FOUR-YEARS-OLD OYA

As the year just turned, a group of my OYA ranchu are nearing four-years-old of age. It is an exciting time for me, to observe these fish since they have hatched in April of 2014. This group have not lost their beauty, their scales are tight, their colors are vibrant, their body and tail shape is holding well; the swim is graceful.

Please enjoy this video of my ranchu as I see them today.

TRANQUIL SOUND OF WATER

I have two old bamboo clumps on the property, each with 50-60 ft (15-18 m) tall stalks. An endless bamboo supply for all the things I would like to make. One of them - kakei or bamboo spout. A great feature that I recently added to my ranchu pond.

A small pump supplies water to the kakei. Not just visual, it makes a beautiful sound and in addition, aids in water circulation. It makes the ranchu pond complete.

Amidst the daily chores, I need to find more time to succumb to the tranquility of the setting and contemplate the motion of ranchu!

UPDATE

It has been a while since I posted a video of my ranchu. Here is one I made yesterday during the water change. All are nisai age, all happy and growing, but ...

As sad as, I gave up on having any spawns this year. Instead, I will be concentrating on grooming and conditioning my "lazy" ranchu for the next year. I will be working on their feeding schedule and diet and keeping their water in the top shape condition.

For now my fishing net remains dry and my baby ranchu food is sealed and stored in refrigerator. Once more, I have the proof of how unpredictable and uneasy raising ranchu can be.

QUIET BEFORE THE STORM

Hopefully we had the last snow storm and the spring will now prevail. This year's winter in DC was cold and the water temperature in my indoor pond lingered between 58-62 F (14-17C). The ranchu were slower and were fed only once a day with Azayaka Balance Pellets, free ranging the rest of the time on algae.

It's warming up now and I have increased the feedings to two times a day, with Azayaka Growth Pellets and frozen bloodworms. Occasional Wollfia is added as a supplement. Again there are plenty of algae to eat for the ranchu between the meals, which they graze off of the walls and bottom of the tank. It is noticeable how much more active the ranchu became, especially on sunny days, when the sunlight hits the tank.

There is no display of spawning beheiviour yet. But with a steady warming and longer sunny days it is a matter of time. First spring thunder storm and a water change will assure spawning motion at once.

Looking back after a long break, it seems that I have forgotten how much work it was to raise the fry, BBR and CBR. Despite that, I feel excited about going through this again, but this time with more knowledge and more purpose.

I had enough time to think about my breeding goals and the seed ranchu, creating a plan of action. My choice of ranchu have widened and I have determined a combination I would like to try in producing even better quality ranchu this year. The time will tell soon enough. Patiently awaiting the storm ...

High Ranchu video in slow motion

IT IS BETTER TO TRAVEL WELL, THAN TO ARRIVE

Today is exactly one year since starting "High Ranchu" blog. First and most of all, I would like to thank all of you readers for following. Thank you for your kind words, encouragement and questions that I have received. Today, the blog is approaching 28.000 page views, thanks to all of you! I hope to continue to write and illustrate my journey with ranchu, keeping the blog fresh, educational, fun and visual.

Although, I have been interested in ranchu for a long time, I only started to seriously pursue this endeavor since October, 2013, when I purchased my group of fish. As you can tell, it has been an exciting year for me, packed with activity. I made mistakes and corrected them, I have adopted others' great ideas and came up with my own solutions. I learned a great deal to only realize how much there is still to learn.

Original artwork by A.Vasiljev © 2014

                       

Thus ranchu became my teachers and not just for ranchu keeping sake, but in a broader sense. Patience is what may have been the most important lesson that I learned from them; and am still learning. It is a great quality that I often lack. Not only rearing ranchu requires patience, the ranchu themselves are unhurried and measured animals, with a demeanor that will unavoidably effect the keeper. In my instance, they offered me calm, thoughtfulness and the need to be patient.

Another important lesson I learned is to focus on appreciating anything positive, instead of focusing on the negative. I could have easily accepted that there is no perfect ranchu, and be automatically dragged into finding what's "wrong" to be never satisfied with ranchu appearance, looking for that "greener grass on the other side" instead of enjoying them and myself. That however, shouldn't take away the urge for improvement. Traditional ranchu keeping is founded on this principle. While enjoying ranchu looks, we have to constantly work on improving our grooming techniques. Apart from genetics, it is all about grooming that shapes the ranchu the way we desire and maintains them the way we want. This process echoes with a quote from Buddha's teachings: "It is better to travel well than to arrive". With this in mind ranchu keeping can become very rewarding. Each fish will "blossom" at its own time, some when they are tosai or nisai, and some when oya. Once ranchu reached its peak, it becomes even more chalenging to maintain.

