Montwila's 2013 KP Kohakus

[montwila]

I would like to start by thanking once again Frank, Jim and Purdin.

I hope to be able to bring these fish to their full potential, I know the fish will do their part. These will be the first fish that I will be able to judge my skills, knowledge and abilities with as a steward of their charge. I hope not to let them down.

By participating in this grow out I will be able to see how the other fish are progressing and then I can judge how my husbandry and practices compare. Fortunantly one other participant lives "nearby" for sure. So our cold water and short growing season here in Puget Sound can be factored in.


I will try for individual shots and a measurement fairly soon. The kohakus were in pretty good shape when they arrived. However the Showas were pretty lethargic. So I have decided to measure and get individual photo's later.

Best of luck to everyone! AND thank you Koiphen for bringing us together.

[Midorigoi]

44 & 21 :D: one even has kuchibeni!! Just curious because of the large group, how are you gonna raise all of them? Big pond or slowly thin off the lessers? It'd be great if you keep all of them for a while to document in length their development! :yes:

[Spartan]

21 was my favorite kohaku - good luck with them!

[montwila]

Thank you Stacey and Spartan:

Stacey glad to see you have joined in on the fun. Without reviewing the thread I believe you joined after the actual selection. Good luck!

In my case after learning that Purdin was the 2013 KP grow out selection I was very excited. I have a friend that is very familiar with Purdin's fish and I have appreciated his tosia selection lectures. Just as Frank mentioned, my friend believes that American bred fish will soon be able to compete with Japanese bred fish. This was part of why I understand Purdin was willing to do this grow out. For my part I am now at the point of appreciating and being confident with higher quality fish. In the past I just looked at a fish and was very happy if it was large and I could keep it healthy. Now I realize that I am a larger part of the issue, and of course genetics. I am told that these (Purdin Kohakus) fish can become quite large. Thus why I broke into the "piggy bank" for them. Cindy's thread about the mason jar was very Timely!

My selections were very heavily influenced by my friend. Being blessed with the second selection position, I was able to select #44. #35 was my fifth selection in the Kohakus. So I had to make my own choices at this point and I selected #21 for the Kuchibeni as I really enjoy having one Kohaku with lipstick and of course its name is Lucy after Lucielle Ball of course! #33 was my selection as a heavy pattern that should ( according to my friend) become much less heavy as the fish grows and the white between the second step and the tail ( I forget what that is called at the moment) was the clincher. However the distance between the dorsal fin an the tail is very short. So we will be able to tell if this is a tell tail sign of future growth.

Yes, Stacey:

My friend and Mentor was specifically worried about this many fish himself having helped me through my learning curve (health issues) thus far. I currently have two ponds that are combined 21K and will be trying to place my lower quality fish (that I am not attached to) to other ponds within our club and if not, to some other good homes. As far as these grow out fish I am committed to keeping all of them all and documenting them regardless of my abilities or their "potential". They will be mixed in with the rest of my charges this Summer but come Fall my Mentor has suggested that being from "The South" these fish should spend next winter (2013-2014) in the QT/Hosp. to keep them at their full growth potential. At this point that is the plan.

[jimfish98]

I will be watching 16 and 39 to see how the sumi comes in. Hopefully things turn out well for you on this grow out.

[montwila]

Thanks Jim:

How ever this is the Kohaku thread. I decided to seperate them for folks in the future wishing to follow one or the other varieties.

I'll post on the Showas later in that thread. But yes, hopefully their sumi will come in and I know this grow out will work out well for me, as I have few expectations and am hoping to learn from it. Education to me is much more important than the results of suspcions. Kinda set you up by posting the photo of all the kids.

[montwila]

I have finally given up on my QT tank for now. The kids have been in a 300 gallon tank since they arrived. With our snow level dropping back down and night time temps. into the upper 30's. It was decided that they should be released into the lower pond. Although cooler than they are use to atleast it does not move more than a degree a day. Currently at 50* so I allowed the 300 to come down to that point and transferred them. Not the plan I had but things do happen.

I am going to post each fish in an additional post. Then I am going to post future pictures in the same post by editing it in the future. So we the viewers do not have to search the entire thread to compare photo's. Speaking of Photo's I reall hope I get better at shoting fish by doing this also.

[montwila]

Here is #21 4-10-13 I am going with 8.5"

[http://www.koiphen.com/forums/editpost.php?p=2261877&do=editpost]

Here is #21 on 10-11-13 measuring in at 10.5".

I appear to have deleted the photo that was taken. I will try to get one. So at this time I only have the measurement.

