The Biggest Koi Show on Earth Holland Koi Show 2013

Transcription

Nishikigoi Digest
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A
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Growing jumbo Koi, theory and
practice (Part 2) - Mike Snaden
Issue 2
October 2013
Azukari
International
The Biggest Koi Show on Earth
Holland Koi Show 2013
- to leave or not to leave
1st Vietnam Koi Show
All England Koi Show
International Directory
Yagenji Sanke, 70cm, Yonsai
Owned by Jeroen van Keulen
Currently Azukari in Japan
Photo October 2012
www.Niigata-Nishikigoi.com
The e-zine for the global Koi community
www.facebook.com/nishikigoidigest
On September 6th I was sat in a car on route to Manila Airport with my good friend Mike
Hernandez, destination Vietnam, a trip you can read about in this issue.
‘Are you really going to publish Nishikigoi Digest International every month’, Mike asked.
‘Absolutely’, I replied without doubt or question.
That day was the first of around 16 that have been spent on the road during September
with trips to Vietnam, Manila (close to home but 4 days away), and Taiwan. Being on
the road is essential to give Nishikigoi Digest International its ‘International’ flavour, it
doesn’t work hand in hand with getting things such as editing and layout sorted.
Feedback, contribution and suggestions are all very important for the future of Nishikigoi
Digest International. I so want to hear from readers about what they want to read about.
The network of contacts we have globally makes it possible for us to investigate and
write about pretty much any Koi related subject that you are interested in so please get
in contact with us.
It’s disappointing that we accepted several contribution offers for this issue which have
failed to materialise. Notwithstanding that i think there is some great content in Issue 2
and I’m extremely grateful to those that have contributed.
Part 1 of Mike Snaden’s ‘Growing Jumbo Koi’ interview created some ‘deep’ conversation
on discussion forums around the world, in this issue we conclude with part 2.
With harvest season upon us ‘azukari’ is perhaps never more a timely topic, whether you
have a Koi awaiting harvest, or whether you are buying a Koi with a view to leave it in
Japan.
We have several show articles in this issue, one thing that I go on and on about is the
lack of judges feedback on show winners. This issue we have the words of Mike Harvey,
judge at both the NVN and All England Shows giving his appreciation of the champions.
Of course, Issue 3 is the ‘Harvest Issue’. I can’t really tell you the contents because I
simply don’t know. For sure we’ll bring you the shows in Niigata, thereafter the harvest
season in words, but rather more in pictures. You won’t want to miss it, that’s for sure.
Mark Gardner
mark@justkoi.co.uk
Welcome to Issue 2 of
Nishikigoi Digest International
Contents: (click to go to article of interest)
Growing Jumbo Koi,
theory and practice (Part
2) - Mike Snaden
Page 3
Azukari - to leave or not to
leave
Page 14
Page 26
The Biggest Koi Show on
Earth - Holland Koi Show
2013
Page 35
All England Koi Show
Page 47
Page 57
Growing Jumbo Koi
Theory and Practice
Growing Jumbo Koi - Mike Snaden
NDI – We touched on water temperature a
little earlier. Can you give us an idea of what
you consider your ideal temperature regime
would be?
Mike – I don’t think there is any point trying
to heat the Koi to any kind of temperature
in winter, and there’s certainly no point in
feeding the fish in winter, unless you’re at
19 degrees or more the fish aren’t going to
grow anyway. However, if you keep the water
temperature during winter months at say
15 degrees the fish will lose quite significant
weight.
Most breeders tend to keep their fish at 12°
C
in the winter months, literally from the time
they are harvested at the end of October or
beginning of November through until the
following April, and they’ll keep those fish
indoors and they won’t feed the fish at all. At
12°
C sure the fish will lose a little bit of body
weight but they won’t lose any significant
amount of body weight so it’s quite easy for
them to put it back on again.
You can go lower in winter, you can drop it
down to maybe 7-8°
C no problem at all but I
think if you are going to go that low you need
to know that the fish are in extremely good
shape health wise and parasite wise before
you drop it that low.
Interview with Mike Snaden - Part 2
As far as summer temperatures go what I
usually try and recommend doing is to get up
to let’s say 20 degrees, something like that,
by May time and then if by the end of June
you were up around 22-23°
C start feeding a
summer growth type of amount of food if you
like but it’s important I think not to overfeed
the fish early in the summer because I think if
you feed them too much too early all the fish
do is make eggs and get fat and the problem
with that is that when you get through into
the main growth months, which is really
August onwards, if the fish are too fat in those
months then you find yourself not actually
feeding as much as the fish really could be
utilising for growth because you are worried
about them being too fat. So, I think it’s better
to go very very steady through that first part of
summer with that 23 degrees and then August
onwards you can literally pretty much double
the amount of food you feed them and really
start getting serious growth out of the fish, I
think that’s a much better regime. I think really
your optimum summer growth temperature is
going to be 23-24°
C, some people heat higher
than that but I think the problem you’ve got
with that is that with big fish, the metabolism
with those is such that if you start heating
them to say 26 or 27°
C the fish have a much
lower appetite, basically because their gills
aren’t so efficient at getting the oxygen out
of the water and the oxygen levels are lower,
so effectively the fishes growth metabolism
goes up so they grow faster if you like but they
won’t eat so much food so if the water is too
hot the growth is too fast and the fish don’t
eat enough food so consequently you can’t
get the body on the fish, so I think 23 or 24°
C is
really where you’d want to be.
NDI – Lots of people that read this interview
Nishikigoi Digest International - Issue 2 - October 2013
won’t have the same climate as in the UK,
for example people in countries such as the
Philippines, Indonesia and Malaysia. This may
be a difficult question for you to answer simply
because you’ve no experience of doing it,
for the people in those countries where daily
temperatures of 30°
C are normal, if you were
them would you still be trying to manage the
temperatures as you’ve explained above?
Mike – I would but the trouble is, like you say Mark,
some of those countries don’t really have a winter
so I think it can be difficult to raise fish and keep
them big and youthful, it’s feasible but it’s just
difficult. What I know some hobbyists are doing,
certainly in Indonesia and I would imagine other
places as well, is putting chiller units on their ponds
to cool the temperature down but I think perhaps
you’ve got to be a relatively wealthy Koi keeper
to be keeping fish in that manner because I don’t
think those units are cheap to buy, or to run, so it’s
kind of difficult. I don’t really envy people in hot
countries, as much as our climate is not great and it
costs a lot to heat the fish at the end of the day it’s
easy for us to choose what the fish temperatures
are going to be whereas in some of these other
countries there’s not an awful lot they can do about
it.
NDI - Again something we touched on briefly
earlier, feeding. Your main feeding period starts
in May after a period of fasting?
Mike – Yes, towards the end of May is when I start
feeding.
NDI – And what sort of percentages are you
talking about when you start feeding and what
kind of food are you using?
Mike – I’ve never actually calculated and done it on
body weight but 2% of bodyweight per day is the
norm. With young Koi such as tosai it’s possible
to use a little more than that, perhaps 2.5%, and
with jumbo Koi they are a lot lazier in their eating
habits so with bigger fish you’d be looking more
like 1.5% of bodyweight per day. What I tend to
do personally is feed the fish with a general kind
of feel for what I’ve fed in previous years with a
rate that I think is about just right and then just
observe the fish week on week and if I think they
are putting on too much weight then I ease off on
the food and if I think they’re not carrying enough
weight then I increase the amount of food that
I’m giving. It’s not a scientific way of doing it but
it seems to work reasonably well for me. I think it’s
quite easy to a degree to overfeed fish, particularly
young fish, so in that regard it’s probably better
to stick to the 2% or 2.5% daily feed rates because
what you’ll find, if you actually overfeed small
fish, or any fish for that matter, obviously they
get too fat, that’s one problem, but it’s quite easy
to raise young fish and overfeed them on a daily
basis. When you first get them they eat a lot but
what happens is that if you’re overfeeding after a
few days they start to eat a lot less and then you
find yourself thinking the fish are fussy eaters and
they’re just not eating enough whereas in reality
you just trying to overfeed them and that’s why
uneaten food is floating around all the time.
Above and below, this hobbyist in Indonesia utilises large air conditioning units
to cool the pond’s water.
NDI – A question I often get asked is ‘what
food do the breeders feed?’ I know there is no
definitive answer to that, breeders will use lots of
different types of food depending on the type of Koi,
and brand preference. For you personally what food
are you using as a general rule?
Mike - Lately I’ve been using FD food. I think ultimately
I would like to be using Saki Hikari but it’s the same
scenario as it is for a lot of breeders, they’d also like to
feed Saki Hikari to everything but they can’t really afford
to so it’s kind of a tricky one.
Above and below, Mike’s Koi feeding, on this occasion they were
being fed with FD Foods pellets.
Personally I think most Japanese foods are actually
pretty good, the ones that are actually made in Japan.
I don’t think that you can go far wrong with those
because the Japanese manufacturers are not just giving
food out to a bunch of hobbyists to get on with it
and then putting the food into production. What the
Japanese companies are doing, and I’m sure you’re
aware of this yourself Mark, is to sell the food to a certain
breeder who will trial it for quite a while and during the
course of that the breeder will report back to the food
company and say ‘well OK, the fish are doing OK with
this’, or perhaps they’ll say, ‘my fish are getting too fat
with it’, or ‘the body types too weak in the tail tube’.
Various different things they’ll report back with and the
food companies will try to continually keep on tweaking
and adjusting the recipe until the breeder’s happy
with it. Because of that I think the food companies in
Japan have got a whole lot more understanding than
companies outside of Japan that basically manufacture
something that they think is a pretty close replica of a
food that they regard as being good but in reality the
problem being is that you might find your fish in the
first year you feed it are fine, and maybe in the 2nd year
you think they are fine as well, but when you are trying
to grow this fish through to jumbo you might end up
with a fish that effectively, after 6 years of feeding with
that certain brand of food the body type is actually not
too good and you might even find yourself looking at
the fish and thinking ‘well it’s too fat, the tail tube’s too
weak’ or whatever and maybe the fish was no good
to start, but in reality the food that you’ve raised that
fish on tirelessly for 6 years is actually no good. So,
personally I think, for me it’s just got to be Japanese
foods.
NDI – OK, with regards to the specific type of food,
are you feeding a growth food, colour food, a mix,
wheatgerm, what do you prefer?
Mike – I don’t like too high protein. I think high protein
food is OK for young Koi like fry or tosai. I think young
fry can utilise much higher protein levels than older fish
can. For me I think somewhere from 35 through to 40%
is about right for generally raising fish and with those
kind of protein levels it’s easier to feed the fish and get it
right as it were. I think if the protein is too high you end
up with some fish that will grow quite easy and some
fish will just get too fat too easily. I think it’s hard to
control what goes on with the whole pond environment
with a food that is too high in protein.
I tend to use a fishmeal base food with some colour
ingredient in there, or a certain amount of colour food
mixed in it, and I think for me that’s about right. I’m not
really interested in wheatgerm food but that’s really
just my preference, at the end of the day I think that fish
need to be fed very much on a fish meal based food.
NDI – Lots of people consider wheatgerm food as
the starter food for the season for example. Is that
something you agree with or perhaps just a marketing
ploy or a bit of a fallacy?
Mike – I think it’s very easy for fish to digest wheatgerm
food so I think yes, starting off in the early part of spring or
summer it’s not a bad thing as it’s easy for the fish to deal
with it and utilise that food but I wouldn’t personally be
inclined to feed it beyond that. What I do think it’s good for
is conditioning fish for shows because at the end of the day
you’ll find that using very low protein food, or wheatgerm
food, you’ll get much better skin condition on the fish. So, if
you’re trying to prepare fish for Koi shows in that instance I
think that wheatgerm food is quite a good move because
it will allow the skin, particularly the skin on the face of
the fish, to brighten up a lot compared to higher protein
food which, let’s face it, when you’re feeding fish through
the summer months quite heavily the skin of the fish can
go out of condition really easily, it’s quite common to see
fish that are kind of quite yellowy skinned or very muddy
skinned. Personally I don’t think that’s a problem because
it’s something that’s quite easy to address. If you’ve got a
Koi show coming up, or likewise going into winter, you can
stop feeding those fish and because there’s no real loading
on the kidneys or anything the fish actually brightens up,
effectively the fish is kind of in detox mode when you stop
feeding it.
