteen times that I moved on to my new house and built the jumbo pond because I found my kois were not growing beyond 60cm. At that time, I was not looking for girth but length – girth comes later.
Having moved into my new house and a big pond, I thought my existing kois about 60 or so will reach jumbo proportions in no time. Yes, as you said it will take about 4 to 5 years before we can gauge the potential of a koi. (No wonder many dealers take us for a ride easily). I moved into this new house in 2001 and after about 4years or so, I found it was the Mutsunosuke Sanke that starting to grow and the others showed little progress – despite the best food and good feeding techniques.Despite the fact that some of them are prize winners they remained in that bracket (55cm or 65cm) for almost a decade. From here, I learned something that a big pond alone is not enough but we need Good bloodline as well.
Previously, I had a very ambitious & adamant belief that whatever the Bloodline, with my big pond and experience, I can mould them into jumbos. I was dogmatic about it.
No, no, no, - impossible – so you can see my 100 or so mediocre kois except the Matsunosuke Sanke (80cm++) and about 5 prize winners.
(55cm to 65 cm) - (No girth) – no further growth possibility – your favorites maruten Sanke in one of them (it remains at 66cm+ for many year) were given away like cakes- a rather expensive lesson.The sanke was the most expensive tosai I purchased.
Having realised my folly, (after a couple of years) I started investing in Quality kois, Of late, I only buy if I know the bloodline and if possible the parents too. I am sure you can vouch for that. My second experiment with good kois took off about a year ago and in about 2 years or so, I can tell you whether they will become jumbos and put on girth as well.
If I can mould them as such, I will say I have succeeded. If not, I will admit failure. If I fail in my second experiment, then the only way for us in Malaysia to have beautiful jumbo kois with girth etc in our pond is to get them ready made and enjoy them.
This will be the final experiment –... Hope I am in the hobby until then.
At the recent Sakai seminar at SPKC when you posed this question to kintaro that we only see Jumbo kois in Spkc and no other place... – these thoughts were running in my mind – Yes Kintaro says chiller can do the trick? – Will it??- It could be another experiment.
GOSANKE
Please note that I’m referring to Gonsanke only. With non Gonsanke no problem – If you remember, I managed to grow one Ochibia to 84cm ++ in just a matter of a year. When Kato saw it he exclaimed “WOW”. Anybody can grow non Gonsanke jumbos in a reasonable pond But not Gonsanke.
PROBLEMS
Even if it grows from tosai to jumbo it must have a clean bill of health otherwise the koi will be wasted. My Matsunosuke Sanke Tosai which I purchased at Penang on 5/8/1999 went through hell” because I was fighting for good water in my big pond. Only last year the water parameters improved – Sanke is also improving in looks and shape. I managed to selvage it.
Now, I presume that the water parameters in my big pond it almost same if not better than my small pond. Of course, I’m trying to improve it further for both ponds. I have no Baki Shower and recently stopped all air supply to filters and reduced aeration to the pond and the water improved to what now I would say is every koi keepers’dream. My problem was with the piping in the vortex which I explained to you during Vincent’s Chinese New Year dinner. Without realizing the problem, I mistakenly invested in filter materials- like Chips, Mats, bio balls and cockle shells- Foolish me!. But it is a blessing in disguise because it did not go futile.
All the prizes I won so far are only for Gosanke below the 60cm bracket. When I started my second experiment, I managed to get a prize for the 65cm Showa – As far as I am concerned, I lost the thrill of winning prizes below 60cm.
For my second experiment, I have chosen about a dozen Quality kois. I will post them as I see their improvements. Of course, I have also another 10 kois and the
Gosanke from this group will never grow any further. I keep them because they are prize winners and are of sentimental value to me. From this batch, comes my famous Kane and a Hoshikin male Kohaku which both stopped at 60 cm. Both died from Lightening strike. The two biggest kois chosen for the 2nd experiment is a five step Momotaru showa and a Dainachi showa.( not the best ) .Next comes my best showa from Dainichi and followed by Sakai kohaku, Oomo showa, Maruyama showa ,Ryu sanke, ,4 Eagle kohakus & a sakai kohaku.
Another point, I wish to state, is that it is a bit difficult to get “girth” in the big pond. If I keep them in my small pond the girth improves. Just before a koi show, I keep them in my small pond. That is what I did for my showa before the SPKC show. Perhaps because it gets less exercise.
Finally, I agree with you on all fours that the kois lose its glamour in about 6 or so years. Again it depends on the bloodline –my Matsunosuke sanke is a good example-despite the fact that it is about 8 yrs old it is recovering well from the “knocks” it experienced during the fight for good water. In this connection we should remember what Kintaro said while we were in Japan- kois can only stay well for about 15 yrs.
Thanks for reading my long episode.
Hkk
Mohan. 
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. I think you've the space for a few more prized koi in your new pond... heard the next round of Sakai auction is just round the corner, interested? 
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Why? this koi despite having the attributes that you say for a potential Jumbo, is an agonishingly slow growing koi and never built up the girth! Bought in Nov 2003 during my Japan trip, it is 5.5 years old now. If you observe carefully, it broke its tail fin during a koi show and already a year has passed, the tail has not grown back to its original shape. This is one example of the dilemna I speak of rgd body shape and expectations. 
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