Scottish koi club

Hikui and Shimi.

what are they ?

what causes them ?

Genetic or Water Quality ?




I would like your views on this please.

Eck, good question, not sure of the cause or if there is a cure for what you are asking,I have seen Hikui on several koi (not mine thankfully) and although harmless to the koi it is very unsightly indeed being wart like in appearance, I have heard many different remedies for this problem but nothing set in concrete and despite all efforts they seem to survive what ever is thrown at them, Shimis are also a problem and I have seen many a show quality koi spoiled by these very annoying sumi spots, I have been told that fish kept in cooler water will be some what helped with this problem, and of course if not to deep in the skin they are sometimes very easy to remove by gentle scraping of the affected area, this should only be done if you are 100% sure that no harm will be done to the koi as this must always be the first consideration and one rule I adhere to myself, the koi should always come first!!

Regards,
Andy.

Hikui and Shimi

Both these are cause by poor water quality high grade koi in japan do not suffer these because they are not kept in the pools for over a year .

Hi koi master,
Welcome to the forum, on my 2 visits to Japan I have to say I have never seen Hikui on any koi there but Shimis I have, that nearly always puts me off buying a Kohaku I have seen to many destroyed by this, not only Kohakus but sankes as well although they are more difficult to tell on a sanke,shimis can be removed with care if they are not to deep in the shin but it becomes tiresome after a while if they keep coming back!!
Andy.

some say pp'ing the whole pond once a year and giving everything a good clean can stop it.
thanks for the welcome

Mmm interesting, must admit never heard of that as a cure, but who knows, try anything once me, must admit though I am not a great fan of pp myself dangerous stuff if not used correctly! koi don't think to much to it either. never let it get to my filters if I do have to use it,
Andy.

yes it is very dangerous stuff,

you see the only reason they dont get it in japan is the pools are drained and clean while the koi are in the mud ponds they come inside and are not fed .

Hikui is a condition thats caused by burning of the hi .In high grade Go Sanke.....all the greatest breeders will use a technique that enriches the hi especially the mauruten,this will all be done by keratin .all hi is keratin ? .................so basically the richer the hi the more chance of a reaction with strong uv rays ....so its my belief that its the burning of the Hi in very high grade go sanke ...............it doesnt happen in any other variety purely and simply because the focus is on otherthings than richness of hi

Hi there

i think its all down to water quality my self and you will find it mainly occurs in high grade go sanke ,

filters should be cleaned daily during hi feeding months , impurities build up inside filtration systems and along with dead biomass eventualy your pool turns into an un flushed toilet for some to daily clean would be imposible , but there are filters out there that are made for easy daily cleaning

i have seen vids of people using a dremel to remove shimi shocking to be honest but if its a show koi i gues you would do anything , there is no cure for hikui the lumps may go but once the hi has gone it wont come back

nice site

kind regards

Mr Miyagi

the fact that its always high grade go sanke indicates that these pieces are not your average koi ,so in return it also indicates that the owner would of paid a lot more in general ,therefore he /she must be at a level that would obviously understand the importance of water quality ? ........the fact that it called hikui also indicates that this is infact a japanese term so in relationship to that it we can infact acknowlege that the complaint would obviously have been spawned and named there ,now anyone who wishes to contact the major koi dealers throughout niigata and tell them that there water quality was poor please feel free .....................