NDI – We spoke at the beginning about pond systems,
pond size and depth. In terms of the full system can you
explain your ideal system in terms of filtration etc?
Mike – You’ve got to firstly start with the footprint that
you’ve got available. Let’s just say for argument’s sake
you’ve looked at your garden and you’ve worked out you
can get a 30ton pond in there. Then you have to look
at the the pond, say OK, the pond is going to be 30tons,
stick to, as we’ve talked about before, the 1.5m depth as
a maximum. Ideally I would say 1.3 or 1.5m is where you
want to be but, assuming you’ve got that pond of 30tons,
what you’ve then got to look at is turnover rate and
dynamics of the pond.
What I would say is that if you’ve got a 30 ton pond, or
whatever pond you build, I really think you need to turn
the pond over every hour in order to make good water, I
don’t mean good parameters, I mean water that’s a really
good eco-system for the pond, that’s very much alive with
bacteria. So, with that in mind, if you just said OK then the
pond’s 30 ton it’s going to be turned over at 30,000 litres
per hour that then is going to determine your bottom
drains. Personally I think if you’re going to run anything
less than 15 or 18,000 litres per hour you’re going to start
to perhaps suffer with issues of settlement in the bottom
drain and that is the worst thing you can do. When you
build a pond you’ve got to look at the dynamics and
basically keep all of your pipework clear and clean all the
time. So, whenever you build a pond don’t look at the
pond design and say OK this pond is let’s say 12m long and
4m wide and decide from that you need 3 bottom drains,
what you’ve got to look at is the dynamics of it. So, if you’ve
got a 30,000 litre intended turnover rate basically, if the
pipework runs are not too long and kept nice and simple,
you should be able to rig a pond up so you’ve got 2 bottom
drains in there with 25,000litres per hour of flow with let’s
say 4-5” of head loss on the pipework but the one thing
you can be sure of, with the head loss on there the bottom
drains will stay clear all the time. So that’s really the most
important thing I think with any pond when you come to
think about building it is keeping those bottom drain runs
clear.
Above and below, Mike believes that getting the bottom drains
right is crucial for a succesful pond design and that getting it
wrong risks waste matter settling in the pipework.
Personally I think it’s incredibly bad if you build a pond
whereby you allow settlement to occur in any of the
pipework anywhere in the system, it’s got to be clean.
Beyond that you’ve got to look at filtration. I’m not a big
fan of mechanical filtration, or should I say pressurised
filtration, because to my mind what you’ve got effectively
is something very similar to a big teabag whereby you’re
using beads or sand to physically trap the waste and
then once you’ve trapped the waste you’re forcing water
through it. Therefore any component of that waste that is
biologically decomposing is being dissolved into the water
and adding to the TDS levels and also discolouring the
water. That’s just something that I’m really not a big fan of.
I’m also not a fan of excessive aeration for the same reason
we spoke about earlier. I think you need to maintain an O2
saturation of say 80%+ so then you know that if you have
issues with weather or power failures everything is OK
but I don’t think it’s good to go excessively beyond those
levels because at the end of the day you could put 10 times
the amount of aeration in there and only get 2% more O2
saturation anyway which personally I think is a wasted
effort.
NDI – The system you have running here, you had a blank
canvas to build that pond and chose to run ProfiDrum and
Bakki Shower. Given you could have chosen any system to
run, what was your rationale to choosing that system?
Mike – For that particular system what I wanted to try and
recreate was the optimum conditions for trying to raise fish
jumbo, the reason being that really more than half the fish
that are in that pond already belong to people and a lot
of those owners are actually overseas and they are people
with big dreams and, because they’ve got big dreams, I’ve
got to make sure that those dreams and hopes become
realised as often as possible. So, I wanted to produce a
Koi pond that was basically not only perfect in terms of
dynamics and filtration but also a good ecosystem for the
fish. So, what I opted for there was a pond of 38 tons, which
is 8500 gallons, using 3 bottom drains running a total
turnover rate of about 83tons per hour, so effectively that’s
about 210% per hour turnover rate with about 27,000 litres
on average per hour per bottom drain.
When I first went into the ProfiDrums I went to the Holland
Show in search of what I thought was the best drum filter I
could get for my own use, at the time I wasn’t intending to
sell them, and after looking at all the various manufacturers
that I could find someone else actually recommended
to me that I go and chat to the guys at ProfiDrum and
consequently that ended up being the route with it. The
idea I like with it is that the waste from the bottom drain
goes into the drum filter and effectively gets removed from
the system before it gets chance to decompose. Every 1020 minutes the screen then cleans itself and that waste
goes straight off down the drain so you’re then putting
water over the showers that is really already very clean in
so far as the waste hasn’t started adding to the TDS levels.
If you’ve got a pond that’s already very biologically heavily
loaded whereby you’re actually physically having to use
bacteria to break down the waste it will use a lot more
KH, add a lot more to TDS levels and also GH levels so the
balance between all the water parameters becomes a lot
more difficult to manage. What I figured with the drum
filters, the waste is getting taken out of the system before
it decomposes and then there’s a lot less waste to be dealt
with by the actual Bakki Showers so therefore the showers
aren’t using, or aren’t creating, so much acid by-products so
they’re not consuming so much KH and also are not adding
so much to the GH or TDS levels.
I went for showers on that particular pond because I
wanted to use a system that I’ve been using now for 10 or
11 years because to my mind there are so many advantages
with it because of O2 saturation, gas desaturation if you
like, or gases being released, and also because none of this
is happening with any pressure, it’s all kind of finding its
own equilibrium because of the water being able to tumble
over the media so freely, so there’s no pressurisation of
Above, the Profidrum installed on Mike’s pond, note the
anything there. Of course, I think with the showers, if they
submerged UV light, Mike is a firm believer that UV lights should
are degassing, then you need to get rid of the air around
be installed in settlement chambers.
them so I think the showers need to be able to breathe
properly and be ventilated properly so you don’t find
yourself in a situation whereby gases are being broken
down and released by the media but effectively getting
dissolved back into the water again because the showers
can’t breathe properly, so I think this is also important.
NDI – So in your Bakki Showers you are using genuine
Bacteria House media?
Mike – Personally I wouldn’t use anything else because
what I’ve found, and I’ve actually got here 3 copies of
Bacteria House, and none of them are the same. If you
took a picture of it and put it on a website people might
think ‘oh yeah it’s Bacteria House’ but if you come to use
it it’s very different in so far as none of the materials are as
hard as Bacteria House. One of those 3 copies in particular,
if you put it into a system and it’s only in there for let’s
say a week it’s clearly not been fired properly or it’s not a
proper ceramic because that media you can then take out
and you can literally break it in one hand which you can’t
do with Bacteria House. Bacteria House is a ceramic, it’s
not something that’s made up of minerals that will get
dissolved by low KH levels and things like that, it won’t get
dissolved by acids in the pond. Bacteria House, basically
after you’ve run it for 10 years you can take it out of the
system and use it in another system if you want, it’s not
something that wears and becomes disposable. The
other thing I’ve also found with it is that Bacteria House
is, compared to the copies, a lot more porous, the pores
are bigger but also one easy way to see that is to actually
literally put it up to your mouth, like a mouth organ, and try
and blow through it. None of the copies have got that same
kind of porosity, there’s no way you can blow through it in
the same manner. The problem I think is that if the pores
are too small like on the copy medias, or alternative medias,
that people use, what happens is after a few months the
water doesn’t physically pass through the media anymore
because basically it’s become kind of jellified and bunged
up in the middle. You then run the risk of creating a
bacterial disaster if you like by running that media, whereas
with the proper Bacteria House the water does manage to
soak and permeate all the way through the media, it won’t
actually stay in there and block up and I think that anyone
that’s ever run the systems can attest to the fact that if
they take any piece of media out at any stage during the
system’s life and broken that media open it smells fresh, it
looks fresh there is no blocking up going on in there and
that’s something you just won’t find with any of the copies
that are out there.
NDI – The new pond system we’ve discussed has been
running here for around 12 months now?
Mike – In actual fact in September 2013 it will be 2 years.
NDI – Is the system still running as it was designed
originally or have you changed anything?
Above, the ProfiDrum and 2 sets of Bakki Showers are installed in
a seperate room behind the pond keeping them out of sight.
Below, 2 Flowfriend pumps deliver a turnover of 82,000-83,000
litres per hour for just 600w power usage.
Mike – The only changes I’ve done to it, of course I’ve been
playing around and watching the parameters really closely,
but basically it’s running as it was in the beginning, the
turnover rate is slightly higher than what I was originally
intending, I was intending for it to be 38 tons with a
turnover rate of approximately 70 tons or 72 tons per hour.
What I found was the bottom drains were working more
efficiently than I imagined they would so I found myself
being able to up that turnover rate to sort of 82-83,000
litres per hour and that’s using about 600w in total for the
2 pumps. As far as changes go the only actual change
I’ve done is to put in more extractor fans where the Bakki
Showers are in order to help them keep breathing properly,
basically because of what I said earlier regarding gas levels
building up in the filter house and getting re-dissolved into
is this something you would offer as an ideal system?
Mike – Personally I think yes, the system is a massive
overkill. By that I mean effectively we’ve got a pond that’s
2 tons smaller running outside with half the number of
Bakki Showers and that systems not half as good, the
difference between the 2 ponds is kind of incremental
really, the outside pond which we’ve got which has half
the number of Bakki Showers, and a lesser turnover, sure
the water’s not as good, but the new one is not twice as
good. Parameter wise it quantifies as being perhaps 10%
better on paper as it were. But I have no doubt that the
higher turnover rate makes it a better performing system
and a better eco-system for the fish irrespective of what
the parameters are.
Above, Mike’s pond provides an incredibly tranquil environment. With no in pond aeration, and sub surface Bakki Shower return weirs
there is almost no surface disturbance whatsoever. Also, because the showers and ProfiDrum are housed behind a concrete block wall,
effectively in a room of their own, there is almost no running noise whatsoever. The Koi also seem to appreciate this, they glide around
the pond in a very relaxed manner, when feeding they do so very calmly just rising to casually take pellets from the pond’s surface.
the water so I put plenty of fans in there to ensure there’s
plenty of aeration to help the showers degass properly.
The other thing I have trialled is using an air curtain on
there to see how that affects the condition of the fish but,
after running it for a couple of months now I’ve actually
reverted back, as I thought I would, to not using any
aeration at all, for me it just seems to work better that
way.
NDI – For any hobbyist out there looking to build a pond
As far as parameters go I look at a lot of parameters,
I don’t just look at ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH and
hardness, I also look at components of the hardness
because one thing that’s important to me is to
understand what’s going on within the whole system. At
the end of the day if you’re trying to chase low TDS levels
and keep those differential levels between raw water and
pond water as small as possible I think you need to know
what’s contributing to the TDS levels in the pond. There’s
about 14 parameters I test on a regular basis just to see
and keep a track on where those parameters are going
and one thing that I’ve found is that the main component
within the food that adds to the TDS level is actually
calcium. Basically the food is pretty rich in calcium and it
seems that the food, even when you are running a pond
with particularly soft water and low TDS, there’s an awful
lot of calcium in the food which the fish just can’t utilise
so they excrete it as waste. Specifically I think that’s the
one key component that an over stocked pond will suffer
with, a complete rise in calcium levels, especially if the
pond is overstocked, overfed and under maintained.
In the western world everyone puts UV lights after the
pumps. What people tend to do, when designing a filter
system, they go into a settlement chamber, they go
through a biological system and then they go through
their pumps and through heat exchangers and UVs and
that kind of thing and I think that’s a really bad thing to
do because, assuming that your pond filter is any good
and it’s actually making a good ecosystem, you need
that water to go back to the pond alive. I think anyone
that’s been to Japan will have noticed that the breeders
have got UV lights over settlement chambers and they
are doing that for a reason, that reason being is that
waste that settles in settlement chambers basically starts
to create and release bacteria into the water from the
moment that waste stops there in the settlement and
the last thing you want is for that bacteria to then go
straight through the rest of the system and reproduce in
the whole pond. The UV needs to be over the settlement
so all of that festering waste in the settlement is getting
hit by the UV all the time and then, after that you then
go through your biological bays and back to the pond
because then, with any luck your waste is creating bad
bacteria whilst it’s in settlement, the UV is trying to deal
with that to keep it relatively healthy, the biological bays
can then concentrate on making water that’s biologically
really nice and very much alive with bacteria and then
that bacteria can also go back to the pond and keep the
pond alive as it were and I think that’s much much better.