Being considered a "living sculpture", ranchu keeping is very similar to bonsai in terms of required determination and discipline. To keep ranchu as ranchu and bonsai as bonsai, constant training and improvement is needed. It also requires improvisation and ability to recognize and uncover the subject's potentials.

Cotyledon tomentosa ("Bear's Paws") as a year old bonsai, trained by A.Vasiljev

Suiseki, by A.Vasiljev 

My tosai are now seven months old. They have presented me with a chance to observe how a fish egg turns into a beautiful ranchu. But figuratively speaking, my train has only begun to move and my final destination has not yet been announced. I am settling in for "traveling well".

SLOWER THAN SLOW

May be because ranchu are slow swimmers, it is so calming to watch them. While very active during feedings, the rest of the time, ranchu will roam the pond with no rush looking for nibbles or just swim leisurely back and forth. Here is the video of my ranchu swimming in slow motion. With this filming technique every move is accentuated and fun to watch. Enjoy my tosai and nisai swim slower than slow.

THE RULES OF JUDGING

One of the main successes with ranchu, as a breeder, lies in training yourself to be able to identify and recognize merits of this fine goldfish variety. This very ability of the breeder ensures that ranchu standards will be preserved and further improved. Being under scrutiny for over one hundred years, ranchu were "molded" to fit into strict standards set by high Japanese aesthetics. Therefor, Japan Ranchu Association (JRA) has established a series of rules, by which the ranchu to be judged. These rules are vague and has to be interpreted by a group of most experienced judges on the show.

I found these rules posted by Hugoboss on Arofanatics website in 2008. According to the post these are the rules of Japan Ranchu Association that have been translated to English. With further improvement in translation, I am re-posting these rules here. For identifying ranchu body part click on "Defining What Is What".

One of the quality ranchu in Japan

THE RULES

ARTICLE 1 - Particular Matters of Concern

1. Overall fish shape and balance
Overall shape is defined by the characteristics of the head, torso and tail and their balance with each other and as a whole.

2. Fish to be thick and sturdy
Thicker and sturdier fish in proportion to its size to be graded as superior.

3. Scaling and color
Scales that are neatly lined and small in proportion to the body of the fish to be graded as superior. Fish with deep red or gold colours and high luster to be graded as superior, regardless of being aka (red), sarasa (mottled) or shiro (white).

4. The fish movement must be as graceful as possible

5. Fish maintaining noble grace to be regarded as superior

6. Swimming
Swimming fish must be elegant, with light wagging of tail resulting in fluid movement.

ARTICLE 2 - The way to view fish body parts

1. Head

To have wide mehaba (spacing between the eyes) and wide mesaki (distance between the eyes and the mouth). Part of the head past the mouth, which is adequately wider and longer to be graded as superior (with variety of Tokane, Kamicho, Ryuutou etc.).

2. Back

To have a broad back with a gentle curve and adequate roundness.

3. Stomach

To be well-positioned compared to the back and spaced adequately from the tail.

4. Tail Peduncle 

To chose the fish with more rounded and robust tail peduncle in proportion to the back width. There must be apparent roundness at the point where the tail joints the back.

5. Tail

Tail must be beautiful with bilateral symmetry of its tail lobes and with adequate ozara (under tail plate). This equally applies to yotsuo, sakurao, mitsuo tail types. The tail must neither exceed approximately 90 degrees angle in relation to the tail peduncle, nor rise above the back.

6. Fins

All fins must be uniform in movement and size. Fish to be judged equally regardless whether they have double or a single anal fin.

ARTICLE 3 - Size of fish must not be taken into consideration for judging

ARTICLE 4 - Fish must be judged according to their quality on that particular day

Supplementary provisions. Names of color patterns are designated as follows.

1. Red section - Kiniro, Niiro, Shoujou
2. White section - Shiro, Giniro
3. Sarasa section - Taseki Sarasa, Tashiro Sarasa, Koshijiro, Seaka, Shirohara
4. Head pattern - Omoyaburi, Omoshiro, Omosarasa, Tanchou, Ryoudo, Kuchibeni, Mado, Ougashira

ARTICLE 5 - Fish to be disqualified if the respective defects are excessive

1. No judging of fish with dorsal fin, double tail or other deformities.

2.  Uneven or broken back curve or tail peduncle.

3. Pinched, closed, irregular, curled or stripped tail.

4. Extrusion of anal fin(s); head tilted upwards; head tilted downward; tail with one-sided tilt; covered, protruding or indented eyes.

5. Sick fish

ARTICLE 6
Obese or juvenile fish that lacks of grace and poise shall be disqualified

ARTICLE 7
Prizes will be revoked in case of falsifying the age of exhibited fish


Here are some videos of the champion ranchu in each age group (tosai, nisai and oya) taken by Mr.Boss (Boss Ranchu Nursery, Thailand) during All Japan Ranchu Show, 2013. 

