Mike Snaden
Nisai
http://www.koi-bito.com/forum/image....&dateline=2004
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Bristol, England, UK
Posts: 101
| Another opinion....................Copied & pasted from Koi Bito
Hi all,
Have just been reading this thread, having spoken to Tewa a few days ago.
I can't really understand why people here are getting so hung up over the FIR aspect, as though it is all that matters?
To my mind, the only point of any importance, is the 'real world' results. Theory, and science are nowhere as important as the the 'actual' results of running Showers. We have had Showered ponds running for long enough now, to know that there are no long-term problems or disadvantages.
The people that buy Showers are most influenced by the 'maintenance-free' aspect. But, to my mind, the single most important factor of the Showers, is the condition of the Beni in Showered ponds. Why?... think about what generally happens to Koi in the hands of a breeder...
Generally, a Koi will always have it's best Beni condition when harvested from the mud pond. It may appear a little pale, but this is because of the nature of the waters effect on the pigment cells. What I am saying, is that to some extent you should imagine the pigment cells as being like coral, in that they stand up in good water, and populate strongly. Put them into lesser water, and the will then tend to lie down, perhaps to try to protect the Koi? This makes the colour much redder, but also damages the Teri (lustre) of the colour. But, when they are in this state, some of the cells then don't fourish as well, and hence die off, making the colour look redder, but thinner. A Koi kept in a breeders pond will slowly deteriorate in this way, and can quite often do this to the point where some of the scales will have no colour pigment at the tip of the scales, making the scale tip appear transparent. This won't generally bother a breeder too much, as he will be safe in the knowledge of knowing that this kind of deterioration will be easily fixed up again when the Koi is put back in the mud pond for the next season.
Now, consider what happens to most Koi that are kept in hobbiests ponds... can you see any similarities in your Koi? I think that most people would say yes, if they were to pull up every Koi and inspect them closely? But, if I compare my 8000 gallon pond, to my Showered ponds, it is clearly evident that the Beni of the KOi is in the absolute best condition possible, and maintain this look despite extremely fast growth. I feel that this is the Bakki Showers absolute best benefit, particularly when you see the same thing with other peoples Baki Showered ponds. I feel that the increase in appetite, and hence growth, is the second best benefit.
To further this... take a look at Cliff Neale's twice GC Sanke, measuring 85cm as six years old in 2003, and now 93cm as eight years old. But, despite the ageing, and growth, the Beni of this Sanke is at it's best ever, and will probably improve further, whereas most previous Show winners usually re-appear at the Koi show the following year in a far worse condition. Bearing this in mind, what do you think will happen when you try and raise a Koi from Tosai, to become a potential Gand Champ? In most cases, this would be so challenging, that it wouldn't be worthwhile trying. But, people like Cliff Neale, and perhaps a dozen or so others in the UK, are now capable of raising small Tosai (24cm ish), to become Nisai of extremely high quality, and 68 ~ 71cm.
So, the bottom line with this is that yes, Bakki Showers and their running costs, are expensive. But, if you on the other hand put in moderately priced Koi (perhaps average £500 each) into the pond, and then achieved wonderful results, then the costs of a Showered pond become pretty insignificant.
I can't understand why someone would want to devise some oddball way of 'testing' Bacteria House, where the 'real World' results woudn't be apparent, or why people test this media in a pond, and compare with another media, when they haven't even stuck to any of the 'rule of thumb' running principles in the first place? There is only one way to test it, and that is, to build a pond that is correctly utilising the media, and then run that pond with real Koi, with real potential, with an aim of getting 'real results', as opposed to trying to prove that it won't work!
Any doubters here should take a trip to England. I will happily arrange and pay for your accomodation, and take you to see every Showered pond I know of. You can then speak to the owners, and see the Koi for yourselves, and then decide if it's all just 'hype'!? I'm not joking here, I'm serious!
Best regards,
Mike.
Heck, I'll go out an photograph some Tosai I have raised myself if you wish, and then we can all comment on what we think of their futures?
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