Chagoi

Chagoi are probably the least respected of the Koi varieties but one of the most loved. Chagoi means 'brown Koi' in Japanese and they are, well, brown Koi! The colours of Chagoi vary from a chocolate Chagoi which is a deep rich brown to olive green brown Koi like Piggie Wiggie Wilhelmina pictured below as a three year old in 2007.

With Chagoi being uni-colour in nature the pattern appreciation and colour appreciation criteria fall away. Chagoi can only be appreciated on the consistency of their colouration - with a blemish free skin and no imperfections.

Of course body shape plays a massive role in Chagoi. Because Chagoi are the closest variety to the original genetics of the wild carp, they also tend to be amongst the biggest of all Koi varieties. Chagoi often win Jumbo Grand Champion at Koi shows owing to their monstrous size and imposing body shape. You see Wicked Willie above as an early three year old Koi where she clocked in at around 64cm. This size is not massive in terms of what Koi can achieve at this age but what is important is the totally dominating body shape that she has.

Of course a completely clean head, perfect scalation with attractive robing on each scale adds to the appeal of this particular fish.

Chagoi are also known to be the most tame of Koi, often being the first to learn to hand feed. This is also probably because they often also have the largest appetites!

Chagoi also tend to have a calming influence on a collection of Koi. Their generally enormous presence seems to keep all the other Koi in a peaceful state of mind and a large Chagoi of good quality has to be a unique part of all Koi collections. They really are special Koi despite their more humble background.

 

Soragoi

Soragoi fall into the Chagoi and Ochiba family when it comes to the many varieties of Koi. One of the oldest in Koi keeping Soragoi share the traits of developing enormous body size and girth.

Soragoi are a light to dark grey in colour. Ginrin variants are common and sometimes an Ochiba can turn into a Soragoi by simply losing its 'leaves' in the same way that a Sanke can become a Bekko by losing all it's red, or even a Showa that becomes a Shiro Utsuri in the same way. Often this isn't what we were aiming for as hobbyists but every now and then a stunning fish can emerge as the finished art work.

Soragoi also have the same peaceable, affable nature of Chagoi. As with Chagoi a light netting pattern on the scales can often be seen and is much appreciated as it adds tremendously to the aesthetic value of the Koi.