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Re: showing fish
Hi everyone,
I was going to respond to the point system but Brian Watters did an excellent job describing the point system. There also have been a couple of good JAKA articles about judging fish, which I encourage you to look up. I am an AKA judge and passed the qualification test after reading the articles and watching some more experienced judges. Let me relate some of my judging experiences. First, killies are judged as to how close they are to the breed standard. A gold australe may have more color than a Rivulus and more people may say ooh about it. They then get confused when the Rivulus wins. But the Rivulus may have been a better physical specimen. I have judged shows where the difference between first and second is as close as a scarred caudal fin or a torn scale. I cannot stress how important it is to catch your fish gently that you plan to show. Incidentally, I judged a show where everyone was going nuts over a pair of Nothos that were spawning like crazy. But by the time the judges got to it the female was beaten up and mutilated. There may be a total difference in the judges scoring in just a couple of hours. Frequently shows use two judges per class and the second judge may come up with a different score because of personal preferences and the timing factor I just discussed. Have you ever noticed that many of the best exhibitors bring the fish in themselves, in water that the fish is used to and that the fish is scooped or poured and not netted into the show tank. These people have a real advantage over mail-ins.
About 5 years ago we were judging a general show in Indy. We allowed the general public to cast a vote for peoples choice fish. The overwhelming winner with 90% of the vote was some large 5" purple cichlid. The judges had judged the fish last in its class because the fish was a juvenile and was only ½ grown.
I encourage you to ask a local judge to allow you to tag along the next time she/he is judging.
>>> John Wubbolt <BigJohnW at webtv_net> 10/01/99 10:42AM >>>
I was wondering on showing fish. Isn't there five criteria's that a
fish is to be judged on. And certain aspects for actually
disqualifying fish in shows, such as size health and things like that.
I'm not a certified judge but have been asked to judge a few classes at
a couple of shows over the years. At a livebearer show a few years
ago, we actually were able to eliminate entries on the fact that they
weren't adult fish, they had some kind of rule that fish had to be 2/3
adult size to qualify to be judged. Well this leads me to ask what are
the AKA criteria on judging fish. I've seen immature Nothos win over
Adult sized fish. I was told that these younger fish showed better
colors even though they were half sized. Are we judging on colors or
size or mature fish. I always assumed that adult sized fish with good
fins and deportment would win over smaller less mature fish. I even
heard and participated in an arguement about fish that were older versus
younger fish that would make better breeders. That the older fish
because they were past breeding age were not as good a show fish because
they weren't good breeders any more. In my opinion standards need to
be established and followed by all the judges irregardless of particular
tastes. Just my opinions
John