A WAY TO RAISE RANCHU ● CULLING

The Purpose of Culling

It is absolutely necessary to perform selection and culling to keep up and improve upon ranchu quality. In one spawn, ranchu can produce a lot of fish with undesirable characteristics. Strict selection of the fish with true ranchu qualities will assure that ranchu breed stays alive and continues its high quality traits.

During Ranchu Culling

Choose shady and well ventilated place during culling process. Sudden water temperature change will kill the fry. It is outmost important to keep the temperature as even as possible during selection and transfers of the fry from one container to another.

Choose large enough container size for culling and do not overstock. Overstocking and too small container will result in lack of oxygen. Also, water temperature in small container tends to fluctuate more freely in response to the air temperature.

To prevent water temperature change and lack of oxygen, floating box with netted bottom can be used to house the fry. The box floats in the pond, keeping the water parameters stable.

Culling Mistakes 

Often, a novice tends to keep most of the fish and performs selection and culling much later then required. The culling rounds must be performed on schedule. Overstocking may result in underdeveloped and lower quality fish.

During the early fry stages it is easier to identify many defects and major imperfections. That's why first culling round is performed drastically. The following rounds require more mastery and training, as one searches for the fish with superior qualities.

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Links to published chapters:

● INTRODUCTION
● WATER
● NOTES ON GREEN WATER & WATER CHANGE
● WATER TEMPERATURE
● AERATION
● SUNLIGHT AND SHADE
● CONTAINERS FOR RAISING RANCHU
● FOOD
● FEEDING REGIMENT
● BREEDING & SPAWNING
● RAISING & GROOMING FRY
● GROOMING KUROKO AND TOSAI
● CULLING
● SELECTION METHODS
● CULLING ROUND - I
● CULLING ROUND - II
● CULLING ROUND - III
● CULLING ROUND - IV
● CULLING ROUND - V
● FORSEEING RANCHU CHANGES IN THE FUTURE

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A WAY TO RAISE RANCHU ● BREEDING AND SPAWNING

Choosing a Breeder Ranchu

There is on old Japanese saying in ranchu circles “Chose male ranchu for its good tale and female ranchu for its thick body and head”. Another old saying is “Choose ranchu with a good tail from the right environment”. 

A good tail of a first-class ranchu doesn’t only come from its genetic heritage. The environment, where the ranchu was raised will effect the tail quality and strength. The key is to combine a good genetic foundation with the right environment.

Grooming ranchu in the right environment will help to develop a great quality fish. It is not necessary to breed a show champion ranchu to get first-class offsprings. Raising fry with a perfect tail in a poor environment will not yield good results either.

A good tail is considered when the line in the center of the tail or tail core, or midrib (o-shin) is straight and extends outward firmly. Also, tail shoulders (o-gata) should be at 160-180° and not too stiff, but also not too soft. Please refer to "Defining What Is What" to identify ranchu body parts.

Mistakes Made In Selecting Seed Ranchu 

Tail shape is often overlooked and the preference is given to the head shape and overall looks while selecting a breeder fish.

The head shape and proportion to the rest of the body is important, but if you really want to breed a first-class ranchu, great attention must be given to choosing a good tail. That is where true art of ranchu breeding is.

_________________________________________________________________________________

Links to published chapters:

● INTRODUCTION
● WATER
● NOTES ON GREEN WATER & WATER CHANGE
● WATER TEMPERATURE
● AERATION
● SUNLIGHT AND SHADE
● CONTAINERS FOR RAISING RANCHU
● FOOD
● FEEDING REGIMENT
● BREEDING & SPAWNING
● RAISING & GROOMING FRY
● GROOMING KUROKO AND TOSAI
● CULLING
● SELECTION METHODS
● CULLING ROUND - I
● CULLING ROUND - II
● CULLING ROUND - III
● CULLING ROUND - IV
● CULLING ROUND - V
● FORSEEING RANCHU CHANGES IN THE FUTURE

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MY PLAN VS. THEIR PLAN

Unlike the plan I had, my ranchu had one of their own. As the temperatures warmed up in March, I was expecting the spawning to begin, but it didn't and it is still hasn't happened.

The problem is with the females. Some of my ranchu females appeared to be too young and some wouldn't release their eggs. In order for the spawning to begin, the female must be ready and send out pheromones to "activate" the males to start chasing her. The female that I was hoping to breed isn't cooperating at all this year. My male ranchu, on the other hand, are ready and full of milt, when I checked them. They are waiting for a signal that is yet to come.

As much as I was looking forward to raising a spawn this year, I might have to wait till next spring. This is the down side of having a small set up and fewer fish. But, I still get where I want to go with my ranchu breeding, it's just going to take a bit longer.  

