KOI SHOWS AND THE 2008 SPECIAL VARIETY KOI.

Every year koi shows are held around the world in different countries for hobbyists to come together and place their koi on show for judges to judge their koi. When judging koi the judges look at the body shape of the koi first to see if the shape is good. The ideal shape is a cigar shape or torpedo shaped koi. A bad body shape would be a koi that is too thin, too long, too short or too round. The judges would look for inferior qualities, such as the absence of barbells, bent spines or pot belly’s and then penalize the koi if there are defects. When they are judging the colour on the koi they look for even and clear colour making sure the white is thick and the reds and blacks known as hi or sumi must be bright and sharp with no fading of colours. The pattern on the fish must be balanced across the body of the koi and must be striking or appealing to the eye. The pattern must also be typical of the variety that the koi is being judged in. There are many different groupings or categories that koi are judged in. In each category different prices are awarded to the best fish within those categories.
In Durban on the 19 and 20 July 2008 the Koi Excellence KwaZulu Natal Koi Show will be held at parkade C of Gateway Theatre of shopping in Umhlanga Rocks. The show will be an English style koi show, where every person that would like to show there koi will have their own pond called a vat that will house there koi for the weekend. There will be local as well as some international judges coming from, Holland, Belgium, China, Taiwan and the United Kingdom to help judge our South African koi show. The show will have excellent quality koi on display as well as having dealer stands selling high quality koi from local as well as international koi farms, fiberglass ponds, food, filters and pond equipment for sale. There are food stands and other attractions to see related to koi and garden ponds. Every year there is a variety of koi that is chosen to be the special variety at all shows in South Africa. This year that variety is called Goshiki. Go is the Japanese word for five and the Goshiki has five colours these are: white, red, black, light blue and dark blue. Goshiki is a variety that can look different over a season. The colours can become darker in winter and it is an interesting koi to keep in your collection. A Goshiki with a white to pale blue ground and a dark blue robing to the scales is a modern style and is called Kindai Goshiki. If the ground on a Goshiki is dark blue it is a classic style and is called a Kuro Goshiki. When you buy a Goshiki look for a Sandan/3 step pattern of hi markings, a head marking to be clear and bright, the pectoral fins should be white with small Goshiki han. Look for a white dorsal fin and even robing of the scales. It is also important that the ground colour must lift the red markings to make them stand out.

Angela Beckx
Koi @ Jungle