Which koi varieties are said to have spiritual quality? A complete guide for beginners on selecting tategoi

Easier said than done - when it comes to selecting tategoi, this saying truly fits. The act of selecting requires not only years of practice and experience, but also a good eye (discernment). Since everyone's eye differs, opinions on how to select tategoi vary greatly.

For any living creature, a healthy body matters more than anything. Takekoifor example: good swimming posture, vivid colors, and thick mucus covering shiny scales... these are all signs of excellent health - this is a basic principle. Based on this principle, when selecting tategoi, one should choose those with relatively solid bone structure and body shape - that is, choose those with a larger head, thicker tail tube, sufficient body height, and a bow-like shape as tategoi.

Based on breeding experience, koi with an arched-bridge body shape can not only withstand large amounts of food intake, but also will never develop a sagging belly, making them most suitable for rapid growth in a short period. Such koi can be interpreted as "inner fullness will fully manifest in outward appearance." In addition, the most basic skin quality of koi must not be slightly yellowish or murky white - one should choose those with white-magnetic-like white skin quality, which is the best.

When selecting tategoi, one can directly sense which koi has the style of potentially becoming a giant koi, or sense which koi has the appearance of potentially becoming a giant koi - such technique requires years of fish-watching experience to cultivate one's eye and continuous breeding experience to possibly reach this level.

After gaining a considerable understanding of the importance of skin quality, bone structure, and body shape, the next point to explain - which is also very important in selecting tategoi - is lineage. Regarding lineage, since the characteristics of parent koi affect the next generation, whether it comes from excellent fish and whether it has been recognized must all be taken into consideration. Since parent koi genetics account for a very high proportion of success factors, please keep this condition firmly in mind when selecting tategoi. For ordinary hobbyists, this should be one of the most reassuring selection criteria.

It is extremely difficult to directly determine what a fish will look like in the future - even for a person with a very good eye, it is difficult. What kind of person can be called having a good eye? It should be someone who can thoroughly see the current qualities of each fish and whose success rate in predicting future potential is much, much higher than ordinary people. Here is an analogy: Mr. A bought 10 fish as tategoi, and only one succeeded. Mr. B bought 3 fish as tategoi, and one of them succeeded. This cannot be simply explained by saying Mr. B was luckier - it would be more appropriate to say Mr. B has an eye beyond ordinary people. By this reasoning, hobbyists are urged to treasure their relationships with dealers who have a good eye.

Apart from the most remarkable improvement in body quality, the beautiful patterns like brocade paintings that were once seen only in young koi can now also be seen on giant koi - truly admirable.