I think one of the worst things people can do is put a UV
system after the filtration, I think it’s a big mistake.
NDI – I think the general reason for people doing that
is a belief that it’s the cleanest water and therefore it
won’t make the quartz sleeve get dirty and if the quartz
sleeve gets dirty the UV will stop working.
Mike – Yes, it is the cleanest water, but it will also make
the most sterile water and I think that sterile water for
raising Koi is just no good, the water’s got to be alive, it’s
got to be an ecosystem. To put the UV over a settlement
chamber you can do it in such a way that you can buy a
conventional UV and make a lampshade of sorts for it and
suspend it over your settlement bay. Of course you need
to make sure it’s safe and you’re not actually physically
looking at it all day long but it’s very easy to make it so
the UV is shining down into the settlement area and
consequently keeping it healthy and allowing your filters
to produce good water and good bacteria and make the
pond abundant in that.
NDI – Talking of sterile water, around the world people
are using things like ozone on Koi ponds, what are your
thoughts on those systems?
Mike – You’ve just struck on something else that I’m not
particularly fond of, personally I think people worry too
much about ozone levels. The way I see it, ozone to me is
something which is quite a potentially dangerous thing to
play around with, but also the way I feel about this is that
if you’ve got fish that have been properly quarantined
and are basically free from bacterial issues they should
really stay free of bacterial issues in a pond that’s of a
decent design and consequently to my mind you don’t
really need to put ozone on there. The other theory of
my own really is that if you are in a situation where you
are using ozone to actually oxidise organic levels in the
pond you’re not just oxidising organics, that ozone level
that’s being put into the pond is oxidising everything
indiscriminately, and to my mind this includes the fishes
colour, and I think you’ve got to consider the fishes
colour as being a living organism in its own right, these
pigment cells are literally a living creature that live on the
fish and if you consider it that way you look at it slightly
differently. The way I see it is that it’s kind of similar in
a way, I think ozone in a way kind of attacks the colour
and makes the colour kind of harden up but also makes
it become thin so I think that colour doesn’t really last so
long on a fish that’s been kept in an environment with
high ORP levels and the way I see it is that is you look at
let’s say a mudpond, and one thing I’ve done is a lot of
testing of ORP levels in mudponds in Japan. None of the
ponds we run here run above 200mV of ORP and the fish
generally speaking keep pretty good colour condition
long term no problem at all. I wouldn’t encourage a low
ORP but I certainly wouldn’t want to make it high either,
what I mean by that is a mud pond typically I’ve found
is generally on average 100mV of ORP level and what
you’ve got to think about, and this is always something
I try and explain to people, is that a new mudpond is an
environment for keeping Koi and it really is quite a volatile
one and any breeder will say that if they build a new mud
pond they’ll never put good fish in their in the first year
because at the end of the day any breeder that knows
what he’s doing will realise that fish never actually do very
well in the first year, or the subsequent 2nd year, and it’s
not really until the 3rd year onwards that mudponds start
to actually work properly and the reason for that being
is that what you’ve got effectively is very very heavily
decomposed fish waste that’s in the bottom of the
mudpond that kind of makes that sediment or silt but it’s
not the same as fish waste that’s built up in a vortex. Fish
waste that gets built up in a vortex and stays there too
long rots and bacteria can’t get to it but in the mudpond
it very different because the fish waste in relation to the
surface are on the pond bottom is so small and when that
fish waste hits the bottom of the pond the bacteria then
work on it and break it down so thoroughly that it almost
becomes very much like sinking mud sort of like you’d
find in the sea as it were, it’s very similar to that. What I’ve
found is that that mud that’s in the bottom of the pond is
very much the same as what facial clays are made of, like
anti oxidising clays and I think that what you’ve got there
effectively is anti-oxidising facial clays. Basically these are
clays that have a negative ORP and it is literally a case
of anti-oxidising, I think that the mud pond, any pond
that’s mature, the fish do well in there because you’ve
effectively got an anti-oxidising environment for the
fish, or basically a pond that’s very clean and healthy but
doesn’t run a particularly high ORP level because of that
negative ORP in the clay at the bottom and I think this is
part of the magic of why mudponds work so well. So, for
that measure if you like, personally I don’t get hung up on
ORP levels on my own pond, I’m interested to know what
they are but I’m certainly not interested in trying to raise
those ORP levels. I try to get clean water by justifying it
being low in TDS, not high in ORP. It’s easy to say, well OK
the ORP is low we’ll lift the ORP up by using potassium
permanganate but at the end of the day you can oxidise
all your organics in the pond using potassium but you
can still have a high TDS level afterwards so I don’t think
there is any point in dressing up your ORP levels in order
to deem your water as being clean, you’re much better off
using conductivity or TDS levels to determine it’s clean.
NDI – Just to give people some idea of the numbers that
are being achieved in the main pond here, what sort of
growth rates have you achieved so far?
Mike – There are fish that have been in that pond, they’ve
not been in there so long as yet because the pond is quite
new, one is 5 years old and about 83cm, but there are
quite a few sansai that came in as tosai that are 70cm+
that are in there now. So far I’m quite happy with it but
my long term aim with that particular pond is to use it
as a tool whereby in a few years time people will come
here and they’ll see fish of 85-90cm and hopefully beyond
and look at those fish and be able to say ‘wow’ and
consequently hopefully they’ll turn around and ask when
those fish came into the country and how did they get so
big, and I can then turn round and explain it’s not such
a big deal but if you concentrate and work on making
good water you too can achieve the same thing, that’s
the reason for trying to inspire people with a pond that
hopefully is performing as well in the future as it has so
far.
NDI – One thing many hobbyists talk about, certainly
when I talk to people in Indonesia and the Philippines,
are issues with maintaining the colour on Koi. In some
cases I’m sure this is simply down to the fish being
wrong to start with, other times people suggest it’s a
temperature problem, the fact their pond is naturally
too hot, the fish grow so quickly so easily and lose
colour, and another thing that perhaps contributes to
loss of pigmentation is lack of natural light. How do you
consider those aspects in terms of maintaining colour?
Mike – I think it’s really important to keep the
temperature and levels of light in keeping with each
other, and I think this is also one reason for giving fish
a proper winter. If you think about it, as far as the UK is
concerned, during our winter months we don’t really get
as much daylight, the day time is usually pretty cloudy,
and if you try to use elevated temperatures and keep your
fish growing at the end of the day they are not going to
get enough light to keep that colour thriving so you are
going to end up with fish whereby the colour is going
to look really weak and washed out. Really you’ve also
got to apply the same theory in the summer, if you’re
raising fish in the summer you’ve got to think about
whether the fish are getting enough light. You don’t
want them getting too much sunlight because that will
kind of age the colour too much and vice-versa if the
fish aren’t getting enough light you need to think about
trying to supplement the light a little bit, maybe with
things like metal halide lighting, something like that, it
won’t save anything from losing colour but it will kind
of help a little bit if you are in a bit of a compromised
situation. In Indonesia and other countries like that, like
you say, they do suffer a lot with the colour not keeping
on the fish, and I think a large part of that is to do with
the temperatures being too hot and the fish getting too
much sun, the colour’s aging too quickly and then you
get an awful lot of teri weakness with the fish because
the colours not got a chance to rejuvenate and catch
up, which is one advantage you will get with the winter
months. I think with fish that are wintered it’s so much
easier to keep them looking youthful once they get big.
But, obviously you have to think how you are raising the
fish during the summer months to make sure they do
get big if you are then going to winter them properly. So
lighting is important and in this regard I think it’s better
as well to make sure the fish are getting a lot of light. It’s
better to get morning light than afternoon light on them
because, although the afternoon light is good for getting
the temperature up, it’s also a little bit more intense and
runs more of a risk of doing colour damage to the fish. At
the end of the day if you’ve got a pond that’s getting full
sun all day long the fish really have got nowhere to go,
they’ve got nowhere to hide from it. If you’re in a situation
where your pond is getting full sun all day long what you
need to try and think about is shading it in such a way
that, let’s say at 1 or 2pm, they start to get some shade. If
half the pond is shaded, because the fish aren’t entirely
stupid, provided you don’t put your auto feeder out in the
sun so it drags the fish out into the sunny area, the fish
will predominantly try and stay in the shaded area if it’s
too hot and sunny for them. It’s better to give the fish the
option of knowing what’s best for it.
NDI – One thing connected to the growing of Koi which
I’m asked about a lot in various parts of the world
is the pushing Koi too hard in terms of growth and
development. We’ve seen breeders in Japan who’ve
gone to the point that it was a big deal that this was a
70cm nisai etc., but now everyone seems to have pulled
back because it was making fish too weak, because it
was overloading organs and the fish generally weren’t
strong enough and you get to 3 or 4 years old and the
fish just go belly up and die. For people in a tropical
climate where they can feed all year do you think there
is a danger that hobbyists could do just that and grow
fish too quickly?
enough and not too quick, providing you’re just allowing
them to grow and not forcing them and I think there’s a
big difference between those two.
Mike – Yes, I do subscribe to the theory that much as
people in these climates can grow fish easily and have a
lot of fun with the fish I think also the success rate doesn’t
really work hand in hand with that. They can grow fish
really quickly but also get a much higher failure rate, they
can get fish like you say but they look old and haggard
if you like because they’ve not got any winter months to
rejuvenate and I think, in some regards, in days gone by
breeders were trying to push for tosai that were 40cm+
or even 50cm+ and a lot of breeders have now realised
in the last few years that they actually ruin an awful lot
of fish trying to get them that big and consequently
they’ve also kind of come to the conclusion that in actual
fact pushing those fish an extra 10cm as tosai doesn’t
necessarily mean when the fish get jumbo they are going
to get any bigger or grow any quicker. And a lot of these
breeders have realised that the success rate of fish, or
jumbo tosai, worth keeping is much much higher if they
are raised in a slow manner. I think as you’ve already
suggested Mark, a lot of breeders I think do have a lot
of issues whereby if they raise fish really big as tosai and
then end up with 70cm nisai the fatality rate if you like
of those fish not getting as old or as big as they should I
think is particularly high. To me, hitting 80cm as 5 years
old and then carrying on beyond that is plenty quick
Mike – Yes you’re right, and you do need the right
bloodlines, the right genetics and a breeder with the
right kind of business model and then you’ve got to hunt
down the fish that are good examples for that breeder.
It’s no good choosing tosai from a breeder of say 35cm
and the dealer is saying ‘these fish are jumbo tosai’ when
in reality all of the breeders’ best ones are all sort of 40
or 45cm, chances are those ones that are 35cm basically
aren’t going to make the grade size wise and that’s why
the breeder’s getting rid of them and sold them off to
the dealer at a better price. So I think you need to know
whatever fish you buy, whether it’s tosai or nisai, they’ve
got to be on par for what they should be at that age from
that breeder. So I guess in that regard a lot of it comes
down to trust of the breeder or dealer concerned, or you
own experience of how you should grow fish from that
breeder.
NDI – Just a last point really and to bring what I think’s
been a very interesting conversation to an end, what
most people are under the wrong impression about
is that there are 85cm Koi swimming all over Japan,
85cm anywhere in the world is a big fish and therefore
it’s important for hobbyists to be realistic with their
objectives of what they can achieve.
Want to see more of Mike’s
pond? Check out the video at:
https://vimeo.com/69961594
Above, Mike searching for jumbo tosai Kohaku at Takigawa Koi
Farm, Hiroshima.
Azukari
To Leave or Not To Leave
Azukari - To Leave or Not to Leave
You may have heard the phrase ‘azukari’ written in books
and magazines, quite probably you heard Koi referred to as
being ‘azukari’ somewhere on the Internet.
