Cliff Beckett, BKKS Treasurer and Health Standards Officer

Preparing to show your Koi

Cliff Beckett, BKKS Treasurer and Health Standards Officer

‘to be or not to be, or to put it another way ‘to show or not to show, that is the question’

So you have attended the National Show, observed the Koi on display, assessed all the winners from best in variety, best in size through to Grand Champion. In doing so you have mentally compared them to your own Koi and how well you think you might have performed. You have noted to the best of your understanding the quality, pattern, body shape, colour and what might have made them a winner.

There are a number of questions to ask before you consider showing your Koi at any Show be it the National or your local clubs closed show. Some of these important questions I hope to address in this article, but first let’s ask two important questions whilst you contemplate the idea of showing your Koi.

‘Why show my Koi?’ – There are a number of reasons why a hobbyist might show their Koi:

(i)There is the enjoyment of sharing your prize possessions and experience with other hobbyist and enjoying the experience of others admiring your koi.

(ii)The satisfaction of knowing that although your Koi are in a strange environment for them, they are nevertheless receiving the best possible care. The fish at the show are judged on their overall condition and health. Their size, body shape, quality of condition and colour are primarily determined on the care you have provided them with, your feeding regime, the quality of your water parameters. A show can be a good way of finding out how well your Koi are developing, what are the potential and provides you with an opportunity to talk to a Judge and ultimately improve as necessary their living conditions.

(iii) It provides the opportunity to see and to study the best as well as being able to compare first-hand your Koi with the others in the competition. A chance to learn from other exhibitors and Judges as to what is the ideal shape, colour, and patterns etc. What are the important aspects within the different varieties? Ask other exhibitors advice and learn how to select, grow and develop healthier Koi in the future.

(iv)Showing your Koi and being part of the event is a different experience than just visiting the show and being a spectator. From my personal experience it was and is fun to watch a Rugby game, but it is a vastly different experience to actually take part and be actively involved.

So the other side of the coin is the question – ‘why don’t more hobbyists take their fish to a show?’ Some of the answers to that are related to various concerns that some hobbyist have:

(i)The concern that to move them from one environment to another would cause them undue stress and they do not wish to harm/stress their fish. Every care at a show is taken not to unduly stress the fish being exhibited, to do so would contravene the Animal Welfare Act.

(ii)I would never take my fish to a show for fear of experiencing significant problems. The number one priority at every BKKS run show is that of the safety, health and welfare of the Koi on show. Regular testing of the water parameters is undertaken throughout the show and water changes undertaken as and when necessary without causing any undue stress to the Koi. The Benching process at the beginning of the show is carefully carried out by trained and experienced handlers with a Health Standards Officer to carefully inspect all Koi so that any problems identified and any suspect fish is eliminated before being admitted into the show.

(iii) I don’t feel comfortable catching my fish and transporting them safely. This is an important point and will be addressed later in the article.

(iv) I am concerned that my fish might, because of exposure to other fish at the show catch a disease or parasite. Because we use what is known as the English Style of showing fish, each owner’s fish is displayed in a separate VAT from the other fish in the show dedicated to those individual exhibitorsand all equipment used is disinfected thoroughly between each use/VAT. All those involved in the centre ring including judges wash their hands or use alcoholic disinfectant gel between VATs thus preventing any cross contamination. Most fish likely to transmit a problem often show signs of their infection and are eliminated at the benching stage. However despite this fish shows are not areas of perfect isolation and accidental situations can occur from time to time, but every effort is made to prevent such from happening.

(v)I don’t have expensive or large enough fish to enter in the show. Not all winners are large and expensive fish, the Koi are judged on conformation (shape), colour, pattern (which is often related to genetics) and the biggest determination of the quality of your Koi is down to how well you care for them and not particularly how much they cost. A costly fish not cared for appropriately will soon lose its impact. Size is not an issue either as all fish are judged against the fish in that size/variety category.

If after considering every aspect of your Koi keeping you have decided to exhibit your fish in a Koi show whether your local club show or a larger Open Show like the National there is a clear planning process you need to go through. It involves preparing the Koi ensuring you have cared for them sufficiently enough to have brought them to their best condition. With these thoughts let’s now proceed to address some of the important issues you need to know before you actually take your koi to the show.

