Well I am going to do weekly learning sessions when I am in my office being bored. But any who, lets lean all about Shusui. Depending on who you speak with, Shusui is one of the basic varieties and a pond favorite. Shusui was originally bred by crossing a Magoi-Asagi with a Doitsu German Koi. That means a Koi with big scales down the back of the Koi with no other scales on the body. The Japanese meaning for Shusui is "Autumn Sky"
The kinds of Shusui Are Hi, Ki, Hana, and Pearle . The most common is Hana Shusui with common red makings along the sides. Also Hi Shusui's are quite common with the red or Hi overtaking most of the body. The two rarer types are Ki, with yellow instead of red, and Pearle, where the scales along the back shine.
Here are pictures on order as I stated them in this paragraph.
Lets Learn about Shusui
Hi Shusui
Hana Shusui
Ki Shusui
Pearle Shusui
With those pictures being shown, I will talk about the mail flaws in the Shusui. The most common flaw is the row of scales, or zipper, along the back of the koi. The high quality Shusui have perfect zippers. Without a perfect zipper it is not that high quality, plain and simple. The next thing you look for is the blue color the koi has. The more blue coloring it is, the nicer it will stay. Most Shusui will turn white, rather then the indigo blue it should be. With that being said, I conclude this talk. Please as me all questions regarding tis koi, I wll be glad to help out.
Kind Regards,
Rich
Holy Koi
Hey - I appreciated that lesson. What is an all white with doitsu down the back that shine? Like the Pearle but with no other color. The scaless part is pure pearl white. The doitsu are a pewter color and very shiny. It does not however have a perfect zipper. :>(
That is called a kikokuryu. They are a very popular variety and loved everywhere. It is basicly a doitsu kujaku with no beni. VEry nice koi though.
Thank You! I never knew. I've had it so long I don't even remember where I got it.
Remind me of skelatons... pretty ones:)
No Problem.......
Hope you are learning!
I have to replace all my koi this year, so I want to be a better informed when I purchase this time. I liked my first lesson . What do you think of butterfly koi? Are the patterns as good as regular koi?
Hi, the patterns are getting there. Most butterfly koi breeders tend to lean towards breeding metalic fish as there is no set pattern. I would consider having both. You should always buy what you like. Don't forget, it goes in your pond, not mine.
Loved the lesson Teacher. Can you please tell me why ki bekko fish are hard to find? I see a lot of "mutts" with dirty yellow colors but nothing clean. Do you know much about them?
Thanks in advance!
BTW: How's the new name coming along? I saw you started posting on Ebay with the new name.
Hello, the new name is a keeper. Thanks for looking at my listing. The reason Ki Bekkos aren't around is because people don't really like them. You hardly find bekko's at all that aren't pond grade. Bekko's are mostly culls now and knowone is planning on breeding them. The hikarimono and kwarimono types are being bred more and more now because thats whaet people want.
Yeah but I've never been one to just follow the popular crowd and I really think a clean ki bekko is gorgeous! I really want one in my pond one day. If snyone ever comes across one for sale let me know (and I don't mean a $$$$$ one-I am not looking to participate in shows just a pet that is a beauty for my pond).
i wish I could find one... But knowone has them... I saw a few on ebay the other week...
I thought the title of this was 'Learn about Sushi' at first glance, rotfl.
Kathy
The ki bekko's are around. I had my eye on one here but it was in March - too cold for me to put it out in the pond. When the water did reach a reasonable temp someone else beat me to it. It was a nice bright clear yellow with sharp black markings. I think the local dealer here gets some stock from Blackwater Creek. An accidental peak into a stockroom revealed some shipping crates/boxes. I just looked at their web site. They do show ki bekko. As they do not retail I guess you could call them and see if they can assist you in locating a retailer that might ship.
This message was edited Jun 5, 2008 11:20 PM
Pretty much all my fish are from there with the exception of one.
Do they retail? Maybe I didn't read their web page right?
She probably got them from a retailer who buys from them... They are pricey.
That I know. My kids got me a Christmas gift certificate a few years back for two higher quality koi. By higher quality I mean over $150 each. I know we've all seen lots higher prices for koi on the net but to my kids that was REALLY high! And I might add, a burden as well as a pleasure. Knowing how my kids sacrificed to get them I have the duty to keep them alive and healthy. So far so good. They are both about 20".