The summer has just begun, I wouldn't count out late spawning. Hopeful? Everything is possible!

VISIT TO TG RANCHU IN BANGKOK, THAILAND - PART II

PART II

Aor is a top view ranchu line-breeder. He uses the same method for creating and maintaining ranchu bloodline, as it is done in Japan. Line-breeding is when animals are selectively bread for desired features by mating closely related individuals. Over time this creates a bloodline with breeder's desired characteristics. This method requires great dedication and skill. Bloodlines can be line-bred for decades to continually improve and develop characteristics that sets them apart. On occasion, line-breeders will introduce ranchu from a different, but often related bloodline to boost vigor and to minimize the negative effects of inbreeding. 

Over six years that Aor has been involved with ranchu, he has achieved a tremendous success and respect among ranchu keepers and breeders in Thailand, as well as Japan, Singapore, Taiwan and here in the USA. 

We were visiting Aor after his big sale, when most of his 2 month old CBR were already sold and waited to be picked up or shipped. 

BBR are growing fast. All are almost perfect at this stage!

Some of the Aor's CBR for sale

A couple of tubs were housing Aor's potential seed ranchu, selected from this year's spawn. They are CBR of 2.5 month of age. Please observe beautiful proportions of these promising, but still very young ranchu.

One of the future seed CBR. Great swimmer too!

Aor's future seed CBR

Given Bangkok's hot tropical climate, with an average year round day temperatures lingering over 91 F (33 C) and night temperatures often above 74 F (23 C), ranchu develop very fast. They reach their sexual maturity quick, with their life span extending three to four years. 

Based on Aor's answers below, he goes on average through 45,000 fish each year to continue working on his bloodline. This requires very hard work, thus Aor's family is involved in this venture as much as he is. Being able to process and cull through such quantity of ranchu is only a part of success. The masterful grooming complets the cycle. Even a perfect BBR can be ruined by improper  techniques. Swim too much and the tail is gone, eat not enough and the ranchu goes undeveloped, etc. And the most challenging part of all is that you must improvise based on what you have. It is never set in stone, all techniques serve only as guidelines.

Aor employs breeding and grooming techniques suitable for his location. Here are some Q&A with Aor regarding his breeding methods and ranchu quality:

Q: How many spawns do you collect per year?
A: Three times a year, each time 4-5 batches.

Q: How often do you cull?
A: Every time I do water change.

Q: What is an outcome from one of your average spawns? How many final keepers do you end up with on average?
A: Approximately 10 fishes from one batch of 2000-3000 fishes.

Q: Do you hand spawn?
A: Yes, only hand spawn. Usually one female with one male.

Q: How often do you introduce seed ranchu from other breeders to continue working on your line?
A: Not often, only to prevent inbreed, because I use line breeding system.

Q: What is the main characteristic(s) of your line of ranchu that sets them apart?

A: When I cull, I focus on the balance of my fishes.

Q: What are the main qualities that you try to preserve or develop in your future ranchu?
A: I intend to develop tail structure to be stronger, because temperature in Thailand makes them more active and swim a lot.

Q: How many times have you won ranchu competitions and in what categories?
A: I won many times various categories from every club in Thailand. Two consecutive years, 2012 and 2013, best in show at the Siam Ranchu Club, and #1 ranking in Thailand for 2012 - are my remarkable prizes that I am proudly presented with.

Q: What suggestion(s) will you give to a beginner ranchu keeper?
A: You need to understand basic needs of ranchu such as container, water, food and air.

Q: Do you have the ability to sell/ship your ranchu internationally?
A: Yes, I can ship my ranchu almost everywhere. Although, please check custom procedures for your country.

Here are some of Aor's older ranchu. At the time of our visit he had no oya left. I was happy to hear that his 8 inch (19-20 cm) oya! were sold to a ranchu connoisseur.

I will always remember this visit to Aor. What a guy, what a fish, what a visit!

VISION OF A PERFECT RANCHU

As I learn about ranchu standards and grooming techniques, I train my eye to recognize qualities of a good ranchu. In Japan, each ranchu master works on its own line (bloodline) that will ultimately reflect the master's vision for a "perfect" ranchu. Through a scrupulous process of selection, the breeder seeks fish that carries one or several desired qualities. By carefully selecting parent fish with such qualities and breeding them, followed by many years of selection, the goal can be reached. It truly is a "living sculpture".