[montwila]

Here is #33 4-10-13 and I am going 8.0"

[http://www.koiphen.com/forums/editpost.php?p=2261878&do=editpost ]

Here is #33 at a stunning 8.0" for a total of no growth. The back story on this is: Three of the KP grow out fish were pulled from the lower pond around the 1st of Sept. They were noticeably smaller than the other Purdin fish and did not seem to be eating. So I moved them to another system that had smaller fish in it. They are the three largest fish in this tank, the smaller fingerlings usually are very aggressive when fed and these three usually stay out of the way. They still are very shy fish and eat very little. It virtually remains unchanged. The beni may have lightened some. You will never be able to tell with my crummy photography.

[http://www.koiphen.com/forums/editpost.php?p=2261878&do=editpost ]

[http://www.koiphen.com/forums/editpost.php?p=2261878&do=editpost]

[montwila]

#35 on 4-10-13 and we'll go 8.0"

[http://www.koiphen.com/forums/editpost.php?p=2261879&do=editpost ]

Here is # 35 on 10-11-13 at 8.5" having put on a whole 1/2". The beni has lightened but the pattern is still virtually the same. This fish also was moved. See post #9 for a better explanation.

[http://www.koiphen.com/forums/editpost.php?p=2261879&do=editpost ]

[montwila]

The last is #44 4-10-13 and I am calling it 8.5"

[http://www.koiphen.com/forums/editpost.php?p=2261880&do=editpost]

Here is #44 on 10-11-13 up to 11.5" for 3" of growth. It is a good eater and the only one to have developed shimmies. The pattern remains but has lightened.

[http://www.koiphen.com/forums/editpost.php?p=2261880&do=editpost ]

[http://www.koiphen.com/forums/editpost.php?p=2261880&do=editpost ]

[icu2]

That's an awesome group! It's going to be really fun to watch each one of them grow...
Nice job documenting their start! :thumb:

[montwila]

Thank you Steve. They are certainly not vendor photo's but the best I could do.


The little buggers just would not sit still! I am still amazed how an 8" fish in 3" of water can just jump straight up 12"+. A couple of them literally walked up the corner and Thanks to some fancy hand work they were redirected back into the measuring tank.

Probably will not get any more single shots until next Fall. Possibly a group photo in the pond before then.

[jimfish98]

How are the little ones doing Monte?

[montwila]

As promised: We were actually pulling the pond last Friday.

The photos have been added to the individual fishes post. So you do not have to flip back and forth comparing photo's. I apologize for the crummy photos.

Comments are welcome here on the thread . If you chose to PM me I will probably post my answer here.

[Spartan]

Hard to understand the growth discrepancy. Is it possible the ones that didn't grow have some type of low grade infection? Parasites?

[icu2]

I've seen beni like #21 and a couple of the others before... mine. :uggg:

Oh, and it's only October not November. :D:

[montwila]

Spartan: I cannot say one way or the other to your question. What I do know is that the three fish I pulled from the pond (#33, #35 and Showa #12) seldom eat. They are very skittish when walking up to the tank that they are in. The other fish in the tank, which are smaller, are swimming to get food. These three hang back and only take in the occasional kernel of food. When they do eat they keep it in and do not spit it out. They appear healthy and swim at all levels prior to removing them from the lower pond (6') and the tank 20". They school with the others but are shy. I do offer a combination of sinking and floating food.

Are they sick? I do not see any signs of it.

I have to believe: If you do not eat, you will not grow.

[montwila]

Sorry Steve about the Beni:

However thank you for the catch on the date. I have 11/11 on my mind as that is the day Twila will have her leg cut off. She is having knee replacement surgery. I did have half of it right because it was last Friday that Dick came over.

[icu2]

:uggg: I'm so sorry... give her my best and I hope the recovery is fast and complete!

[montwila]

:uggg: I'm so sorry... give her my best and I hope the recovery is fast and complete!

Thank you. So do I. I will pass that on.

[KurtG]

So, they all are failing so far? Seems you had bad luck with the Purdin kohaku. I am also having so so luck with a $100 Sakai Kohaku (avatar).

[montwila]

So far the score on the Kohaku's is: One has shimmies and is just starting to break up and its beni is turning orange/lightening. Another is starting to break up and lighten. The other two are kinda holding their beni but the patterns are starting to scallop on the edges so I am assuming it will go away. But the big part is these two (and a Showa) will not grow.

I wish you better luck with yours. I like the pattern.

[jimfish98]

Don't forget to get measurements and enter your grow outs into the Virtual Koi/Goldfish show, see how well your selecting and husbandry stacks against the others in the grow out.