From? Pics
My retailer is Lurvey's in DesPlaines IL. The guy (Scott) that manages the aquatic department is very knowledgeable. He purchases some of his fish from Blackwater but I haven't found them to be expensive at all. They are all within the market range for this area (there are cheaper but they are not as brightly colored and I don't feel comfortable with other retailers health checks). Scott sells hundreds of koi per week easily. He has 5-6 tanks and a few ponds as his "hospital tanks" for injuries and illness recovery and Store pets. On many occasions I have gone back the following day and where there was once 500 plus fish there are hardly any left or a new shipment arrived and I don't recognise any from the previous day. If you have the "Pond and Fish" book from Aquascape and look on page 48 you can see Scott in the maroon shirt (my 6 year old loves to show people that page because he plans to take Scott's job when Scott retires. . .)
Best shot I could get today. It's 91 with 30 mph winds and a lot of cotton wood blowing into the pond. The two bigs one are the gifts. The little one is a 9" I just got this May. The retailer said I could have it only if I could catch it. It was in his show pond. He handed me a net and walked away. Little did he know....... price of one nine inch koi $35.00. Look on retailers face when I walked into the sales floor with dripping net and wiggling fish - priceless.
The big ones are Magnoy Israeli Koi. There is one retailer here who specializes in high end imported koi. I orderd them sight unseen and hoped for the best. This is what I got.
There iffy. The sanke will loose some of the red color for sure. The Hi utsuri is ok. Ifyou want tomorow
I will send you a pic of a nice koi and see what you think.
Rich, Thanks for posting this info about Shusui. Having info on all the different types will be invaluable to the forum. Could you explain the difference between Asagi and Shusui and are they closely related (besides both being koi)?
Snapple are you unhappy with what you got? That's a cute story about walking in with a dripping net and his uncatchable fish :)
No, actually until laserkoi said they were "iffy" I was thrilled! Now, well I'm not going to tell my kids that's for sure! No one ever accused me of being a show koi judge.
Hahaha, I just tell it as it is. I guess when you see so many koi in a day you get used to seeing only high class fisheys.
Anywho, to answer Art_n_Garden's question, The only difference is that an asagi is a scaled shusui. Or a shusui is a doitsu asagi. Some doitsu koi have there own name, Shusui and kumonryu are 2. A shusui is a scaled asagi and a Kumonryu is a doitsu matskawabake. I hope that helped...
Aha! Just the subject Ive been wanting to learn about. ^_^
Hillis would kill me if I spent 100.00 on a fish. LOL
See, I sm the only one with cheap prices on koi with my quality. People need to learn you can make more money selling customers 2 koi for 50.00 then 1 koi for 100.00 .....
hehe, he'd die if I spent 50.00 on a fish. LOL He's almost happy with 12 for a 1.00 feeder fish LOL
HAhahahahahahahha, ihave 3.00 dollar koi lmao. But any more questions on shusui? Please, please do ask!
Some websites are so critical of one another's koi that I'm afraid to post my pictures of my fish for fear that someone will tell me that what I think are beautiful and perfect koi are crap. I'm too new to koi and too sensitive to have my fish get criticized (they're already my babies and I am protective of them). When I get guts and confidence I will post pictures for opinions . . .
Come on post them! I will keep my mouth shut xD
Don't feel bad. I bought the ugliest koi we named Dragon because I thought it was cute. I felt bad for it because it was so small and skinny. I know others would mock it and would of culled it but I like it... for some reason I did immediately:) Maybe its his white nose. If I can get a good picture of him I will post it.
He is black and white with some shiney scales. It's white is kind of blue, has way to much black and it now has some orange spots coming in. He was very shy in QT and sighting him at all was an event. Since getting in the pond he is starting to become more social and gets in there to get the food with the others. I am starting to fatten him up and he looks better already.
I like the mutts. Sometimes they are the most interesting ones to look at.
Lol, have no fear (or shame) mothermole! I love looking at koi, pretty or "only a mother could love" pretty.
Snapple, I like those fish. Is Magnoy Israeli a type of koi like German koi or what?
Here's one of my "only a mother could love" pretties. I like how his black spots never really came all the way out and just look like ghost spots. His name is Rasputin, affectionately known as my Red headed step child. :)
Mag Noy, located in Israel, is said to be an internationally reknowned breeder of koi.
http://www.magnoy.com/koi.htm
I have yet to see a koi too ugly to keep.