A preference for my own "perfect" ranchu is now more clear. My vision is shaped by studying the many looks of ranchu and recognizing what is most pleasing to my eye. These are as follows (looking at the ranchu from above):

• long rectangular body outline
• rectangular head outline with funtan slightly protruding on the right and left of the head (I call it a hammer shark look)
• not much headgrowth development on top of the head
• thick tail peduncle and bracelet
• triangle shaped tail with supportive shoulders, that are only gently curved, with side lobe tips curved slightly more
• when swimming the tail must take a rounder shape and return to its original shape when fish isn't moving
• small uniform scales
• bright reds

Early bloomers might not look as good at an older age, with their headgrowth overdeveloped, ruining the overall balance. Vise versa, those not fully developed tosai can turn into a beautiful fish when older.

All of the above must be in balance. Proportions between head, body and tail are very important and rely on personal perception. I am very interested in creating a ranchu that blossoms slowly, reaching its desired shape by the end of nisai and maintaining that look through its oya years. This, in my opinion helps to raise a healthier fish, that can live longer. In most cases, ranchu that are judged at the All Japan Ranchu Show, are groomed for a specific age category - tosai, nisai or oya. In all of the competition's history, it is very rare that a single ranchu is able to win the grand prize in all three categories tosai, nisai and oya in three consecutive years.

Ultimately, my "perfect" ranchu must be a great swimmer, projecting calm, power, strength and balance.

Through digital manipulation, I have created an oya ranchu of the shape and proportions I desire. To make this composite, I took various parts from several of my ranchu and exaggerated the parts that I still need to work on. Hope one day, I can match my drawing board fantasy with an actual ranchu in my pond. The vision in the making.

THOUGHTS ON NOT SO PERFECT PARENTS AND JOURNEY WITH NO DEAD END

Now I can look back and reflect on my first breeding experience with TVR. After my nisai, Matsuyama x (Matsuyama x Oishi) bloodline, have neared their sexual maturity, I realized that I had four females and only one male. I also realized that I didn't have good enough quality fish to breed. Each of the five individuals had one or a combination of major faults manifested in asymmetrical tail position, small head frame, poor back and tail peduncle curve, weak tail shoulders among other defects ...

After receiving two additional nisai males, Suzuki x Kageyama bloodline, with some flaws as well (asymmetrical anal fins and tail position), I was left with not so perfect parents. The desire of having that "perfect" ranchu had prompted me to develop my own line, by adding and improving characteristics that I find attractive in Japanese top view ranchu. However, I had to start working with what I had and through selection to achieve my goals.

Selection started with the parents. I had my eye on the best female to be "paired" with my two best males. But even that wasn't completely under my control. The female that possessed the best qualities wasn't breeding. Instead, the two Suzuki x Kageaya males chased and bred with the Matsuyama x (Matsuyama x Oishi) female with the poorest qualities.

Breeding female with poor back and tail peduncle curve, thin tail peduncle,
weak tail and narrow head with late head-growth development

Breeding male #1 with asymmetrical anal fins

Breeding male #2 with asymmetrical anal fins and asymmetrical placed tail

The resulting offspring are hybrids, F1 generation, and as a hybrid they display a vigor and physical superiority compared to their parents. Not all, of course, from the nearly 700 hatched. Only 20-30 BBR had acceptable features, which is more or less to be expected. Limited by space, I kept only six of these ranchu for myself. Collectively, these six had features that I was looking for - wide and more rectangular heads, broader backs and thicker tail peduncles, longer bodies, stronger tail shoulders, symmetrical fins and tail placement. Next spring I intend to breed between the best out of the six siblings and see if I get any further improvements.

I learned so much more about the selection process, which is of utmost importance in creating a bloodline. I also learned that even not so perfect parents will give enough offspring variety to be able to select a good quality fry to work with and improve upon. It is a long process and it takes years to see the results. It can be rewarding and equally disappointing. The chance of achieving that perfect ranchu is slim, but the road leading there is full of wonderful experiences and can be traveled as long as one desires. One thing I am certain of is that there is no dead end in this journey.

SPAWNED AGAIN

Started last night and continuing this morning another spawn is taking place. Sixteen days past since the first spawn. This time ranchu are spawning in my new media - artificial "hairgrass" plants (see my previous post "Thoughts On Mops"). I have attached weights to each rosette and arranged them in a group on the bottom of the pond.

What I like about this substrate so far is that the eggs are spaced evenly, which is very important for their development. The plant's leaves are spread out in all directions exposing eggs to a good water circulation and supply of oxygen. This "mops" will be very easy to remove after the eggs hatch without sacrificing any fry. Lastly this medium doesn't seems to be catching any derbies. The ranchu seems to like my spawning "forest" too.