For many hobbyists having a Koi that is ‘azukari’ is
something of dream, for others it’s a source of disbelief.
The Japanese word ‘azukari’ literally translates as ‘under
custody’ or ‘under supervision’. In the instance of Koi it
means a fish that is left in the care of the breeder or dealer
in Japan.
In this article we’ll look at some of the reasons why
someone would purchase a Koi, invariably an expensive
Koi, perhaps even just from a photograph, leave it in Japan
and then allow it to be placed into a ‘natural’ mud pond for
3 months of the year.
We’ll also look at some of the reasons why you might want
to reconsider your ‘dream’ of leaving a Koi in Japan.
It is unquestionable that for many hobbyists having a Koi
growing in Japan has an element of ‘excitement’, a thrill, a
bragging right and certainly a talking point with both other
Koi keepers and non Koi keepers, the latter are probably
equally amazed that you would spend so much on a fish,
put it in a plastic bag, and ship it 1000’s of miles from Japan
in the first place.
Apart from bragging rights there are of course many other
benefits, or perceived benefits, from leaving a Koi with a
breeder in Japan.
Contributors: Jeroen van Keulen, Mike
Snaden, Gary Smith and Tim Waddington
It must be said that for the majority of Koi being offered for
sale at any given time of the year there is simply no value
to leaving them in Japan as azukari. Many a time a breeder
will politely suggest that you are better off shipping the
Koi and growing it yourself. Does this mean the Koi you
are looking at is junk? No, of course not, but mudpond
space is at a premium, certainly for larger Koi, the breeder
may not believe that the Koi would benefit from being
left under their care. They may not want to take the risk of
something going wrong and having an unhappy customer
the following harvest season.
Perhaps the number 1 reason for leaving a Koi to grow
in Japan is because it has a chance of competing at Koi
shows in the future. Of course, once a Koi has left Japan
then there is no going back, however well it may have
developed or grown in your own pond. If your goal is to
compete in Japanese Koi shows then you can of course
buy the ‘finished article’ and enter it, shipping it soon after,
or alternatively you buy something with ‘show potential’
and leave it in the care of the breeder for maybe 1, 2 or
however many years that potential will take to deliver.
There is often much talk of the magic of the mudponds and
for many this is an overriding reason to want to leave a Koi
in Japan under the care of the breeder. As hobbyists and
professionals’ knowledge and understanding of keeping
Koi develops the world over there are many who believe
that mudponds can be equaled or bettered by a good
quality concrete pond. Indeed, many top end Koi in Japan
are grown exclusively in concrete ponds as they get older,
the concrete pond offering a more controlled environment
without the not inconsiderable risks that come with a
mudpond.
It is important to consider that a Koi left as azukari will
enjoy the mudpond for perhaps just 4 months maximum
in any 12 month period. Should you purchase a Koi in
October or November the Koi will then spend the winter in
a relatively heavily stocked concrete pond with minimal, if
any food, and a water temperature of perhaps 10oC. Not
until May the following year will the Koi be transferred to the
mud pond (for which you’ve paid between 20,000 and 100,000
yen ‘azukari’ fee). A couple of weeks after being placed there it
will get fed, and it will enjoy the ‘high life’ until September when
the food will be cut in preparation of the autumn harvest.
Unfortunately the ‘high life’ in the mudpond isn’t always quite so
great, the mudpond ‘summer camp’ comes with a whole host of
risks and dangers.
Above and below, Koi happily swimming in mudponds
throughout the summer growing period.
First off there are the predators, several types of birds including
herons and cormorants can be found hunting in mudponds.
There are bears which may or may not be able to catch a Koi.
Then there is the weather, too hot and the Koi won’t eat enough.
If there is not enough rain then the mud pond water will not
be ‘refreshed’ and start to go off. July, August and September
are typhoon season. Heavy rains can, and have been known to,
break the banks of mudponds, washing them and their contents
away in landslides.
Other problems may also occur such as unidentified parasites
or accidental spawnings due to a misplaced male resulting in a
pond full of hungry fry.
Above and below, predators are just one of the dangers that
threaten Koi left in Japan as azukari.
Of course, these risks are not new, they are the same risks that
the Japanese have contended with for generations as Koi
breeders.
For any hobbyist of dealer there is surely nothing that beats the
magical moment of lifting your own Koi from the murky waters
of a mudpond on a chilly autumn morning and seeing the skin
glow before you knowing that the Koi has grown and developed
well.
We asked several industry professionals for their thoughts and
experience of leaving Koi in Japan as azukari.
Jeroen van Keulen
Koicentrum van Keulen, Holland
NDI - What are your reasons for leaving Koi as azukari in
Japan?
Jeroen - In the past I left Koi as azukari because it was
exciting and because in my mind mudponds were miracle
ponds where every fish would get better and I thought it
was impossible to get the same result as the breeders did
in their mudponds! Now I know better! Getting the fish to
our indoor facility gives a lot less risk and we get similar or
even better growth as the fish in the mudponds. So now I
only leave koi in Japan on customer request or because I
have the intention to use them on Japanese koi shows
NDI - What are the benefits of leaving a Koi in Japan to be
grown?
Jeroen - That you can enter your fish in Japanese koi shows
and that it saves space in your own pond! I think that most
people thinking about leaving a koi in Japan as azukari
because they cannot get the same result as the breeders
do should consider how they could make there pond
better! It’s no use to leave a Koi in Japan for a few years
to bring it home and knowing that the development will
stop! Of course, if you’re buying Koi with the intention to
enter them in a Japanese koi show you should leave them
in Japan.
NDI - What kind of Koi do you generally leave as azukari?
Jeroen - Of course the most I leave in Japan are Gosanke,
because most koi hobbyist looking for high grade koi are
looking for Gosanke. But if I
find other variety that I feel
are worthy of an extra year
mudpond I will leave them
also! Regarding size, they can be tosai up to jumbo koi over
80 cm.
NDI - Can you give an idea of the costs usually associated
with leaving a Koi in Japan to grow?
Jeroen - The cost of leaving a Koi in Japan is different from
breeder to breeder, also it can depend on the variety of the
Koi and the size of the Koi.
NDI - How many Koi do you presently have in Japan for
yourself or your customers?
Jeroen - At this moment we have 24 Koi in Japan of which
16 are customer Koi.
NDI - What are the risks associated with leaving a Koi to
grow in Japan?
Jeroen - You can make a very long list of all the risk factors!
But the most important are predators, earthquake, disease,
flooding and drought!
Above, Ginrin Showa that was lost in mudslides in August 2011.
Below, Jeroen looks for his Sanke at Yagenji’s number 1 harvest.
NDI - Have you experienced any disasters?
Jeroen - Oh yes!!! Almost every year we have lost a few
Koi due to the things mentioned above. In the Chuetsu
Earthquake we lost of very special showa that we saw
just before the earthquake. It came from the mudpond in
exceptional condition and a few days later the earthquake
took her as one of its victims. In 2011 we lost a very special
Ginrin Showa due to a mudslide. And 2012 was an absolute
disaster year for us! We already heard that in summer
there was some severe drought, so before going to Japan I was very
nervous! On the second day of my Japan trip I got the news that a
very very very special goshiki was not found at the harvest. The next
day I had an appointment with a breeder to check our two sansai
azukari that he harvested that day. On arrival I saw his face and
knew that something was wrong! One of the 2 Koi was not found at
harvest! A few days later a sansai Sanke was harvested and one of
the nylon lines that are used for predator protection was wrapped
around the body of the Koi and completely pulled into the flesh! At
the end of the trip a very promissing nisai Goshiki was harvested and
it only grew one centimeter! 16 Koi as azukari, 2 lost, 1 completely
damaged and 1 that didn’t grow! Are there risks involved in leaving
koi in Japan?
NDI - In your experience how are such disasters normally handled
by the breeder?
Jeroen - That is also something that differs from breeder to breeder!
Some give a guarantee for the first year, others don’t! So always ask if
there is a form of guarantee!
NDI - Can you share any particularly special success stories from
leaving a Koi as azukari?
Jeroen - A success story? That must be the story behind 3 Yagenji
Sanke! In different years I bought 3 different Yagenji Sanke that all
stayed at the farm for one or more years! All did very well at Koi
shows in Japan. The first one took second place at the 2010 Niigata
Nogyosai and she became best foreign entry at the 2011 Nagaoka
Koi Show. The second Sanke took second place at the 2011 Niigata
Nogyosai and she became Grand Champion at the 2012 Nagaoka
Koi Show. The last one is my absolute favorite, she took first place
in her class at the 2011 Niigata Nogyosai, third place at the 2012 all
Japan Young Koi Show and Best Foreign Entry at the 2012 Nagaoka
Koi Show. The last Sanke is still in Japan, my hope is that she will win
some more nice awards at Japanese Koi shows. [Ed. This Sanke is also
our cover girl this month]
This very special Goshiki was purchased from Hiroi Koi Farm as a tosai, photographed on 22nd April 2010 at approximately 30cm.
The picture on the right is the last time Jeroen saw her on 19th April 2012 when she was a 62cm, sansai and exhibited at the
2012 All Japan Wakagoi Show in Ojiya. She did not return from the mudpond in autumn 2012.
An azukari success story, so far....
This Sanke was purchased from Yagenji Koi Farm as a nisai of 52cm in February 2011 (picture right). The centre picture was taken on 18th October 2011 when she had been newly harvested from the mudpond.
The Sanke was left for another year and in October 2012, when 70cm and yonsai, she was the highest placed foreign entry at the Nagaoka Koi Show (not strictly true as Jeroen also took the Grand Champion
prize). The Koi remains in Japan and is scheduled to be harvested during mid October.
Gary Smith
Gatwick Koi, UK
Japan?
Gary - I could answer this many ways , I like to see the
development of the Koi and to see if it gains the attributes
that the dealer discussed with me or my clients, its nice to
see how much the Koi grows in the mudpond, also there
is the possible outcome of the increase in value of the
Koi but, for me personally, it’s the gamble, I love to see
them when they come out of the mudpond , there are no
guarantees leaving Koi out there and its just amazing to
see how they come out!
NDI - What are the benefits of leaving a Koi in Japan to be
grown?
Gary - Many people can grow koi very quickly in this
country nowadays , but many still can’t , or don’t have the
patience or sometimes the conditions to grow the Koi and
obtain the best results, this can be done by leaving the Koi
in Japan.
NDI - What kind of Koi do you generally leave as azukari?
Gary - All kinds, its always best if leaving a Koi as azukari
to get the highest quality you can afford. But, on the other
hand, sometimes when you deal with a breeder very
closely they will talk through the stocks and show you
good Koi that could do well in the mudponds at prices that
are not astronomical . These are the ones that can give you
great pleasure when they come out of the mudponds.
NDI - Can you give an idea of the costs usually associated
with leaving a Koi in Japan to grow?
Gary - This depends from breeder to breeder, and also on
the age of the Koi. As we know the yen varies so much but
last trip I paid 30k for most nisai and sansai which works
out now (sept 2013) at around £185, one breeder where
we bought so many fish even waved the fee! Some were a
little more at 40k and 50k yen.
Gary - At the moment we have 29 Koi growing on at
various breeders, these have been left at Shintaro, Sakai,
Yagenji, Sekiguchi, Tanaka and of course Maruhiro . A lot
of these are very nice quality, but around a dozen are the
sort of quality that may stay in Japan for a few more years
before they come to the UK, again, depending on how they
do in the mudpond ! Two of these are customers Koi.
grow in Japan?
Gary - This again depends on the breeder, I try and work
close nowadays with a smaller group of breeders, these
breeders will normally say ‘we will work something out if
things go wrong’, some will just say ‘it’s all your own risk’.
You must get this sorted out with the breeder at the time,
its no good going back when a fish doesn’t come out of the
mudpond and demanding this, that and the other, when
usually Koi are left at the owners risk! That’s why we work
with the breeders we do as they usually will help us out
when/if things go wrong. One breeder I have started to buy
a little higher quality from, when asked the risk as these
where expensive koi for me said, ‘no problem all left at the
breeders risk!’ That’s what good relations bring!
Above, This Ginrin Showa was purchased by Gary as a nisai in 2011
and left with the breeder, Satoshi Tanaka as azukari for the 2012
growing season.
