Monday, May 25, 2009

The Unforgettable Carp


That's the Empurau, or as the Chinese on the island of Borneo call them, "Wang Pu Liau" or "Unforgettable", as one of the tastiest and most expensive culinary fresh water fishes around, packing a whopping RM800 per kg served steaming hot on restaurant tables.

Populating the upper reaches of the Rejang River in remote Kapit in Sarawak, they can grow up to a whopping 20kg. A fish farm near Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia had one tipping the scales at 13kg. Their cousins on the peninsula are known as Kelahs.

Scientifically named Tor Tambroides, they are the stuff of unforgettable legends in the historical annals of Colonial Great Britain as the Greater Brook Carp or Mahseers of the Golden Chersonese, best known for their epic battles with colonial anglers in the mountain streams and rapids of Malaya and Borneo.

Their cousins are still unforgettable today in the Sportfishing annals of modern day anglers, for the epic 6 hours battles they fought as seven footer Himalaya Mahseers or giant Humpback Mahseers (Tor Mussullah) of the Cauvery River in India. Majestic, awesome, powerful and mighty, these muscular fishes are a sight to behold!

The one Empurau that is unforgettable to me was on death row in a restaurant tank when I saw her, with a missing scale and split caudal fin, but still majestic and graceful with a huge hump. Measuring 46cm and weighing 1.6kg, she costs quite a bit to rescue, but it was worth it.

Looking awesome and powerful with an unforgettable muscular hump, Mighty Thor (Yes, I named her after Thor, the God of Thunder) joined the kois in my courtyard pond and now swims happily with two Kelahs. With her small pointed head and huge hump, she has a rather nice Bambi bodyline.

































She's now eating Saki Hikari, FD Extra and FD Color Up pellets together with the kois and hopefully, she will go on a growth spurt and end up looking like those majestic humpback mahseers (max size 90kg/150cm) of Cauvery as some hobbyists believe they are of the same species.

That remains to be seen, but I will be more than happy if she grow jumbo above 80cm;)

Cheers,

Jeff

Monday, May 18, 2009

Isawa Matsunosuke Atarashi Sumi Sankes

Last week, I picked up two Isawa Atarashi Sumi Sankes at very affordable prices. Good things have been written about Isawa Matsunosuke Atarashi Sumi Sankes: See http://www.essexsection.co.uk/html/from_hotspot.html

Toshio Sakai, one of 2 brothers to acquire the Matsunosuke bloodline of fishes from one of Japan's foremost koi farming families, is a living legend in the world of Nishikigoi acclaimed for his ground breaking work in developing excellent koi, the latest of which is atarashi or new sumi.

This has so impressed the koi community in Asia that we started the 1st Asia Grow Out event to study the new "atarashi sumi":

See http://www.koi.com.my/forum/KOI_Talk_C1/Koi_Appreciation_F8/THE_1ST_ASIA_GROWOUT_EVENT_2009_-_PART_1_P113200/

http://www.koi.com.my/forum/KOI_Talk_C1/Koi_Appreciation_F8/THE_1ST_ASIA_GROWOUT_EVENT_2009_PART_2_P114685/






























The first sanke measures 36cm, and is female. The second second, also female, is 34cm. These two are rumored to be Nisai fishes, so we shall expect to see a rapid growth spurt.
Will they be jumbo? Hmmm, I think maybe, just maybe...... ;)
Cheers,
Jeff

Monday, May 11, 2009

Ugly Betty


Some of you will remember Ugly Betty when I posted about humpbacks in my pond a while ago:

See http://www.koi.com.my/cgi-bin/koiforum/gforum.cgi?post=112768;#112768

She had thin beni then, looked quite ugly and measure 49cm with a high level of doubt as to whether she is female. All she had going for her was a great body with a huge hump.


Well, I bowled her up on Sunday, and yes!, she is confirmed female. She is now 54cm, her sumi coming up and beni strengthening. So far, so good ;)

Hopefully, she will fulfil her promise and finish with a kick ass body and decent pattern to boot!
Cheers,
Jeff

Mudpond Kois Batch 1 Update



































My first batch of kois that went through SPKC's Mudpond Program came out last November, and went back into my koi pond in December 2009. After 5 months in our concrete pond, how did they fare?
Well, I couldn't manage to bowl the big sankes on my own as they are well over 80cm now. However, I did manage to bowl the rest, and the results are:
1. The big Maruyama Kagura Murata Kohaku grew from 66 cm to 68cm, but has bulked up considerably with a couch potato bodyline.
2. The Maruyama Kagura Kamiya Sandan Kohaku grew 1 cm to 66cm. Her beni still needs to strengthen further, but she has also bulked up considerably.
3. The Momotaro Showa grew 3cm to 62cm, and has also bulked up. Her sumi is coming up but her beni needs further work.
4. The biggest surprise is the Maruyama Kagura Murata Nidan Kohaku who shot 6cm to 66cm, catching up with her bigger sister. Her pattern and kiwa is superb, and she is bulking up very nicely with a huge hump and Bambi bodyline.
This batch of kois has so far been most educational and entertaining. Hopefully, some of them may be good enough to enter koi shows.
Cheers,
Jeff

Three Gonjiros Update






















These are my updated pictures of the three Gonjiros. Sanke No.1 is now 40cm, up 4cm from a month ago. Sanke No. 2 is 43cm, up 5cm and Sanke No.3 is 40cm, up 3cm.
PH8 is absolutely correct that Sanke No.3 (originally thought to be a showa as represented by the dealer) is a sanke although the pattern is deceptively that of a showa. On bowling up, the black lines on the pectorals clearly seen, so that qualifies her as sanke.
Overall, not too bad for a month's growth;)

Now, why am I fascinated by these Gonjiros? Their 3 female siblings that I bought earlier look like this:








The showa is 46cm, the first sanke 57cm and the second sanke a whopping 60cm.
The bodylines are very good, and their growth rates impressive coupled with interesting patterns, they are worth a bet.
Time will tell how they will turn out in the end, but so far, they are worth the trouble;)
Cheers,
Jeff

Mohantaro Grow Out Tosais

These are tosais from a local hobbyist who bred his Momotaro sanke with a male kohaku and a male showa. I think the male showa was too young and only the male kohaku spawned with the female sanke.

I suggested the idea of a Grow Out as a good way to disseminate the tosais among many hobbyists for raising in different pond conditions with regular reporting back on their progress.

These two tosais grew from less than 20cm to 45cm for the female kohaku and 41cm for the male benigoi in less than 6 months! Not too bad for a local breeding and the kohaku looks destined for jumbo.

Cheers,
Jeff