All Koi being exhibited in a show should be in good health and to enable an accurate assessment of the health status it is recommended that they must have been resident in the home pond for a period of at least one month. Over a period of time prior to the show you will need to closely observe your Koi noting any changes in behaviour as well as any external changes indicating body damage, swelling, redness or excessive mucus. Check also other external factors such as the condition of the fins, gills, mouth, eyes, scales and skin. It is important that your fish is in the best of health and meets all the Benching Health Criteria, having brought your Koi to the show, you wouldn’t want to have to take it home again because you hadn’t properly checked it over and it was eliminated on a health technicality at benching.

Essential practical requirements before netting your Koi for the show:

Well before the actual show date and before you grab a net to ‘catch’ your Koi you will need to ensure that certain essential equipment is readily available. This will save time and mean that the whole process will proceed smoothly and will reduce the stress levels on both yourself and the Koi. The equipment needed is as follows:

• Suitably sized and appropriate nets according to the sizes of the Koi.
• New plastic bags of the right size and sufficient numbers to double bag each Koi you are taking to the Show.
• Oxygen Cylinder containing sufficient oxygen
• New elastic bands for securing the bags and make sure you have plenty of them in case they break.
• Large bowl to guide the Koi into before transferring to the transportation bag.
• Sock Net or spare bags for transferring from bowl to transportation bags.
• Good quality boxes large enough to take the bagged Koi in safety to the show.
• A towel
• If possible another person to assist you
• Time and patience
• A measuring jug may also be useful
• I personally like to have a spare VAT available, especially on a hot day to place the Koi into, preventing them from being in the transportation bags too long.

Having got together the essential items listed above what is the process for ensuring that your Koi reach their best potential and arrive safely at the show?

Water Quality and Temperature:

Firstly make certain that your water management is at its peak, water quality is of utmost importance in the finishing preparation of any Koi for a show. I cannot emphasise it enough that your Koi will not do well if the parameters of your water are out and the quality is not there. Linked with the quality is that of water temperature, which also plays a big role, with temperatures around 24/25oC the digestion and appetite of Koi improves and this makes it easier to ‘pump-up’ the body and consolidate the colour.

For a period of at least two months before the show ensure that you have the highest possible levels of water quality. This means increasing water changes, pond/filter maintenance and slowly reducing the amount you feed.

Selecting your Koi for the Show:

It is also advisable to as soon as possible select the fish you are going to exhibit in the show. Study them, check for any problems and measure them for peak condition. When planning which fish you are going to bring to the show, aim for peak development, top size range. Avoid bringing too many fish or fish that will just compete against each other. Important point when selecting your koi is to be aware of the show rules governing the stocking limits of the VATs. Stocking limits generally work on a points system and relate to both the overall size allowance of the fish and the maximum number of fish within the limits you are allowed in the VAT.

The following chart provides the current BKKS VAT stocking allowance based on a point system:

KOI SIZE / POINTS / VAT SIZE (METRES) / MAXIMUM POINTS per VAT / MAXIMUM FISH per VAT
Size 1 / 1 / 3.0 / 72 / 20
Size 2 / 1.5 / 2.8 / 62 / 17
Size 3 / 2 / 2.5 / 50 / 14
Size 4 / 3.5 / 2.0 / 32 / 9
Size 5 / 6 / 1.5 / 18 / 5
Size 6 / 9
Size 7 / 13
Size 8 / 16

Here one thing that I found helps in choosing which koi I am going to take to the show is knowing your fish, their behaviour etc. The number of koi is important and will help in the allocation of boxes for transportation and fitting into your car. It is important that the bags and boxes are larger than the fish they are to contain, between 15 – 20cms, this is especially so for larger fish.

Feeding and diet:

Despite what fellow hobbyist may say there is no secret/special water or food additives that you can use prior to showing that will in anyway greatly enhance your fish, there are those in my view that might spoil your fishes appearance and I would suggest that you DON’T feed colour/high protein foods within a couple of months of the show. Also DON’T add medications or give koi treatments within a similar period.

