Okay here is a terrible example for my koi keeping record
Almost 3 yrs since acquired
Eggy belly—-worsen
Sumi???—-2 more years?
Beni —-start to decline (sign of hikui) early?
https://youtu.be/N9LBaFASy9I
Okay here is a terrible example for my koi keeping record
Almost 3 yrs since acquired
Eggy belly—-worsen
Sumi???—-2 more years?
Beni —-start to decline (sign of hikui) early?
https://youtu.be/N9LBaFASy9I
You are not the only one frustrated by showa. It is the least refined variety of the gosanke. Beni and sumi peak at different time, more often than not. Sanke usually has better skin, beni and darker sumi. Kohaku usually has better body and beni. Basically, showa starts out with weaker attributes but we are all dreaming that everything will come together at the same time.
That's a nice "safe" showa to buy. The pictures is too fuzzy to tell the skin quality. It looks to have better body than the Hoshikin. The Hoshikin is eggy which is genetic. The only thing you can do is to make it less obvious through good husbandry. You have already pointed out that our hard water is a big negative for beni longevity. It is pretty painful to see good beni going downhill faster than it should. I plan to add R/O during pond rebuild.
Good body sumi and beni! good for show how big is it?
How much were they asking for this showa? Is the tail too short and small compared to the body?