Update on some of my older fish
I still have a few from 2014 and 2015 spawnings here, and I often get asked about how fish from spawnings early on in the breeding project are getting on... so here's a brief update on some of them.
First up, a 54cm male from the July 2014 spawning.
This is among the most successful out of all of the koi we have bred in terms of show results, without having won a major award.
In 2015, this koi placed 1st in size 3 kohaku and 3rd in size 3 overall at the South of England show. Then, this year - at the 2017 South of England show it placed 1st in size 4 kohaku and 2nd in size 4 overall! thats just one or two fish away from the young champion award.
I've recently moved this koi into the females tank where it will stay for the rest of the year, being fed lots and kept warm until Christmas. It's the first period of dedicated growing on this koi has had since 2015 and I'm hoping we'll get a size bounce of at least a few cm's.
This next koi is 59cm and from the same spawning. it's been to a few shows and won a friendship award at the 2016 South of England show. But no competitive placings. At this year's show, it jumped out of the vat the night before judging - knocked a few scales, and was placed in a hospital vat on it's own until de benching. The scales have healed up, and there's still a slight light patch on one of the red scales - but insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
This is one of our favourite koi, and has even been granted a name.. 'Headlights' , named by my daughter because of it's distinctive pair of gin rin scales - one on each side of the shoulder just behind the head.
This male kohaku has also been moved to the females tank for the autumn growing on stint.
Here's some video:
https://youtu.be/Eb7_4LzzHg0
And some pics:
This next one is also a male, but this time from the 2015 spawnings. I have two females from that spawning already growing on in the females tank. And I've just moved this one to join them for the autumn growing on stint.
We call it the kindai male because of it's slim pattern. It's been a personal favourite of mine since I first saw it at second selection in August that year - and there are pictures of this koi at just a few cm's long on my blog here https://adambyerkoihobbyist.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/second-selection-of-may-15-kohaku.html
I remember the white really stood out on this one at that selection, and it's remained good.. but not quite as good as the award winning koi above. At the last show I took it to, it was let down slightly by the skin, and also the inconsistency of the red in the 2nd red marking - the small patch on it's shoulder area.
Over time, that patch of red has thickened up and I'd like to give this one a run out at a show in the next year or two.
The final one I have for you, is a male tancho from the May 15 spawning. this koi placed 2nd in size 4 tancho at this years 2017 South of England koi show! it measured in recently at 52.5 cm, and has now gone to a new home.
https://youtu.be/n8f6yO9Z-5o
this one will be missed, but we can't keep them all unfortunately.
with an ornamental pond on the horizon, and having moved on this tancho, we're now looking at the remaining koi from the 2014 and 2015 spawnings as more permanent fixtures at home and will be pushing them on size wise over the next few months to give them a bit more presence in the pond for next year.
First up, a 54cm male from the July 2014 spawning.
In 2015, this koi placed 1st in size 3 kohaku and 3rd in size 3 overall at the South of England show. Then, this year - at the 2017 South of England show it placed 1st in size 4 kohaku and 2nd in size 4 overall! thats just one or two fish away from the young champion award.
I've recently moved this koi into the females tank where it will stay for the rest of the year, being fed lots and kept warm until Christmas. It's the first period of dedicated growing on this koi has had since 2015 and I'm hoping we'll get a size bounce of at least a few cm's.
This next koi is 59cm and from the same spawning. it's been to a few shows and won a friendship award at the 2016 South of England show. But no competitive placings. At this year's show, it jumped out of the vat the night before judging - knocked a few scales, and was placed in a hospital vat on it's own until de benching. The scales have healed up, and there's still a slight light patch on one of the red scales - but insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
This is one of our favourite koi, and has even been granted a name.. 'Headlights' , named by my daughter because of it's distinctive pair of gin rin scales - one on each side of the shoulder just behind the head.
This male kohaku has also been moved to the females tank for the autumn growing on stint.
Here's some video:
https://youtu.be/Eb7_4LzzHg0
And some pics:
This next one is also a male, but this time from the 2015 spawnings. I have two females from that spawning already growing on in the females tank. And I've just moved this one to join them for the autumn growing on stint.
We call it the kindai male because of it's slim pattern. It's been a personal favourite of mine since I first saw it at second selection in August that year - and there are pictures of this koi at just a few cm's long on my blog here https://adambyerkoihobbyist.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/second-selection-of-may-15-kohaku.html
I remember the white really stood out on this one at that selection, and it's remained good.. but not quite as good as the award winning koi above. At the last show I took it to, it was let down slightly by the skin, and also the inconsistency of the red in the 2nd red marking - the small patch on it's shoulder area.
Over time, that patch of red has thickened up and I'd like to give this one a run out at a show in the next year or two.
The final one I have for you, is a male tancho from the May 15 spawning. this koi placed 2nd in size 4 tancho at this years 2017 South of England koi show! it measured in recently at 52.5 cm, and has now gone to a new home.
https://youtu.be/n8f6yO9Z-5o
this one will be missed, but we can't keep them all unfortunately.
with an ornamental pond on the horizon, and having moved on this tancho, we're now looking at the remaining koi from the 2014 and 2015 spawnings as more permanent fixtures at home and will be pushing them on size wise over the next few months to give them a bit more presence in the pond for next year.