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Day 5, Wed, Oct 16

The morning starts at Koda Koi Farm to check on the condition of the koi purchased so far. The koi are kept in shallow concrete holding ponds that are piped with a flow-through system of natural mountain spring water from the Niigata mountains.

Each time I purchase koi from a breeder and return to the holding tank at Koda, I treat them and put them in the holding tank. If the koi came from a warm greenhouse and the temperature difference is too large, I float them prior to releasing them. If the koi come from an outside pond or a pond with a flow-through the temperature will be close and the floating isn’t necessary. This outside flow-through system is ideal for keeping koi in preparation for a long shipment. The incoming fresh water washes away all of the ammonia and waste and keeps the koi cold. Colder water allows for a higher oxygen content in the water. The koi’s metabolism is also much lower and they are less active and produce less ammonia and require less oxygen during shipping. This not only assures a safe arrival, but keeps the recovery period shorter. The long trip is stressful and the koi’s immune system suffers, so we do everything possible to keep their stress to a minimum.

After checking on the koi I went back to Hokosai Koi Farm to take a second look at some koi and to see if any new koi have come in from other mudponds.

Maruten 3yr Sanke — great tategoi with snow white ground, lacquer black sumi (on white ground) and tatigoi hi arranged in a very pleasing show pattern. This is Hosokai’s Number one 3yr old. Ichi ban!

3yr old mix — Ginrin Chagoi, new style Goshiki, and one of those classic "by the numbers" Hosokai Asagi

I’m off to visit the site of tomorrow's Shinkokai Auction in Ojiya. This is the 2^nd annual Shinkokai auction. The Niigata breeders (about 100 strong) put on the Auction to show-off and sell some of their best koi. I purchased 17 koi at last year's event. The auction is open to Shinkokai members only. Anyone can preview and leave a proxy bid with a Shinkokai member, but once the auction starts only members may remain. The best guess is that there will be around 225 koi in the auction. The tanks were set up today so the koi could be previewed prior to the start of the auction at 10 AM tomorrow.