How are fish judged you say?
Fish are allotted points, up to one hundred. The one hundred points are broken up into different classes:
Size:
For the Basic fish: Size 20, Body 20, Colour 20, Fins 20. Condition 10 Deportment 10.
The points for size are awarded more as the fish length is closer to its fully grown size (it easy to get a fish to ¾ it’s the last ¼ that is the hardest).
Body:
The actual body shape of the fish. That the body is the correct shape for that species has clean smooth and flowing lines, that the fish conforms to a standard body for that species. Also free from disease, damage and deformity.
Colour:
Obviously the colour of the fish and that it conforms to the expected colour of that particular species. Colour should be clear and intense.
Finnage:
That all fins are present and in balance with each other and the fish. The shape, size and texture are keeping with the species. No fin malformation (split fins and chunks missing).
Condition and Deportment:
The overall condition of the fish. Whether the fish is under fed and appears to skinny or overfed. As for deportment, it is what the fish is doing in the tank in relation to what its particular species should be doing, eg A guppy should be actively swimming around the tank, not sitting o the bottom looking bored…
When the fish are judged it is always done by Two Judges giving the fish a chance to score up to Two hundred points. Having two Judges also makes the judging less biased and fairer. Usually a really good fish will score between 170 – 189 points.
Also when you are measuring your fish, in shows the length of your fish is measured from the tip of their nose to their Caudal Peduncle (Where the tail fin starts) this is referred to as standard length and not from tip to tail known as Total length.
Well that’s the basics behind how the fish is judged.
Setting up the tank for judging…
If you spend a little time in thinking of how you are going to set up your tank to best show of your fish, it can really help the fish out on judging night.
You should always try to keep the fish happy in the tank, but you have to obviously have a set it up so you don’t have a nice looking tank but a happily hiding fish that no-one can see… A Few small chats to anyone whom has shown a fish previously will soon remedy that problem on how best to set up the layout of the rocks and plant for your fish. Which is one of the Bonuses Fish hobby, the information/advice is given eagerly to help anyone out.
We are all there just to enjoy the hobby and show our fish to the public. The most fun time during the a fish show is of coarse the set-up. There are normally between 2-4 days/evenings to set up in depending on which show it is. Some shows even provide a BBQ during the set-up, for when that hunger strikes whilst you’re busily setting up that tank...
The shows themselves run for between 3-10 days. So much care is always taken in setting up the tanks for the fish, so they are as happy as they can be.
There are little or no stress/problems for the fish being moved around for that short duration for the shows, though I will definitely recommend that you talk another experienced fish Exhibitor before you start showing your fish as this will make it a lot easier and better for the fish wellbeing. This will give you all the ins and outs beforehand rather than after when it’s to late.
There are only Six Fish Shows a year in the South East area of Queensland:
The Pet and Animal Expo, Caboolture show, RNA, Gold Coast Show, Mudgeeraba Show and Beenleigh Show.
So if you would like to find out more about showing fish you can contact you local Aquarium Society. Or call QFAS (Queensland Federation of Aquarium Societies) which is the governing body of all the Fish Clubs. Please visit website for more information: www.qfas.org.
Leave Comment Below