Unfortunately as a result of the hot summer it failed to grow in the
mudpond.
The breeder offered to grow it for another year free of charge.
Gary - Yes, and id rather not talk about it! All joking aside, one
breeder we used to visit lost a lot of expensive Koi, and none come
out of the mudpond. One that did got lost before shipping so
simple, we don’t go there any more.
NDI - In your experience how are such disasters normally handled
by the breeder?
Gary - Again, sorry to return to relationships but nowadays we
always get a satisfactory outcome. Last year one large yonsai I
purchased didn’t do to well in the mudpond so I said to the breeder,
‘no problem you can keep her and sell her as a thanks for all the
good azukari I have left here’, she wasn’t expensive and you have
to remember that a 70cm koi is expensive to ship so therefore
expensive to sell. The breeder understood where I was coming
from and, on the last day, I was buying some good quality nisai. I
settled on a box of three, and was pleasantly surprised when the
breeder said you only pay for two. Nice gesture! Also a customer
had what should have been a sansai not come out of the pond and
it was replaced with what I thought was a better Koi altogether, this
breeder is a rather large farm and shocked me as we new it was on
our risk.
Above and below, some of the Koi that Gary presently has as azukari in Japan awaiting harvest during the coming month.
NDI - Can you share any particularly special success stories from
leaving a Koi as azukari?
Gary - Yes , hopefully in a few weeks. To be honest, we have left so
many koi over the last few years I have always been pleased with
the results . Probably the most noticeable was a Shiro Utsuri that
was left at Maruhiro a few years ago. I didn’t even see the Koi, the
agent just rung me and said ‘you must see the video’. I Purchased
her at three years old and she came out simply stunning and now
resides in Heather Payne’s pond . This year I’m hoping that we have
bought many more Koi of this quality and hoping they will stay in
Japan for a few more years.
Mike Snaden
Yume Koi, UK
Japan?
Mike - Koi left in Japan can be sold and shipped anywhere
around the world. Whilst not my ideal choice, I feel that
in some cases with very expensive koi, that this is a
necessary way to offer such koi
NDI - What are the benefits of leaving a Koi in Japan to
be grown?
Mike - The benefits are twofold. Firstly, and mainly, the koi
will have a chance to be entered into Japanese Shows, if
desired. Secondly, as mentioned earlier, the koi are very
easy to sell to a wider client base.
NDI - What kind of Koi do you generally leave as
azukari?
Mike - Only Gosanke or Shiro Utsuri. To me, there is very
little challenge with other varieties
NDI - Can you give an idea of the costs usually
associated with leaving a Koi in Japan to grow?
Mike - The costs vary quite wildly. In my experience, it
varies very much case by case. Some breeders work with
very fixed pricing from perhaps 20,000 yen to 50,000 yen
for leaving Nisai. Others are happy to keep good koi with
no charges, but it depends very much on the breeder, and
the particular koi in question. For Jumbo Koi, 100,000 yen
is generally the norm
NDI - How many Koi do you presently have in Japan
for yourself or your customers?
will replace a koi in its first year of azukari. Some will offer
a percentage of compensation in the second year. But,
on a case by case basis, breeders can sometimes be more
than generous in the way they handle things
Mike - Off the top of my head, I’d say around 20 koi of
various ages
NDI - Can you share any particularly special success
stories from leaving a Koi as azukari?
grow in Japan?
Mike - Haha... Not really. I generally encourage purchasers
to ship most of their Koi. In fairness, most of our higher
level clients can raise fish at least as well as the breeders
anyway, with more pleasure, and less risk. I’ve only ever
had one or two koi left out long-term, so have no amazing
stories to tell. I generally have much nicer stories where
people have grown the Koi long-term themselves.
Mike - The risks are immense! I generally find, that
problems are very few. But, there are so many risks
involved that people just fail to comprehend. Koi is Koi,
and they are very susceptible to changes within their
environment/climate. Rainy season carries the biggest
risks, such as flooding, pH crashes, oxygen starvation. The
worst part is, that with the very nature of the mudpond,
problems with the fish themselves aren’t realised until it’s
already too late
Mike - A few, yes. To my mind, I always prefer to keep koi
in my own pond and grow them, as it’s much easier to
be in control of what’s going on. The biggest issue with
a mudpond problem, is that if you need to replace a Koi,
it can seemingly be an impossible challenge. Let’s face it,
someone could be perusing our websites for five or six
years before finding the koi of their dreams. Even when
replacing with a superior koi, it can often be met with
disappointment
NDI - In your experience how are such disasters normally
handled by the breeder?
Mike - Generally, impeccably. In general, most breeders
The following 3 Koi are all Koi handled by Mike Snaden and presently azukari in Japan.
Matsue Kohaku, bought and sold as nisai sized around 54cm. As
sansai last autumn the Koi measured 67cm.
Matsue Kohaku, bought and sold as nisai sized 58cm. As yonsai
last Autumn the Koi measured 75cm.
Sakai Hiroshima Sanke, bought as nisai last Autumn sized 62cm. It
remains in Japan presently unsold.
Tim Waddington
Quality Nishikigoi, UK
Japan?
Tim - The main reason is to get growth from the Koi at
important stages of its development. There are VERY few
hobbyists ponds that can do the same as a mudpond in
Japan for growth and development.
I will be taking advantage of
leaving Koi in Japan.
NDI - Can you give an idea of the
costs usually associated with leaving a Koi in Japan to
grow?
Tim - The costs of leaving Koi in Japan at most Niigata
breeders stay the same, 30,000 Yen up to nisai and 50,000
Yen for Koi above. Isawa Sakai is the same but like a few
Niigata breeders they have started to charge more for
putting fish in certain mudponds. I believe Matsunosuke
charges 100,000 Yen to leave a Koi in his main mudpond.
be grown?
Tim - The obvious benefits of leaving Koi in Japan is
growth and development. I believe good quality nisai
will gain so much more by being left in Japan until sansai
than any other age. The nisai can develop its body and its
length much better in a massive area of water and at such
an important age. Its a very cheap way of doing it too.
Tim - I have around 6 pieces in Japan for clients as we
speak. I hope to bring most of them back this coming
Autumn and maybe leave some more out there.
azukari?
Tim - It is a big risk, make no mistake about it. Koi are a
live animal and you pay the breeder to grow your Koi
in his mudponds. Koi have been known to die in the
mudponds and the client, no matter how upset, has to
take the loss on the chin. Of course many breeders are
prepared to replace the Koi are make a big discount on a
new Koi but at the end of the day they do not have to.
Tim - I have clients who want Koi leaving in Japan for a
specific reason, some do not have the funds to go straight
out and buy a 3 year old Koi which has a much less risk
factor than an 18month old nisai. Nisai are however
cheaper than buying sansai and for the growing costs
involved it’s shrewd to keep them in Japan for a season.
I would only really recommend growing high quality
Gosanke, these are the only Koi worth doing it with. As a
dealer it is also a good idea to buy Koi and leave in Japan.
The current climate restricts me from leaving Koi out
there as I need to sell what I can. However in the future
grow in Japan?
Tim - Thank fully I have not really had any deaths while
leaving Koi in the mudponds. The only problems I have
found is if the Koi does not do what we hoped it would.
I have also had a few Koi that have damaged themselves
while in the mudponds, split fins and also spawning. It is
a huge factor which breeder you decide to trust with your
Koi, this is very important.
As a dealer I would prefer my clients not to leave Koi in
Japan because of the headaches it may cause if there is
a problem. On the whole though, I have seen far more
better results than bad results.
Tim - Some breeders are very sympathetic towards any
problems. While for me this is a good thing because it
means I can keep my client happy. I do not however
agree with it. I believe you pay your money and you take
your chance. If a breeder turns round, like they have in the
past, and just says, ‘Sorry, thats what happens’, then I am
happy with that. At the end of the day this is a business
and if something natural happens to a live animal in a
open environment then why should a breeder lose the
initial sale if something happens. The only thing I will not
agree with if a Koi turns out to be male when it was put in
as a female.
NDI - Can you share any particularly special success
stories from leaving a Koi as azukari?
Tim - Over the years we have had a lot of success with
leaving Koi to grow in Japan, all the way up to Grand
Champions. I have been involved in going to Japan since
1992 and I would imagine have dealt with upwards of
500+ Koi that have been left in Japan.
It is worthwhile as long as people agree and standby the
risks of leaving a Koi in Japan.
Kim Cloet
Kim’s Koi, Belgium
Japan?
Kim - Many years ago I realised that most of the nice, big
Koi (mostly Gosanke ) that you see in breeders’ ponds are
already sold out and owned by one of their customers.
So, if you want to become the owner of a nice big high
quality Koi you have to start earlier in the Koi’s life and
buy it as a younger Koi and then leave it in Japan for
some years to hopefully develop and grow out to a nice
big Koi.
be grown?
Kim - Leaving your Koi in Japan in the hands of a
renowned breeder is probably the best way to get the
best out of your Koi. They have the skills, the mudponds
and the water conditions to make your Koi grow big
without losing its beauty.
azukari?
Kim - Most of the time it’s female, nisai Gosanke. The
average size when we buy them is around 53-58cm.
But I’ve also bought some other varieties such as Asagi,
Shiro Utsuri, etc.
NDI - Can you give an idea of the costs usually
associated with leaving a Koi in Japan to grow?
Kim - Usually when you buy a HQ nisai the first year is
included in the price, after this depending on the breeder,
the current age of your Koi and the mudpond it will grow
in it’s between 30 and 80,000 yen.
Kim - Around 7 or 8 I think.
grow in Japan?
Kim - Murphy’s law is always around the corner so it’s
always possible that something goes wrong while your
azukarigoi stays in Japan.
Sometimes the Koi’s growth results aren’t as good as
expected, also sometimes the Koi loses some of its quality
while growing and the worst of all, the Koi can die.
Kim - To be honest all of these things have already
happened to me.
Kim - Usually when something bad happens in the first
year it’s possible to find a solution with the breeder. You
might get a new Koi or a very special deal for another Koi.
But, when you leave a Koi for several years in Japan a
breeder will not cover the risk during all this period, which
is understandable.
I lost a Koi only one time until now. At that time that koi
was already a gosai so I’d already invested a lot in it but,
when this happened the breeder made a really nice effort
on a new nisai azukari . The results of that Koi were really
good so the bad experience is already forgotten.
But, with keeping azukarigoi and being able to follow
Koi for several years and you get a lot of interesting
information so it’s a recommendation for every serious
Koikeeper.
Conclusion
I think it clear that there is one overwhelming
message from our panel, there are big risks with
leaving Koi as azukari in Japan.
The benefits are mixed, a chance to possibly own
a Koi that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to, be it
from a cost perspective or simply because if you
waited to try and buy an older or larger Koi they
simply aren’t available.
The costs of leaving Koi in Japan are not cheap, and
there are no guarantees of success.
As I said in the opening passage, risks aside, there
is little to beat the thrill of standing in a mud pond
on a chilly autumn day, hands a little numb, and
picking your Koi from the murky waters of the
mudpond to see it has developed superbly.
So, the decision is yours, to leave or not to leave.
Congratulations
on the launch of
Nishikigoi Digest
International
This newly harvested 58cm
nisai Sanke was purchased by
Swedish hobbyist Stefan Malm
in October 2011.
60bu Champion
2012 Ojiya Koi Show
Grand Champion
2012 Ojiya Koi Show
www.torazokoi.com
After growing in our best mud pond
for one season it was harvested
at 70cm in October 2012 (main
picture) and shipped to Sweden.
In July 2013 at 77cm the Sanke
was awarded Mature Champion at
the 1st Nordic Live Koi Show.
Urakawa Koi Farm autumn harvests will
start on 10th October.
Please visit our farm or watch our
Facebook page for updates from our
harvests.
www.facebook.com/torazokoi
2013 harvests will start from 12th October. We hope you will find your dream
Koi at Shintaro Koi Farm.
www.facebook.com/shintarokoifarm.saito
It was back in May that I learned that the first Vietnam
Koi Show would be staged in September when I was
contacted by organiser Brian Nguyen.
