How to Select Sanke: Taniguchi Select Along, Bowl by Bowl

Ricky Stoddart works through a batch of Taniguchi Sanke bowl by bowl, deciding which fish he keeps to grow on and which he sells now. Viewers can study each bowl first, make their own picks, and then hear exactly why each fish stays or goes. The Sanke come from a special final-selection batch Ricky secured from Taniguchi this year after several difficult seasons. They have been growing in a heavily stocked 1,200-gallon pond holding 60-odd, nearly 70 fish, and are about 17 months old. Ricky explains the background of the line, which carries a lot of Sakai blood but is now very much Taniguchi's own style: delicate rather than heavy, with plenty of shiroji and Tsubo sumi. He also covers why many people find Sanke hard to understand. Because the batch was mixed in size, he sets size and gender aside and judges on quality alone, and he makes this selection a strict one because pond space is limited. In the first bowl he explains the difference between Tsubo sumi and Kasane sumi, and why sumi in this type of bloodline is so hard to predict at this stage. Across the five bowls he assesses structure, beni quality, sashi and kiwa, shoulder sumi (katasumi), tejima and odome. He also points out the small details that decide a fish's commercial value, including colour under a gill plate, curled gill plates, a sashi that pushes beyond a scale, a misaligned face, a dent in the head, clipped pectoral fins, red eyes, sumi on the nose and deep secondary colour. Some of the fish he does not keep for the growing pond go to an outside pond for more time, with show prospects noted along the way. He closes by explaining how these lessons apply to Sakai-influenced Sanke compared with Jinbei-based lines such as Izumiya and Oyakoi Farm, and touches on NND, where both sumi styles can appear. 0:00 Introduction 0:21 The Taniguchi Sanke batch 1:14 Sakai blood and the Taniguchi style 2:32 Why Sanke confuse people 4:06 Size and gender set aside 5:37 Bowl 1: Tsubo and Kasane sumi 7:51 Bowl 1: the keepers 10:03 Bowl 1: the ones that go 15:27 Bowl 2 22:02 Bowl 3 28:32 Bowl 4 33:49 Bowl 5 38:38 How this applies to other bloodlines Discover the all-in-one platform for Japanese koi. Browse live auctions and fixed price listings, manage your shipments, and access exclusive keeping services—all in one place. Whether you're a new collector or an established keeper, our platform makes it simple to find your next addition and manage your collection with ease. https://rickystoddartnishikigoi.com/ Ready to bid? Explore live auctions here: https://rickystoddartnishikigoi.com/a... New to us? Register now and join our community: https://rickystoddartnishikigoi.com/r...