TOSAI

NISAI

OYA

THE MOVEMENT

The complexity of a ranchu manifests on so many levels. Through my first breeding experience, just this past April, I started to learn and train my eye for the shape and form of the ranchu. That's when I actually understood the meaning of an old Japanese saying "You get the tail, you lose the head. You get the head you lose the tail". As I have mentioned in my posts before, it is very hard to get all components of a perfect ranchu in one fish. As difficult as it sounds, it is only a part of the whole "perfect ranchu" story. Ultimately, the most important quality of a "perfect ranchu" is its ability to swim gracefully and nobly. Once you see the fish swimming with no effort, gliding through the water with fluent movement, you will soon forget all its little imperfections that might have bothered you before. There is nothing more beautiful than contemplating an awe-inspiring ranchu in its swim. After all the hard work of selecting and raising that goes into a single ranchu, the noble swim is a gift.

Here is the videos of five of my 4 months old tosai. I can already see that some are nice swimmers. As they get stronger and mature, their swimming style will improve or change. One can not know exactly at what stage a particular ranchu reaches its prime. Through patience, one observes and discovers it for their selves.

(BLOODWORMS + GREEN ALGAE) X BBR = GOOD HEAD

During the ranchu's early development, active feeding with a variety of foods is essential. Among the many, two foods are of most importance: fresh or frozen bloodworms and green algae. That is what directly effects the overall head growth, including funtan. While frozen bloodworms are readily available at the pet stores, green algae needs to be "cultivated" on the tank's walls and floor. Sufficient light and fish waste will do the trick. Soon enough, every surface in the tank will start getting covered with one of the best food supplements for ranchu - an assortment of algae.

But the job of "building" impressive head growth doesn't end after the ranchu pass through their BBR stage. As I have mentioned in my earlier posts, the head growth continues to develop throughout the ranchu life and can get rather big. It is necessary to foresee what the baby ranchu will look like when they are older by evaluating their head growth and feeding it bloodworms accordingly. For some, the head growth development needs to be slowed down and for some accelerated, by changing the feeding pattern.

Below is an example of one of my female ranchu with lack of proper head growth at three months. Despite her smaller and narrower head shape it was still possible to increase the head growth quite considerably by eleven months. Feeding her bloodworms and high protein pellets did the job. More work is needed. I hope by the oya age she will have a nice and balanced head.

Female at three months old.

The same female at eleven months old.

In the case of my eleven months old ranchu male below,  I might not want to stimulate his head growth from now on, as I would rather see it develop slower and not become unbalanced with his body in his oya age. We will see what happens in a year, but for now that is what I am hoping for.

Eleven months old male.

51 DAYS OLD BBR

Reached 1.5 to 1.7 inches at fifty one days, BBR are growing fast and now are entering their color change stage. Each day, I notice more and more lighter or yellowing spots and streaks on their bodies.  Feeding is five times a day consisting of frozen bloodworms, frozen brine shrimp, Wolffia, BSD Freshwater Slow Sinking Pellets and Saki Hikari "Red" Pellets.

TWO WEEKS OLD RANCHU FRY

Two weeks old today since hatching. The tails are almost fully open and some are looking fairly nice. First big cull will need to happen this or next week.

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

THE TENTH DAY

Ranchu are eating, swimming, growing. Their little ranchu tails are starting to shape.

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 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.

CAUGHT ON VIDEO

With water temperatures now above 64 F (18 C) I feed my ranchu more with pellets (Ranchu Lord and Saki-Hikari Purple) and once a day bloodworms. Also, I can finally give them Saki-Hikari Red for "extreme" color enhancement. Color enhancing food combined with more sunlight that they are now receiving, has already produced brighter colors. I am also noticing more head growth development and on some fish funtan (cheek protrusions extending forward on both sides of the mouth) becoming more pronounced. As far as their bodies, I am seeing that backs and peduncles are becoming wider and more muscular. Their body remains desired elongated shape, primarily due to their bloodline (read my post on bloodline), but also positively effected by grooming in 10 inch deep water. Overall, I am happy to see that the ranchus are making a good progress.

My nisai ranchu videoed today. 

"KINGYO KINGDOM"

An interesting documentary project "Kingyo Kingdom" is completed by creative couple Revital Cohen and Tuur Van Balen, known as Cohen Van Balen.

KINGYO means goldfish in Japanese and the project is focused on ranchu - a king of goldfish. Ranchu is considered a live animal art form and can be compared to a bonsai, a live plant art form. It belongs to a part of Japanese culture that is centered around manipulation of nature. Ranchu are bred and selected to strictly adhere to ideals created for this type of fish.

Click here for a preview of the "Kingyo Kingdom" documentary