Ranchu eggs attached to an artificial plant

THOUGHTS ON MOPS

For my first spawn I used widely suggested acrylic yarn mops as a spawning media (see my earlier post "The Eggs"). Acrylic yarn is cheap and the mops are easy to make. They do catch a lot of eggs. However, besides these pros, I found some cons. Being in the water, the yarn gets entangled and the ranchu were getting caught in it. Second, after the eggs hatched, the larvae still was hiding inside the yarn mops. It makes it very hard to remove the mops without loosing some ranchu larvae. Gently shaking the larvae from the mops didn't help completely. Lastly, I found that removing stuck in the yarn dead eggs and other debris is not easy and it is a hassle to keep the mops clean and ready for the next spawn.

I quickly started to look for an alternative. Another often used DIY spawning media are plastic Poly Shakers and Green Pom-Poms, being a more expensive alternative to yarn. Still, I kept searching and exploring other possibilities.

Again, I though about artificial aquarium plants. Previously purchased plants were not quite suitable for spawning, being stiffer than I though and having many leaves, that would be hard to clean. I needed something very durable for multiple use, something easily cleanable, and something very soft and not abrasive to the fish. That something appeared to be "Hairgrass" from Aquatic-Flora, manufactured by Deep Blue Professional. It answered all my requirements. These artificial plants are made of soft and firm, non-toxic silicone-like plastic. Having a slightly higher cost than Poly Shakers, I hope it will pay back on a long run. And it looks very natural indeed.

I bought six "Hairgrass" plants 9 inch (23 cm) long (they also come in 6, 11 and 18 inch length). After dismantling them, I ended up with 12 individual rosettes. Using glass bead with a string through, I inserted the bead inside the rosette and threaded the string out through the rosette. I can bundle these mops in any way I need and with weights attached to them, they can be placed on the bottom of the pond or be suspended from the surface.

As I run this media through a spawn or two, I will post an update.

"Hairgrass" turned spawning media

Glass bead inserted inside the rosette 

THE FOURTH DAY OF MIRACLE

These first stages are very important and equally fascinating. The hatching has begun. The newly hatched ranchu larva is only 4-4.5 mm in length and is not able to swim freely. It latches to any surface and moves only occasionally, by making short bursts. Organs are developing. At this stage the larva feeds off of its own yolk sac. But in a day or so, the yolk supply will deplete, as the larvae will start swimming, actively looking for food. That is when I will supply baby brine shrimp daily.

Newly hatched ranchu larvae

Ranchu larva with prominent yolk sac

A lot more eggs are hetching

I found this interesting and very descriptive article on "The Embryo and Larval Development of The Goldfish (Carassius Auratus L.) From Lake Erie". Click on the article to read.

Illustration from the article

THE THIRD DAY OF MIRACLE

Truly amazing time to be witnessing once life passing through the stages on the way to its set ultimate design. Especially exciting are randomly seen early stages of this journey. The ranchu embryos are already starting to move inside the egg shell. Three day ago there were just female and male single cells!!!

Two eggs on their 3rd incubation day. Fish embryos are clearly visible.

THE FISH HAVE SPAWNED

The stars were alined right: the full moon, the fresh water, the rain and barometric pressure drop. It is a very first spawn for my young ranchus and it is a first spawn for me. Although, I do not expect the greatest results this time, the practice is what I am looking for, considering that eggs got fertilized. If not, there is always the next full moon or the next 10-15 days, when they are ready again.

What is exciting, is watching their breeding behavior and hoping that one day I will raise my own "perfect" ranchu. A lot more spawns ahead!

The spawning mops are made from acrylic yarn. I decided to use them instead of artificial plants. Although, artificial plants could have worked as well.

THE CHASE IS OFF

After a few days of chasing, the two new males have stopped in their pursuit and are just enjoying being a part of the school. No spawning has happened ...YET!

THE CHASE IS ON

My new arrivals appear to be both males, with defined tubercles on the front edge of their pectoral fins.

This time, I didn't follow the full quarantine procedure and only kept my two newcomers separate in a holding tank for a few days to acclimate. Trusting Jeff's (Ranchu Notes) good professional ethics and disclosed "medical history", I made a risky decision to introduce them into my main pond without the wait, but not without the risk, which I chose to take. Obviously, I would not recommend the reader doing so, especially if the fish come from unfamiliar or untrusted sources.

The two boys didn't waste any time after joining the rest and started to chase the girls. I got some artificial aquarium plants for them to spawn on. Being much smaller than the rest of my ranchu and not even a year old, it is hard to believe that they have what it takes. However, they won't give up chasing and I am eager to see what will come out of it.