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By Rene Schoenmaker

This is the first article in a series about selecting young koi. The first variety that will be discussed is kohaku. There is a saying in the koi world that collections start and finish with Kohaku. Kohaku is a very imple but very elegant variety. The simplicity of this variety is also its most enthralling spect. When looking for a small kohaku, a few rules need to be followed in order to have this Koi grow into something special. The base colour of kohaku is white while red is its secondary colour. When I select a young kohaku the first ones must have as pure white skin as possible. When selecting, I watch them carefully for a couple of minutes while they are swimming in the blue bowl where they are placed after netting. Often the white turns slightly pinkish because of the stress they experience when taken out of their pond and put into the bowl. I take these out and put them back in the pond. The thickness of the white is not thick enough and easily shows signs of stress. This tends to become orse as the Koi grows. When the fish are small (12-15cm) I like to see that the pectoral fins are as translucent as possible as it gives the Kohaku a young look and they will become whiter in time, preferably when they are 25cm plus. Only then do I look at the hi (red) pattern. Pattern is not as important as long as we understand that the Kohaku grows from its belly, i.e. the hi (red) has to go over the lateral line, as this gives the Kohaku room to grow into its pattern. The head pattern is important, as it is the first impression the Kohaku gives when we look at it. It used to be important to have a horseshoe pattern on the head but that has changed in that all different patterns are appreciated as long as it complements the rest of the pattern. Preferably no red in the eyes, but again if the rest of the pattern complements it, it is accepted these days. When purchasing a young Kohaku,

the hi (red) should be even from the front to the back and have a nice thick feel to it, i.e. you should not have the feeling that if you scratch it with your fingernail that it will peel off. If you are looking for a young Kohaku with a promising future, the hi should be a thick orange/red colour. A blood red colour tends to fade easily and the white around it also doesn't get as white as with an orange/red colour which I mentioned before. Remember, I am talking about buying a Kohaku for the future — not just for its present beauty. You can however enter these koi into competitions and probably still do very well as most of the points mentioned are also used when judging Kohaku. As for body shape, a cigar shaped fish is the one to look for when selecting young koi. When the body shape is too finished the koi doesn't tend to change much anymore. Be careful when selecting young koi that it doesn't have a small "pinch" just behind the gills as they tend not to grow out of this. A lot of Koi that are brought into the country have been starved before shipping and are on the thin side, but this is easily rectified by proper feeding and should not stop you from purchasing that particular koi, but keep in mind the above mentioned "pinching". Buying young koi is very much a trial and error ride but it gives you a lot of satisfaction if you do get it right. Always ask others for help but remember it is you who has to like/ love this koi and to feed and grow it. Try and purchase one or two from the same batch as this also gives you insight into how that particular bloodline

will develop. Make notes and take photos of the koi and keep doing this as this will help you when selecting new ones. Hopefully the above will help you when selecting Kohaku. Next month I will discuss Selecting Sanke.

 

 

GINRIN B

 

By Kevin Harrison

 

 

Ginrin B classification is large and it is therefore difficult to pick a show winner because your particular koi may well be competing against another variety, but is placed in the same judging category because of its Ginrin scalation.

Definition of Ginrin B

 

Perhaps the best way to define the Ginrin B category is to eliminate some of the categories that may cause some confusion when selecting your Ginrin B koi for a show.

 

·        Ginrin B excludes all Ginrin A varieties i.e. Ginrin Kohaku, Ginrin Sanke, Ginrin Showa and Ginrin Utsuri. In essence all gosanke are not included.

·        All metallic ginrin varieties are also excluded from this class e.g. Ginrin Ogon.

 

So now that we have eliminated so much, what is there to select from?

 

Any koi that is non-metallic and that is not classified as gosanke may be considered. They should have three or more rows of ginrin (shiny scales) to qualify for this category. A doitsu or leather koi, obviously would not fall into this category, only scaled koi would qualify.

 

Ginrin B classification includes all of the ginrin scalation, namely:

 

  

Beta-gin	The scales have a high reflection because the whole surface sparkles.
Hiroshima-gin	Also known as diamond-ginrin because these scales sparkle like diamonds with streaks of highly reflective tissue radiating from its center
Kado-gin	These scales have very narrow streaks of glitter at the very edges of the scale
Tama-gin	Also known as pearl-ginrin which has a central patch that is slightly raised and gives the appearance of being covered with tiny pearls

 

 

This classification evens the playing fields quite drastically as it allows “lesser” so called varieties to compete. For instance a Ginrin Goshiki may be candy for one’s eyes, only to find that a saragoi that has better ginrin and will take honours on the day. The Ginrin Goshiki for instance may well have a ten times higher price tag, but the judging priority remains with ginrin scalation and of course body shape. Thus the “lesser” varieties have a good chance of competing.

 

Some of the koi that fall into the Ginrin B variety include:

 

Ginrin Saragoi (Grey koi with shiny scales)

Ginrin Chagoi (Brown or Olive Green)

Ginrin Ochiba Shiguru (Grey and Brown)

Ginrin Asagi (Blue-grey base colour with a netting like pattern and orange or red belly)

Ginrin Bekko (White koi with Black pattern – no sumi on head)

Ginrin Goshiki (Five coloured Koi)

Ginrin Matsukawabaki (scaled Kumonryu – black white and grey)

Ginrin Benigoi (Red or deep Orange)

Ginrin Goromo (A white koi with red pattern – robbing on the pattern)

Ginrin Matsuba (Yellow, Orange or White)

 

Note that the above-mentioned varieties all have ginrin scales which qualifies them for the Ginrin B category.

 

See some of the pictures that illustrate typical Ginrin B koi.

 

 

 

 

Ginrin Goromo                               Ginrin Goshiki                     Ginrin Ochiba-Shigure            Ginrin Soragoi