HIGH RANCHU: A WAY TO RAISE RANCHU ● FORESEEING RANCHU CHANGES IN TIME

Choosing and grooming ranchu with balance between head, body and tail is very important and will produce a great fish. Please refer to diagrams in the right column on this page for ranchu body parts explanation.

The Head

Ranchu body has a tendency to develop in width with age. If the head is short it will become disproportionate to the body in tosai age. It is necessary to select the fish with longer head to achieve better balance in the future.

Head-Growth

It is good if tosai ranchu has only Dragon Head and not too much growth on gill plates. By the time they become nisai age (two-year-old) they develop more growth on gill plates, forming a Lion Head and creating a more balance wen. However, if the Dragon Head remains with no growth on gill plates by nisai age, it will not balance well with the rest of the body.

If strong head-growth develops at an early stage, it will become overdeveloped by oya age (two years) and the fish will loose its balance. Generally, the ranchu with modestly developed head-growth will have more balanced look by the second year.

Back Line Profile

Choose ranchu with flatter, longer back similar to Japanese long boxwood comb (pic on the left), instead of rounder, like in Japanese short boxwood comb (pic on the right). The back has a tendency to grow muscles and becomes smooth and more round. It is not a problem if the back is dented but long, it will get fuller with time.

The fish with the round back like in short Japanese comb will become even rounder with age.

Tail Peduncle

If the tail peduncle is too thick in tosai age, it may not balance well with the tail shoulders (ogata). In the future this fish may not swim well and may lose its overall balance. On the other hand, if the tail peduncle is thinner in tosai age, it has a chance to becoming thicker and more balanced with the tail in the future.

Stomach

Again, it is important to keep the overall balance between the head, body and the tail. Belly is supported by the ribs that develop earlier. As belly fat accumulates it may throw the balance off. Overfeeding may cause to unbalanced ranchu.

If there is no round belly during the first year, expect it to appear on the second year.

Tail Plate - Osara

Osara that is surrounded by the outer circle of scales is ideal. If the tail plate didn't developed enough, the tail tension will eventually be loosen up. There is an observation that the white ranchu often doesn’t develop good osara.

In young fish osara is not very noticeable yet, but the preference should be given as much as possible to the fish with most scales on the tail plate. The tail plate should have right and left shoulders, and if developed well is an indication of a strong back.

Tail Core - Ogata (okata)

It is better to have tail core or midrib stiffer during tosai age, as it has a tendency to soften with age. It is also impossible to achieve strong and supportive midrib if the tail core was originally soft.

Even with the perfect tail core by nisai age, you will have to keep the right grooming technique to maintain it that way.

Anal Fins

Defected anal fins will affect swimming and overall development of the tail peduncle. However, even if defected, they will cause less problem if they are symmetrical.

In case that only one anal fin has developed either on the left or right, it will cause the tail peduncle to twist and will cause poor swimming in the future.

In either case of two anal fins or one, it has to be positioned symmetrically and along the center body line for a good swimming performance.

Scales

In the first year, it is possible to see several scales on the back shimmer as the fish swims. It will gradually disappear as the back becomes thicker and the scales get repositioned.

Scale color change from white to red or orange is irreversible. White fish has potential of changing color.

Swimming

With a lot of swimming the fish will develop in width and will have a tendency to swim heavy and wag its head left and right as it swims. If concerned about swimming, pay attention to the fish growing too wide. It is possible to bring it back and achieve lighter swimming pattern with the right grooming and fish density in the pond.

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