It wasn’t, however, until the middle of August that I
decided to attend the event, along with good friend
Michael Hernandez, and the breeders who would be
judging, Kenji Tani, Hisashi Hirasawa, Futoshi Mano and
Hisato Nogami.
One of the beauties of being located in the Philippines
is that the Asian Koi scene is just a few hours flight away,
Japan itself being just 4 hours or so. Our visit to Vietnam
was to be from Friday until Monday morning.
Having picked Mike up from Kois and Ponds with plenty of
spare time to allow for the often horrendous Manila traffic
we made our way to the airport arriving around 10.15am,
plenty early enough for us to check in.
My UK passport makes it simple travel around the world,
never have I been anywhere where it didn’t allow me to
just turn up in the country and get entry. I was surprised,
to say the least, when the check in counter clerk asked me
for my visa to Vietnam. ‘I’ll get visa on arrival’, I told him,
indeed on route to the airport a fellow UK Koi hobbyist and
visitor to Vietnam had mentioned the lengthy wait for visa
on arrival at Ho Chi Minh airport on Facebook. It transpired
that whilst there was visa on arrival you had to obtain an
‘invitation’ letter in advance. Visitors from Asian countries,
including the Philippines and Japan, don’t require any visa
so for Mike and the breeders there was no problem, for me
it seemed that my first visit to Vietnam was over before it
began.
The flight we were scheduled to take was a code share
between Philippine and Vietnam Airlines, and it was
a representative of Vietnam Airlines that offered the
briefest glimmer of hope that I could maybe still make
it to Vietnam. He suggested I had time to get to the
Above, the last minute visa issued by the Vietnamese Embassy in
Manila that prevented the trip to the 1st Vietnam Koi Show being
over before it had started.
Vietnamese Embassy in Manila, obtain a visa, and make it
back to the airport, my deadline being 12.20pm. Mike and
I were both in somewhat disbelief that it was even possible
to get there and back in Manila traffic, let alone get a visa
as well. However, in for a penny, in for a pound, I bade
Mike farewell, and a safe trip, and headed for the embassy.
To cut a long story short, to my amazement, I was back at
the airport by 12.10pm with my passport and visa to enter
Vietnam, my wallet was 6500peso (£100) lighter though.
If you read the interview with Mike in Issue 1 of Nishikigoi
Digest International you’ll be aware that he used to be
a flight attendant with Philippine Airlines, many of his
former colleagues are now senior cabin crew on the airline.
Following a hectic morning, the extra ‘refreshments’ that
Mike’s former colleagues provided ‘in flight’ were most
welcome.
I arrived in Vietnam with little idea of what to expect,
a communist ruled country ravaged by war during my
lifetime. Ho Chi Minh airport was bright and modern, only
the immigration officers conformed to my stereotypical
idea of what I might have expected, rather stern young
ladies in military uniform. Upon leaving the airport
building a Burger King which sold cans of Heineken beer
was certainly not what I’d expected, although a very
welcome find.
We were picked up by Brian and headed into the heart of
Ho Chi Minh City, formerly and still commonly referred to
as Saigon. This was far from stereotypical ‘communism’,
there were no stark grey buildings, and this appeared to
be a vibrant city, bright lights and neon signs. The many
hundreds of motor scooters weaved in and out of the large
number of modern motor vehicles that made up the Friday
afternoon city traffic. As we got closer to the city there
were many signs for designer brands, certainly not my idea
of communism.
Brian Nguyen left Vietnam as a child, settling in California,
USA which was home until he decided to return to
Vietnam 5 years ago bringing with him his passion for Koi
that had developed in the US.
On return he found a country where almost nobody
knew anything about Koi, he explained, ‘In Vietnam, Koi
hobbyists are not so knowledgeable about Koi keeping
skills, everything to them is like a whole brand new
journey. I would say no one knows how to name the Koi
and how to build a Koi pond right. I have to show them
everything from the basic start.’
Above and below, 40 plastic pools were set up under cover in the
Central Park of Ho Chi Minh City for the 1st Vietnam Koi Show.
Brian knew that a Koi show was a great way to expand
and showcase Koi to the nation but with little first-hand
experience of Koi show involvement it was an incredible
challenge, and gamble.
‘I was very nervous and felt not too confident about this
show. At the beginning I think I was the only person
that knew about koi show systems, so I called around for
volunteers and started to show them what, where and
how and to start the Koi show. Even so, during the Koi
show I still had to do a lot of volunteers’ work. It was a big
scary challenge for me to throw this first Koi Show, but I
love to be a part of this challenge, because it is one of my
dreams. If I hadn’t started the Koi Show in Vietnam then
maybe no one does.’
‘It is not easy for a person like me to throw a Koi show at
such a famous central area (Central Park of Ho Chi Minh
City). Koi is a new ‘pet name’ to the Vietnamese. The
Vietnamese have known ‘carp’ for many long years, but
a ‘colourful Japanese carp’ like Koi, they have never even
seen once. I am the first person that brought Koi into the
Vietnam market over the last 4 years. The reason that made
me throw a koi show at this central area is because I want
everyone to see what the real Koi look like. I do have a few
hundred clients that know me from Koi, but that is just a
tiny percentage of the population in Vietnam. I want a much
higher percentage of people in Vietnam to know about Koi,
that’s why I picked this place for my 1st Koi show.’
The location of Tao Dan, the cultural park of Ho Chi Minh city
certainly proved a great location for generating interest in
Koi, many hundreds of people passed by the show over the
course of the weekend spending time looking at the show Koi
on display, as well as picking up leaflets explaining about the
hobby.
Above, visitors seemed keen to get pictures of the Koi exhibited.
Below, a local TV crew were in attendance.
‘At first people (Koi Kichi in Vietnam) thought that this Koi
show was not going to turn out the way shows in other
countries had done. But, just from the second day (Saturday),
everyone couldn’t believe their eyes that this Koi show was so
nice and neat. They were under estimating me, heheheh.’
Above and below, The Koi attracted the attention of visitors to the
show, young and old.
‘Everybody (Koi Hobbyists) liked the location, they liked the
way we set up at the show site, all tanks under the tent, and
almost everything well planned.’
‘The people that came by to see the Koi show; they had never
seen this huge beautiful coloured carp in their life, they could
not believe Koi grow this big and they could never really
imagine Japanese Koi is in Vietnam now.’
‘I received many phone calls after the Koi show asking me to
show them how to make a Koi pond and how to buy Koi.’
‘90% people loved how I have done and they all said that I
should do this event every year.’
‘There are many things that we need to add to make our Koi
show much more special;
••Koi shows are educational. To me, the judging team should spend
time reviewing their decisions and answering questions after the
judging is complete. This time we missed this part. Next Koi show,
if we have a chance, we will make a Koi educational seminars right
after the judging time.
••We need vendors around the show site.
••We need more sponsors from Koi breeders, Koi food companies,
pond supplies companies, Koi dealers in Vietnam, etc.
••We need more prizes for winning Koi (especially non gosanke
varieties).
Those are just what pop into my mind now; I know there is much more for
us to change for our next show.’
Whilst the show wasn’t the biggest in the world, the numbers were
certainly very respectable for a 1st show.
In total the were 40 show pools with 170 Koi, entered by 31 hobbyists.
The enthusiasm of the hobbyists involved certainly suggests a bright future
for Nishikigoi beginning in Vietnam.
Above, Brian Nguyen organises the benching paperwork.
Below, judges and show officials.
Above and below, judges Futoshi Mano, Hisashi Hirasawa,
Hisato Nogami and Kenji Tani.
Above, preparing the photo certificates for winners.
Below, All Japan style trophies for the major winners.
Above, Futoshi Mano prepares the Grand
Champion’s Shinkokai certificate.
Above, Vo Thanh Phuc, a very happy Grand Champion owner.
Grand Champion
75bu
Yonsai
Owned by Vo Thanh Lhuc
Bred by Isa Koi Farm
Reserve Grand Champion
70bu
Yonsai
Owned by Vo Thanh Phuong
Bred by Ojayi Koi Farm
Grand Champion B
75bu
Gosai
Owned by Nguyen Van Phuong
Bred by Ogata Koi Farm
Mature Champion
70bu
Yonsai
Owned by Vo Thanh Phuong
Bred by Suda Koi Farm
Adult Champion
55bu
Sansai
Owned by Nguyen Van Phuong
Bred by Miya Koi Farm
Young Champion
50bu
Nisai
Owned by Truong Huu Phuoc
Bred by Hiroke Koi Farm
Junior Champion
35bu
Tosai
Owned by Tran Quoc Viet
Bred by Hoshikin Koi Farm
Baby Champion
25bu
Tosai
Owned by Le Anh Nguyen
Bred by Yagenji Koi Farm
Mini Champion
20bu
Tosai
Owned by Nguyen Thao Uyen
Bred by Tani Koi Farm
Quality Nishikigoi
Importers of High Class Koi into the UK
Follow our Japan trip, 4th November - 14th November,
on our website and Facebook
www.QualityNishikigoi.com
info@QualityNishikigoi.com
Tel: 01925 950 401
facebook.com/QNKoi
twitter.com/NishikigoiUK
The Biggest Koi Show on Earth
2013 Holland Koi Show - Arcen
Main text: Johan Leurs
Koi analysis: Mike Harvey
Pictures: Rene Gerritzen
Aerial pictures: Eric van Roy
The Biggest Koi Show on Earth - 2013 Holland Koi Show
My friend Mark Gardner asked me to write an article about
this year’s Holland Koi Show, which took place in Arcen,
The Netherlands on the weekend of 16th-18th of August.
The reason why he asked me is, well at least in my eyes, is
quite obvious. He knows there will be some good pictures
available (also with a thanking note to René Gerritzen) and
also he knows I’m a bit involved in the promotional aspect
of the show itself, which is also always good for some
inside information.
So ‘promotional aspect’ and a title like ‘The Biggest Koi
Show on Earth’ go hand in hand, is maybe the thing which
comes up in your mind first. Well, WRONG! First of all I am
Belgian so there are no National feelings involved,
and secondly I only just started with telling the truth.
The superlative ‘Biggest Koi Show on Earth’ has many
justifications. Have you ever seen a Koi show where over
180 dealers try to present themselves in the best possible
way? Ever visited a show where you can walk all day and
have to go back the next day because you didn’t make it to
see everything. What about 120 people in the crew, just to
build up the whole ‘Planet Koi’. And, last but certainly not
least, this year we managed to get over 20,000 people that
were so Koi crazy they put Arcen in their agenda, 20,000
people, to be exact 20,128 people, with a valid ticket!
Count the visitors during the Nogyosai, Wakagoi Show,
ZNA Koi Show and the Shinkokai together, include some
Indonesian or Taiwanese Shows, and you don’t even come
close in terms of visitors.
Why is it, you might ask yourself, that Dutch people are
that Koi crazy? Well, in truth that’s putting it wrong. It’s
not just Dutch people who bring the visitor count up to
over 20,000 people, visitors at the Holland Koi Show come
from everywhere. Most are from Holland of course, but
Germany and Belgium are highly placed in the visitors
tables. Walking around in Arcen, I get the feeling that more
German and Belgian Koi fans visit the Show in Holland,
than shows in their own country. Not forgetting buses full
of visitors from the UK, Sweden, Denmark, Spain as well as
visitors from Asian countries.
Why? Let’s just say there’s something ‘magic’ about the
show. This was the 21st edition, I’ve never missed one of
them, bringing me to over 50 visits to the Show, because
you cannot see everything in ‘just’ one day! Ha!
Besides ‘that coloured fish’ the Nishikigoi Vereniging
Nederland also presents at the same show a Holland
Aquarium Show and a Holland Bonsai Show, just to make
sure that it’s not only the father of the family who wants
to go there but he takes wife, children and the neighbours
with him. It seems to be a National ‘Koipoon’ Vacation in a
traditional Dutch way!
Ok, and so there’s the magical word you were waiting for,
Koi! Does Holland also present the best Nishikigoi in the
world you might want to know? The answer is no! For those Above and below, with 187 vendors the 2013 Holland Koi Show
had plenty to keep the 20,128 visitors interested.
who ever witnessed a show in Japan, it’s quite obvious
that the standard at the ZNA Show, the Nogyosai or the
Shinkokai is totally from another world. There you see fish
which give you goose flesh, just by looking at them for a
second. At the Holland Koi Show the standard in quality is
the standard you can see in the rest of Europe, still a few
steps behind the higher/highest quality of Koi you can see
at the better shows in England.