Plan to reduce feeding as the date of the show approaches and stop feeding those fish that you have selected for a period of 5-7 days prior to the show. Koi can quite easily go without food for a week and there is plenty of natural food within the pond for them to graze on. This is very important as it will reduce the Ammonia that the fish under stress may dump during transportation and thereby also reduce the ammonia stress levels.

We are now ready for the most important aspect of showing your Koi, that of getting the Koi to the show. We have checked that we have all the essential equipment available and ready.We have reduced the feeding regime and for the past 5-7 days prior to the show stopped feeding altogether. Getting the Koi to the show involves catching them which requires you to net the koi and to bag them for transportation.

Netting, bagging and transportation:

1. Netting:

Netting and bagging a collection of koi can be a lengthy and risky procedure and should be undertaken as quickly and as cautiously as possible. Chasing Koi around the pond will only cause undue stress and even keeping them in the bags longer than they need to be there will add to the stress. Chasing Koi around the pond and then immediately bagging them can cause their increased respiration to very quickly deplete the oxygen content of the bagand therefore should be avoided where possible. It is at this time that a friendly helping hand becomes very useful.

Catch your fish as the very last thing you do before leaving for the show. Make sure you use the right kind of net; this should be a bowl-shaped or pan net that is large enough to accommodate the largest fish you will be taking to the show.

Never use a ‘carp net’ or fisherman’s landing net; these are designed for anglers to land their catch without any consideration to damaging the fish or a swimming pool net which is used as part of the cleaning process of swimming pools.

A Pan Net

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A Fisherman’s landing netA swimming Pool Net

One of the essential skills for a Koi hobbyist to learn is how to properly net and bowl a koi. This is a skill that is used so often not only if you are catching your koi in order to show them, but for such things as treatment or taking a scrap, although it should be done a little as possible, it is nevertheless a skill to be mastered. If done incorrectly it can cause unnecessary stress, damage and injury to a fish.

When netting the koi it is important that you DO NOT rush the action and make sure that you guide the fish and not chase it around the pond. This will enable you to limit the influence of gravity on the fish and protect the slime/mucus layer or cuticle and also prevent broken or split fins and bruises from occurring.

If you are netting several fish to take to the show remember the ones that you caught first and a good idea is either to use a floating net, which are inexpensive or a spare VAT until all the koi have been netted and ready for a quick and easier transfer to the bags for transportation. In addition to the Pan net, in order to do this you will benefit from using the sock net that was listed in the essential equipment.

The procedure: The bowl shaped net is used only to guide the fish into a suitable position for you to use your sock net, with the emphasis on guiding and not lifting out of the water. Most of the time especially with big fish, the net will hardly touch the fish, the fish hovering inside the net. It is important to keep the side the fish is facing a little higher; this will discourage them from jumping especially the smaller fish. Always try to catch your fish by getting your net under its head as it swims towards you. Then guide it into the bowl or sock net held by another person, using the minimum amount of contact between the net and the koi. Either from the net or the bowl you can sock net the koi with it positioned in the middle of the sock net and both ends held tautly between your hands (see pictures below) when lifted from the water.

When releasing the koi from the sock net a head first exit is preferable as this will avoid any possible fin or scale damage, but note that some mucus maybe lost from the skin. Once the Koi is in the bowl, floating net or spare VAT a polythene bag can easily be placed over the head of the koi and the koi directed into the bag for transportation to the show.

1. Bagging:

Having caught your Koi the next stage is placing them into an appropriate size polythene bag for transportation to the show. The bag should be big enough to house the Koi and as previously indicated should be at least 15-20cms larger than the Koi once the Koi is in situ, especially larger fish. It is also important that the Koi are double bagged, i.e. one bag placed inside the other and both secured separately using new elastic bands. Ensure that there is enough water in the bag to cover the height of the gills when laid horizontal in the box, whilst still leaving enough room for oxygen: about 30-40% of the bag. It is common for Koi to bleed from the gills if it struggles too much as a result of stress, this is not a reason to panic, however if this does happen, replace the water. If the Koi appears to be too stressed it might be wise to replace it back into the holding bowl until you have bagged the other Koi and then make a decision regarding its overall feasibility to take to the show. Excessive stress can also cause the development of red veins all over the body, especially noted in the case of Kohaku Tanchos.