Next dream koi

[slick]

You can just make him out top of photo not very clear i know due to reflections (The Bekko that is) hopefully when the summer comes I'll some better pics as I'm trying to borrow an underwater camera get in swim with the fish and get some good shots.

 

[bettasngoldfish]

I bet they do Dave

I love the way they interact with people (the fancy goldfish seem to do that as well not the common goldies so much though) I still can't get over the size of koi

 

[bettasngoldfish]

slick, what type of koi is the one that is in the middle of the last photo you posted? It's white, orange and black with a white head. I love it

 

[slick]

It is a young doitsu sanke due to it's white and red head and white fins, if it had black on its head then it make it a showa, But its very early days it could this summer turn out to be a showa, because with young koi you don't always end up with what you bought thats the beauty of it, as red goes and black comes, i thought i had three bekko's it turned out i owned 1 bekko and two koromo's

 

[bettasngoldfish]

Ah okay, I didn't realize koi change in color like goldfish do.

 

[slick]

Dave 54 do you own any butterfly (long fin koi) my wife loves them but im not to sure, dont know if i just saw a few poor examples. but i thought that when they are young and small they look ok but when i saw two of around 12 inch long the fins looked raggie unkempt and i hate to say it a bit scruffy, I'v heard that most British koi keepers will spit at you if they see one in your pond. apparently they are a koi interbred with fan tail gold fish???

 

[slick]

Oh yes very much so change colours depending on the colours of the parent fish thats why buying a show winning koi perfect markings is so hard and expensive but thats what i love about it you go along telling people about your koi and when you get home after a long trip away you ant got what you thought you had two fish for the price of one living jewels

 

[Dave 54]

They develope over time Maria , thats why I love getting them in small and bringing them on , your thoughts on the grow and show koi slick ?
Shiro bekkos are moving towards far less sumi nowadays it doesnt however detract from your koi a very nice example mate

Dave

 

[Dave 54]

That is true Slick butterfly koi arent wanted by the BKKS , in Amercia the AKCA have acctually embraised them and they are shown at shows all be it seperately , sadly I doubt very much we'll see them any time soon ... but hey you never know there may be a shift in views one day OOP's I said it , thats me drummed out

Dave

 

[slick]

LOL mate how will you cope, i can see both sides of the coin, the purists that will go to the end of the earth for that one perfect koi may be better British breading stock, but also the pond keeper that just buys what they like which is how we all should be maybe. not thinking better not buy it as my next door neighbour will hate it, must admit i do buy the classified koi the kohaku's the matsuba's koromo's, but i like to see a pond which contains 5 nice koi of different classes rarther than a pond full of top end koi of 25 inch but all the same, i like a pond to look like a living jewel box i take great pleasue in buying small fish and seeing what i end up with,

 

[Shdwdrgn]

@slick: The fins of butterfly koi never stop growing, the tips just break off (much like hair) which is why they look so ragged. It's all a matter of taste, I actually like them because of that look.

@Tula: You'll find great fish in the most unlikely of places. Here's a pic of my favorite -- a male platinum butterfly who is over 12" now. I picked him up at PetSmart for $6 on sale in 2011. I also have a female platinum of slightly smaller size but regular fins. She has a lot more black under her scales so the silver doesn't shimmer like you see on the male.

I won't be adding any more koi to my pond due to its size, with one exception. My dream koi is one of the solid yellow ones with small black patches. I've picked up several that were yellow to begin with, but once they got outside in the sun they darkened up to a plain orange color, or the color washed out completely. The guy at the far left with the dragonscales had a solid yellow head a year earlier. I need to get one that is 3-4 years old to make sure the color stays, but I can't see purchasing online and shipping a fish that large.

 

[slick]

If you mean by small black patches do you mean the pine cone affect down its spine? if so you want a matsuba like the yellow one bottom left corner he 'around the 18 inch mark or the orange matsuba bottom centure

 

[Shdwdrgn]

@slick: no, not the pinecone type. I just mean random spots around their body. More like this style, except with butterfly fins...

Looks like the name of this guy is "Ki Utsuri". Would they have a different name if they're a butterfly?

Also I guess my other koi isn't strictly a platinum since he has the pinecone look to him.

 

[slick]

May be a long fin but i think that a long fin or butterfly Ki utsuri may be a bit tricky to track down. as how can i put it?
A Utsuri in Japan is a very well bred koi also in the UK, but im sorry to say but in certain circles ( not me )
but long fin or butterfly koi are some times frowned upon I know that in the states the butterfly koi are very popular and a breeder may just have what your looking for,

 

[Tula]

@Shdwdrgn , wow $6 at Petsmart - what a find! My koi have come from our local fish hatchery, but I haven't bought a new one in years. I'm thinking of getting a blow up pool, so I can lower the water in my pond this Spring and catch and rehome the koi fry. I'd also like to keep much of my pond water. I don't want to buy a big live stock tank, as I don't want to store it, so blow up type pool might work.

Once I re home the koi fry...I might look for a platinum koi