But that doesn’t mean the Holland Koi Show doesn’t
present good Koi!
This year the winners of the 2012 Nagaoka Koi Show, a
Sanke owned by Van Keulen, and the winner of the 2012
Ojiya Koi Show, a Kohaku by Makoi, were announced as
participants and, knowing them myself from seeing them
before in Japan, I thought they would have a fair chance of
winning the Grand Champion title. However, sometimes
you cannot compare a Koi winning a Show in Japan with
the same Koi entering a Koi show in Europe one year later.
Both Koi looked okay for a nice title, but alas not more than
that.
It was quite clear that the highest honour would go to
one of the Koi which had already been in Europe for much
longer and had already been present at Koi Shows in
Europe in 2010, 2011 or 2012.
Firstly there was a Sanke of Jean Hoorne which in recent
years has won all the major European titles at least once.
Also there was the gorgeous Kohaku from Nico Dewulf, the
man behind Koifarm ND. This Kohaku was bought at one
of the the masters of Showa, Isa Koi Farm, some years ago.
The same month it was bought over in Japan I witnessed it
coming out of the mudponds and I was speechless. Now,
after winning the Belgian Show last year, I can only say that
the red and white has further improved during her stay in
the inside pond of Nico. Strange, but true!
As with most other Koi shows in mainland Europe many of
the highly acclaimed awards went to Belgian dealers and
hobbyists. Grand Champion A went to KoiFarm ND with the
Kohaku mentioned earlier, they also took the Jumbo Award
home. Jean Hoorne took Supreme Champion with his
Sanke, while Luc Borgmans from Interkoi took top honours
with a Koromo , taking Senior Tategoi. Johny Lievens took
the other big title, Grand Champion B, with a stunning Gin
Rin Chagoi.
Highest Dutch entry was Floor van Dommelen from Floors
Koi Shop taking Mature Champion with his Sanke.
To end with, what was my favourite Koi at this year’s
Holland Koi Show?
No question about that, a Kohaku owned by Floors Koi
Shop which took first place Kohaku in size 7 and in the end
judged as overall champion in size. The sheer quality of
this red and white one is just amazing, and it keeps getting
better and better, although it’s not living 8 months a year in
a mudpond nor a 10,000,000 litre inside pond somewhere
on the other side of the planet, but just in Floors home
facility in his own store. Why didn’t it make it up to Grand
or Supreme Champion? The size I would say, there’s still
a difference of over 20cm between this fish and the ones
which tooks top honours! But, somehow, this Koi reminds
me of the Nogami Kohaku which took Grand Champion
at the Niigata Nogyosai in 2011. There were also at least 6
or 7 candidates which looked twice as big but, in the end,
the Nogami Kohaku won GC, just because of outstanding
quality and especially the youthfulness it presented in it’s
way of swimming and presenting itself. This Kohaku from
Floor you cannot compare, not concerning the breeder,
shape nor pattern, but she presents visually the same
youthfulness as the Kohaku from Nogami San 2 years ago.
So, my choice for Grand Champion (but who am I?) would
have been this Kohaku winning Grand Champion, but also
Best Tategoi and even Most Unique Koi. Can a Kohaku be
unique? Believe me, it’s possible!
Talking about the Nogyosai, soon bags will be packed
again, and off to Japan. I guess in three weeks I will be
standing, once again, next to Mark Gardner, taking pictures
of the best Koi at the Nagaoka Koi Show or the Ojiya Koi
Show or the Nogyosai. I bet there will be a next ‘bet’ again
about which Koi will take Grand Champion here or there.
Again the general feeling will overwhelm me that you
cannot see any better Koi than at a Koi Show in Japan. But,
also again, the feeling will overwhelm me that there’s only
ONE biggest Koi Show in the World, and that’s right here in
Above, Johan’s favourite Koi at the 2013 Holland Koi Show, a size
7 Kohaku entered by Floor van Dommelen of Floor’s Koi Shop in
Holland.
In mainland Europe it is common for dealers and hobbyists to
compete side by side at shows.
This Kohaku took Best Size 7 Kohaku and overall Best in Size 7.
Arcen!
So see you next year on 15th, 16th or/and 17th of August.
Maybe the youthfulness of ‘that’ red and white will take
over the flame and conquer, or maybe a new wave of
Japanese Nishikigoi will spread it’s wings in Arcen and
head out for glory. Just don’t be lazy reading it in these
pages, go out and join the Arcen-addiction! Hell yeah!
To see all of the winners at the show visit
www.hollandkoishow.com.
There is plenty to see at the Holland Koi Show, Koi and
non-Koi related.
The international panel of judges from Holland, Belgium, UK, Sweden, Germany, South Africa, Japan and Thailand.
After having walking
around the show ring and
viewing all of the Koi in
the 79 vats it became fairly
obvious to the judges that
there were in effect only
two possible contenders for
the Grand Champion Award.
The first was a Kohaku,
(which I later learnt was
bred by Isa) and the other a
Sanke.
The Isa Kohaku had an
excellent body shape, with
impressive volume, good
consistent hi and kiwa. The
shiroji was not as good as
that on the Sanke and a
small demerit was a slightly
creamy white head when
compared to the shiroji on
the body, which for a koi of
this size and stature was a
minor distraction.
Nico Dewulf with his trophies, and the public admiring
his impressive 92cm Isa Kohaku which took the Grand
Champion award.
Beautiful rounded pectoral
fins and an interesting
pattern gave this Kohaku a
certain presence.
Grand Champion
Kohaku
92cm (Size 8)
Owned by Nico Dewulf (Koi Farm ND)
The Sanke, which was
considered by some as a
candidate for Grand Champion,
had very strong hi and good
shiroji and sumi. The fukurin was
excellent, as can clearly be seen
in the photograph, especially
on the shiroji. The kata sumi
pattern across the shoulder was
particularly attractive, whilst the
sumi behind the head was not
as strong and consolidated as
elsewhere on the body. It too had
nicely rounded pectoral fins and
an interesting pattern. However
it lacked the same volume in its
body as that of the Kohaku and
this is why it was finally voted as
runner up to the Kohaku.
In the end the Kohaku won with
an almost unanimous vote in
its favour. Once this had been
decided the vote for the Sanke as
Supreme Champion was in fact
unanimous.
Supreme Champion
Sanke
Size 8
Owned by Jean Horne
Bred by Sakai Fish Farm
It may be a surprise to some
that a Kinginrin Chagoi should
take the Grand Champion Award,
being a single coloured koi,
albeit with kinginrin scalation.
After all, this single coloured
variety has to compete for the
Grand Champion B award against
a whole host of other multi
coloured non-Gosanke koi which
are more complex and therefore,
where of a similar standard
of quality, would be far more
likely to take this award. At the
Holland Koi Show there were no
such other multi-coloured nonGosanke of a similar size. Indeed
there were a number of other
Chagoi of similar size but none
had the same body, volume and
skin quality as this one, added to
which this Chagoi had excellent
kinginrin. As we know the quality
of kinginrin tends to deteriorate
as a Koi grows to this size and in
this particular Koi it has retained
excellent kinginrin scalation
despite its size. It was therefore
awarded the Grand Champion
B award ahead of other similar
sized Chagoi and much smaller
sized multi-coloured nonGosanke, and deservedly so.
Grand Champion B
Kinginrin B
90cm (Size 8)
Owned by Johnny Lievens
This beautiful Sanke has all
of the elements that one would
look for in this variety. A good
body shape for its size, superb hi
and sumi quality and an elegant
‘stepping stone’ sumi pattern.
The desirable kata sumi has a
good lustre to it, as does the
sumi elsewhere on the body.
Attractive tejima (black stripes
in the pectoral fins) add to its
beauty. Hopefully as this koi
grows the somewhat creamy
shiroji on the head will improve,
nevertheless a stunning quality
Sanke.
Interestingly this Sanke had
strong competition from an
excellent quality Kohaku which
many judges had admired as
they went around the show vats
during the judging of Grand
Champion.
This Kohaku took the Adult
Champion award principally
because of its good body shape
with nicely rounded pectoral
fins, high quality hi and good
shiroji on its body. Again the
shiroji on the head was a little
creamy when compared to the
‘snow white’ on the body and
the pattern at this stage of its
development is a little boring.
However, and I stress this was not
a factor in judging on the day,
as this Koi develops and gains
volume more shiroji pattern
should be visible each side of the
dorsal fin and the break in the hi
pattern at the end of the dorsal
should become more prominent,
making for a more interesting
pattern. In this case the hi quality
made it a clear winner on the
day.
When it came down to voting
for the Mature Champion it was
a very close call between these
two Koi with the majority vote
finally going to this Sanke.
Mature Champion (Sizes 5&6)
Sanke
59cm (Size 5)
Owned by Floor van Dommelen (Floors Koi Shop)
Adult Champion (Sizes 3&4)
Kohaku
Size 3
Owned by Else & Bjarne Hansen
This was another Koi that
caught the eye of the judges
as they moved around the vats
during judging on Saturday. The
vignette (robing) on this Goshiki
is outstanding and the consistent
dark head with strong hi on the
nose made an impression on all
of the judges. The hi quality on
the body is equally good – thick,
lustrous and appearing to float
on top of the vignette pattern.
Clean pectoral fins ensured that
the finish of this Goshiki was
exceptional and it was, if I recall
correctly, a unanimous vote
by the judges for the award of
Baby Grand Champion. Some
armchair critics might feel that
this Goshiki lacks somewhat
in hi on the front half, which it
perhaps does, but the quality
of the vignette in this area is of
such a standard that any lack
of hi was immaterial. What is
perhaps unusual, and attractive
to the judges at the same time, is
to have a Goshiki that combines
elements of both a Kuro Goshiki
(with the solid dark head) and
a more modern Goshiki (with
an excellently defined vignette
and clear floating hi without any
robing on the hi).
Baby Champion (Sizes 1&2)
Koromo/Goshiki
Size 2
Owned by Rob de Vries Lentsch
At the Holland Koi Show the
award of Jumbo Champion is
given to the largest Koi, that is in
length. It is therefore a benching
award and is not judged by the
judges. This particular Koi was
the longest of all the Koi on the
show.
Jumbo Champion
Kawarimono
98cm (Size 8)
Owned by Nico Dewulf (Koi Farm ND)
Bred by Marudo Koi Farm
Senior Tategoi
Koromo/Goshiki
Size 5
Owned by Luc Borgmans, Interkoi
Arendonk
Junior Tategoi
Showa
Size 2
Owned by Dennis de Vries, Jade-Koi
Most Unique Koi
Kinginrin B
Size 3
Owned by Marcin
Each year the Holland Koi Show has a ‘special’ variety for which 1st, 2nd and 3rd is awarded. This year that variety was all Utsuri types, excluding Shiro Utsuri, thus including Hi Utsuri, Ki
Utsuri, Ginrin and metallic variants.
1st Place
Size 5
Kinginrin B
Owned by Peter Kluitenberg, Koivriend Coevorden
2nd Place
Size 4
Kinginrin B
Owned by Hans-Ulrich Schulten
3rd Place
Size 2
Hikariutsuri
Owned by Rudi van Laere, Super-Koi
Click on a box to find out more about the TOMiGAi product
2013 All England Koi Show
Main text: Mark Gardner
with contribution from
Bernie Woollands
Koi analysis: Mike Harvey
Pictures: Rene Gerritzen
The South East Koi Club staged their annual open Koi
show, for the second year called the ‘All England Koi
Show’, on the holiday weekend of 25th and 26th August.
The show is without question one of the premier shows in
the UK, a status it has held for a number of years now.
Whilst I wasn’t there this year i’ve spoken to many who
were, and seen plenty of comments on the Internet by
show visitors and the general consensus seems to be that
the quality of Koi on display continues to go from strength
to strength.
