fishdance;1184182; said:
Looks like a fun tour. Did you see any breeding in action? The breeding tanks are only a couple of tonne each so do they hormone induce breeding and hand strip eggs? Looks like they mix all the fry together and mass raise. Do they do this for their expensive lines too?
Hazorea Aquatics spawns throughout the year - a batch every few weeks.
They spawn a number of pairs simultaneously and after a short initial
period they mix everything together. But we did not see any breeding in
action.
It is important to understand that the Israeli method of growing Koi is
quite different to that of the Japanese. The Japanese breeder
concentrates on one or two varieties and excels in these varieties -
achieving a very high level of fish. These are the fish that are usually
entered in competitions. The Japanese exporter will usually represent a
number of breeders - each contributing one or two varieties.
In Israel, Hazorea Aquatics as well as Magnoy concentrate on the mix and
not on the individual varieties. Their market is not the one selling 3
year old Champion Koi and most of what they sell is less than one year
old and between 5 cm (2 in) and 30 cm (12 in).
Another interesting fact and quite the opposite of what many people
think - Israeli and Japanese Koi breeders are not in direct competition
with each other but actually complement each other. People who start by
buying Israeli Koi often graduate to more expensive Japanese Koi and
people who yearn to have Japanese Koi but cannot afford them, buy
Israeli Koi. Japanese Koi exports jumped quite significantly when
Israeli Koi entered the market and the growth of sales of Japanese Koi
has a positive effect on sales of Israeli Koi.
Another difference between Japanese and Israeli Koi is the coloration.
Japanese breeders rely heavily on colour enhancement through special
food, clay etc. while in Israel this constituent is largely disregarded
in the raising of Koi. Japanese Koi are usually sold after they have
completed a special "finishing course" where they are fed special color
enhancing food while their growth is limited. Most grades of regular
Israeli Koi are taken straight out of the growing tanks and shipped
after only the usual pre-shipment starvation. It is for this reason that
many Japanese Koi will loose color or fade without high quality special
food while most Israeli Koi will retain their coloration with regular
food, but will improve considerably with higher quality, color enhancing
food.