A total of 403 Koi were entered in this years show judged
by an international panel of judges led by Mike Harvey
from South Africa and including Toen Feyen, Anja
Albertsboer, Mark Kleijkers from the Netherlands,Louis
Vanreusel from Belgium, Stefan Malm from Sweden, Carol
McCall, Tony Sheffield and Gary Pritchard from the UK.
Bernie Woollands provided us with the following
information on the major winners at the show.
The Grand Champion award, winner by an 11 to 1
majority, was a size 7 Kohaku exhibited by James Carter.
James, a regular exhibitor at the South East as well as
other shows, was also the owner of the Jumbo Champion.
The Grand Champion was bred by Matsue Koi Farm and
supplied by Yume Koi.
The Superior Champion (a re-named award now restricted
to size 7 entries) went to Paul Williams for another size
7 Kohaku which was bred by Yamatoya and supplied by
A4Koi. It was one of many prizes Paul collected.
Above and below, plenty of Koi and dry goods on sale, as well
as other attractions such as a bonsai display, to keep people
interested.
The Mature Champion went to another of Paul’s fish, his
size 6 Kindai Showa; a popular and regular fish on the
show circuit for several years. I personally remember
judging this fish as a size 4 at one of the Nationals held at
Newmarket and again at this year’s National where it took
the Mature Champion.
Paul also collected the Best Non Gosanke award with a
size 5 Shiro Utsuri bred by Omosako and also supplied by
A4Koi.
it’s the variety on their logo) this Koi was also awarded the
NVN’s Friendship Trophy.
The Adult Champion went to an Showa bred by Fuijo
Oomo, supplied by Connoisseur Koi and exhibited by
South East member Ron Rance. This fish had taken the
same award 4 year’s previously (2009) when it was just
a centimeter within the size 5 group and beating much
larger competition. Bigger now, but just as lovely, it
retook this award. Such is the standard of many of our
exhibitors Koi keeping skills that ‘returning champions’
occur quite regularly. However, Ron’s is a bit unique in
that it’s a male. I know of no other male Koi successfully
competing at this size and level.
Dave Newton’s Kohaku took the Young Champion.
This koi had previously taken the same award at the
prestigious East of England show a month earlier. I don’t
know the level of the competition there but our statistics
demonstrate what an accomplishment it was here. The
best of 142 entries as well as the most highly contested
class within its size. Bred by Ogata Koi Farm, supplied by
Dock Koi.
Above, some of the judges deliberating over their awards.
Below, the catering area’s tables and chairs are always full.
Above, Ron Rance’s Adult Champion, on the left in 2009, on the right
in 2013.
Below, plants and trees brought over from Holland always attract
people’s attention at the South East Show.
Our Baby Champion award was won by a Showa bred
by Isa Koi Farm and supplied by Koi Waterlife Centre. Its
owner is Steve Battle, a local boy from across the river.
Steve was once a BKKS Trainee judge of good promise
but resigned in his second year to concentrate on being
a foster parent to troubled children. ‘Good things happen
to good people’, my Mum used to say and that’s what
went through my head when the computer spat out this
result.
Our Best Doitsu award went to Darran Wood’s size 5
Kumonryu supplied by Koi Collection. Not surprisingly (as
The quality of the Koi
entered at the 2nd All England
Koi Show was very high this year
and there were 19 Koi in size 7,
(seven of which were Sanke, 3
of which were Kohaku, 3 were
Showa, 3 were Kawarimono, with
just 1 Hikarimuji and 1 Tancho.
There were 52 Koi entered in
size 6 with 20 Kohaku, 6 Sanke
and 5 Showa, making this size
6 competitive. After walking
around the vats a number of
times the judges were asked
to put forward candidates to
vote for Grand Champion. Two
Kohaku were nominated as
candidates and when voted on
the Grand Champion, a Kohaku
owned by James Carter, was
a unanimous choice of the 11
judges. This Kohaku stood out
amongst some other excellent
Koi, with a body that had superb
volume, a thick peduncle and
which was well proportioned in
all respects. Both the hi quality
and the shiroji were very good
and were enhanced by its
excellent fukurin. An interesting
pattern ensured that this Kohaku
took the top ranking at the show.
Grand Champion
Kohaku
Size 7
Owned by James Carter
Bred by Matsue Koi Farm
The Superior Champion, a
Kohaku owned by Paul Williams,
was the other Koi which had
been put forward as a candidate
for the Grand Champion award
and hence was an obvious
winner when it came to voting
for the Superior Champion later
in the day. Whilst not having
quite the same volume as the
Grand Champion, it’s body shape
was still good and the hi quality
excellent. It has an interesting
and distinctive pattern, with the
only demerit being the difference
in the shades of shiroji between
the body and the head. The
shiroji on the body was good
but it was unfortunate that on
the day the head was somewhat
yellowish in tone.
Superior Champion
Kohaku
Size 7
Owned Paul Williams
Bred by Yamatoya Koi Farm
The Mature Champion award
went to this Kindai Showa, also
owned by Paul Williams. With
any Kindai Showa it is important
for the shiroji to be a really bright
white as this is the ‘canvas’
upon which the hi and sumi are
‘painted’. With this Showa the
shiroji on the body meets this
criteria well. The hi quality is of
an even tone across the length
of the body, notwithstanding
a single scale of sashi on the hi
plate just before the dorsal fin
which is a small distraction. The
tsubo sumi (each side of the
dorsal fin) is excellent, as are the
tight balls of motoguro on each
pectoral fin. The body shape
is good with a nice clear white
dorsal fin. The sumi on the head
could have better definition to
the edges and a line breaking the
sumi above the left eye is a small
demerit, but that said the sumi is
thick and of a good quality.
Mature Champion
Showa
Size 6
Owned by Paul Williams
The Adult Champion,
owned by Ron Rance, is a more
traditional Showa and as such is
in marked contrast to the Kindai
Showa (which has so much
more shiroji visible on the body)
which took Mature Champion.
A great body shape, with head
and body in good proportion to
each other, lays the foundation
for what can only be described
as a superb Showa and worthy
Adult Champion. Excellent hi,
sumi and shiroji are not easy to
find on a single koi, with one
element often not being quite
as good as the others. What
makes this Showa so attractive
and exceptional is the fact
that the quality of hi, sumi and
shiroji are all superbly finished
and of the highest quality. The
beautifully rounded pectoral
fins are enhanced by the strong
motoguro and thick clean white
which extends to the extremes
of these fins. This Showa has an
interesting head pattern , with
the three colours blending nicely.
A beautiful koi in all respects.
Adult Champion
Showa
Size 5
Owned Ron Rance
Bred by Oomo Koi Farm
This Kohaku owned by
Dave Newton won the Young
Champion award. The quality of
both the hi and the shiroji cannot
be faulted. The lustre on the hi is
excellent whilst the kiwa is sharp.
The nicely rounded pectoral
fins compliment its good body
shape. Having a fairly simplistic
pattern, this koi benefits greatly
from the white odome and clean
white nose, giving the hi pattern
a great ‘frame’ and showing off
its hi quality to the fullest.
Young Champion
Kohaku
Size 4
Owned by Dave Newton
The Baby Grand Champion,
another Showa, owned by Steve
Battle, is also a more traditional
Showa, with strong sumi and
less shiroji evident. It has a good
body for a koi of this size and a
nicely balanced pattern.
Baby Champion
Showa
Size 2
Owned by Steve Battle
Jumbo Champion
Hikarimuji
96cm (Size 7)
Owned by James Carter
Best non-Gosanke
Utsurimono
Size 5
Owned by Paul Williams
Most Doitsu
Kumonryu
Size 5
Owned by Darran Wood
Each year the South East Koi Club chooses a special variety, or group of Koi for a ‘mini’ competition. This year’s chosen variety was Karashigoi or Kigoi.
1st Place
Size 6
Owned by Scott Jenkins
2nd Place
Size 6
Owned by Dan & Vicky Parker
3rd Place
Size 7
Owned by Amanda Wyatt
Friendship awards are given by representatives of visiting Koi clubs to the Koi of their choice. Often this will be a Koi of a specific variety, sometimes a Koi that the representative feels
should be recognised but missed out on a major prize.
South Africa Koi Keepers Society (SAKKS)
Kohaku
Size 5
Owned by Mark Denford
Holland Koi Show
2nd Place
Koromo
Size 6
Size 2
Owned by Dan & Vicky Parker
Owned by Dick & Michelle McCormack
KZN
Sanke
Size 5
Owned by Mick Preston
North East Koi Club
Kawarimono
Size 3
Owned by Helen Clark &
Sue Churchill
Belgian Koi Society
Hikarimoyo
Size 5
Owned by Helen Clark &
Sue Churchill
Banana Bar Koi Society
Hikarimuji
Size 5
Owned by Robert Robson
Koi Variety Banners
Printed on high
quality vinyl
Suitable for indoor or
outdoor use
Each banner sized
45” x 18”
Customisable with
your company logo
20 designs to choose
from featuring some
of the best Koi in the
world
£15 each
Set of 20 £200
Visit:
www.niigata-nishikigoi.com
for more information
or e-mail:
mark@justkoi.co.uk
International
Directory
Belgium
Kims Koi
Leuvensesteenweg 333
Tel: 0032-(0)16-606009
3190 Boortmeerbeek
Fax: 0032-(0)16-607099
Vlaams-Brabant
Email: info@kimskoi.be
Belgium
Web: www.kimskoi.be
Supplier of Koi, coldwater fish, aquatic plants and all kinds of
related equipment
Japan
Tani Fish Farm
1379 Shitakata
Tel: 0081 (0) 476 26 9111
Narita-shi
Fax: 0081 (0) 476 26 1341
Chiba
Email: kenji@tanikoi.com
Japan
Web: www.tanikoi.com
20 minutes from Tokyo International Airport. All grades and sizes
of Koi available. Export and trade supplier since 1965.
Philippines
DnA kOi
Dr. Algeric F. Berdin
Tel: +(32) 5110940
Minglanilla
Cell: 09209206299
Cebu
Email: algeric@dnakoi.com
Philippines
Web: www.dnakoi.com
Supplier of high grade Japanese Koi, Saki Hikari and Tsubaki Koi
food. Official Philippine distributor of the book Nishikigoi Mondo.
Koi Village
Indonesia
San Antonio St., cor. Santiago
Tel: (632) 853-8387
St., Paseo de Magallanes, EDSA Cell: (0922) 889-0837
cor. South Super Highway,
Web: advancedhobbyist.com
1226 Makati
FBook: facebook.com/KoiVillage
One of the largest Koi marts in the Philippines today where there
are over 4000 Koi on display for sale at any given time.
Samurai Koi Centre
Taman Mutiara
Tel: (022) 665 33 60
DIV No. 24 Cibabat Cimahi
Fax: (022) 663 08 67
Email: kiki_sutarki@indo.net.id
Bandung
West Java, Indonesia
Web: www.samuraikoi.com
Supplier of high grade Japanese Koi, food and equipment.
Agents for Momotaro Koi Farm and Sakai Fish Farm.
USA
Mystic Koi & Water Gardens
1250 West Arrow Highway
Upland
Ca 91786
Tel: 909-920-3767
Email: shawn@mystickoi.com
Web: www.mystickoi.com
facebook.com/MysticKoiandWG
Visit out beautiful full service Koi shop in Southern California. As a
Shinkokai member we provide professional help and support.
International
Get listed in the Nishikigoi
Digest International ‘International Directory’.
The ‘International Directory’
will appear in each issue of
Nishikigoi Digest International.
A 12 month standard text
listing featuring interactive
links for e-mail, website and/
or Facebook costs just £100
(approx US$160).
A 12 month full colour graphical
listing featuring interactive links
is just £150 (approx US$240).
For this, or other advertising
options in Nishikigoi Digest
International, e-mail
mark@justkoi.co.uk
The end
Coming in issue 3 (out end of October)
Harvest Special
Niigata Nogyosai
60th Nagaoka Koi Show
Ojiya Koi Show
Koi Breeding Around the World
Taiwan Koi Show
Kois and Ponds Grow Out Competition
Keep up to date with all that’s happening with Nishikigoi Digest International at
www.niigata-nishikigoi.com
www.facebook.com/nishikigoidigest

The Biggest Koi Show on Earth Holland Koi Show 2013

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