A WAY TO RAISE RANCHU ● WATER

Tap Water

Tap or municipal water has pretty stable quality and good amount of oxygen. However, it needs to be treated for chlorine and/or chloramine. If left untreated, it is deadly for the fish. Please read here about the water conditioners. Depending on the region, tap water can be too soft and needs to be buffered and pH adjusted.

Well Water

In general, well water is not suitable for ranchu as it pumped out straight from the ground. It is often depleted of oxygen and can be too hard. A lab test can be performed to determine water composition. As a benefit, however, well water contains minerals and calcium that aids in skeletal development. It was observed that tail tension develops well in hard water, but it will slow down general growth of the fish, as compared with softer water. 

If using well water, for the best results, it can be mixed with tap water and aerated for at least overnight. In some set ups, water that is pumped out of the ground goes through the aerator tank. In this case it contains some oxygen and can be used for ranchu right away, considering that there are airstones in the ranchu pond. Read more here.

River or Lake Water

This water is not recommended for keeping ranchu. It may contain pathogens and parasites that can harm ranchu.

Green Algae Growth On The Surfaces Of The Pond

Green algae is a great food source for foraging ranchu. It is also where plankton lives. When green algae cover walls and bottom of the pond, they create a darker background to which fish reacts by developing a darker and richer color as a camouflage. It is believed that green algae growth is almost equally effective as use of green water. Benefits of green algae growth:

• a place where plankton develops 
• as a food rich in protein, vitamins and minerals 
• pro-kinetic effect increases gastrointestinal activity 
• positive for overall physical condition 
• effecting fish color and its darkness 
• promotes development of muscle tissue 

Cleaning the Pond

Algae growth on walls and bottom of the pond is beneficial to ranchu. Do not strip it all at once. Alternate cleaning of walls with cleaning of bottom to keep some of the algae growing at all times.

Clean the pond by brushing the walls and the bottom when algae growth gets too thick. Rinse the pond between cleanings. Read more here about the algae growth.


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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 ● INTRODUCTION

Some years ago, when I searched the Internet with a fine tooth comb looking for everything and anything that had to do with Japanese Top View Ranchu, I stumbled upon a website with chapters from Master Ito Takashi's publication on raising ranchu. All written in Japanese, the chapters addressed various subjects of raising ranchu from eggs to adults. 

Fearlessly, with no knowledge of the Japanese language, I embarked on the task of "translating" the chapters using the modern day technology. First, I let Google translate the text into what I called "JapaGooglEnglish". Then, I began to interpret the text based on my best knowledge of ranchu. I also ran some stubborn texts through different online translators to get a better understanding.

In the end, most of the "translation" made sense, at least to me, and greatly advanced me in performing my ranchu husbandry. With careful consideration, I decided to share this information, hoping that others might find it useful as well. Although, I give credit to Master Ito Takashi, please accept these series of posts only as an adaption of his publication. While reading, apply your own judgment. After all, raising ranchu isn't all written in stone and we should derive our pleasure from this hobby by making it very personal and even intimate.

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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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ATTEMPT AT CLONING RANCHU

I have stumbled upon a very interesting paper published in Zygote, Volume 20, Issue 1, February, 2012, pp.79-85, Cambridge University Press.

Attempt at cloning high-quality goldfish breed ‘Ranchu’ by fin-cultured cell nuclear transplantation

Daisuke Tanaka, Akito Takahashi, Akinori Takai, Hiromi Ohta and Koichi Ueno

Summary:

The viability of ornamental fish culture relies on the maintenance of high-quality breeds. To improve the profitability of culture operations we attempted to produce cloned fish from the somatic nucleus of the high-quality Japanese goldfish (Carassius auratus auratus) breed ‘Ranchu’. We transplanted the nucleus of a cultured fin-cell from an adult Ranchu into the non-enucleated egg of the original goldfish breed ‘Wakin’. Of the 2323 eggs we treated, 802 underwent cleavage, 321 reached the blastula stage, and 51 reached the gastrula stage. Two of the gastrulas developed until the hatching stage. A considerable number of nuclear transplants retained only the donor nucleus. Some of these had only a 2n nucleus derived from the same donor fish. Our results provide insights into the process of somatic cell nuclear transplantation in teleosts, and the cloning of Ranchu.

Vocabulary:

Cleavage - is the division of cells in the early embryo.

Blastula stage - is a hollow sphere of cells, referred to as blastomeres, surrounding an inner fluid-filled cavity called the blastocoele formed during an early stage of embryonic development in animals.

Gastrula stage - early stage during which the single-layered blastula is reorganized into a multilayered structure.

Teleost - a large group comprising all ray-finned fishes.

2017 © Alexander Vasiljev

HIGHRANCHU TIMELINE - ONE FISH'S JOURNEY - PART IV

Here is my last ranchu from the same spawn of April 15, 2014. This male OYA is a very nice looking fish with bright red color and neat, well arranged scales. This ranchu is very similar to the ranchu I described in part II, in terms of scaling, coloration, body shape and tail.

Little over 3 months old. Photographed on July 28, 2014

Little over 5 months old. Photographed on September 27, 2014

Little under 10 months old. Photographed on February 6, 2015

Little under 1 years and 7 months old. Photographed on November 2, 2015

Little under 3 years and 3 months old. Photographed on July 5, 2017

COMMENTS

Currently, this male Oya ranchu is close to 6 in (15 cm) long. As you can see, nothing much changed in his body and tail shape, other than him getting bigger. The head has formed into Shishigashira type, which is somewhat vintage for a modern ranchu. His tail, however, ended up with more red markings.

CONCLUSION

As NISAI fish transitions to OYA, it is harder and harder to keep them in shape. While the tail may not have any dramatic changes with age, the body and head do. My goal is to raise "lean" TVR. I prefer the body outline, as viewed from above, to be more elongated, with no protruding belly, so that the sides from head to beginning of O-Tsutsu (tail peduncle) are somewhat parallel. I also like it if the head width stays not much wider than the width of the back, a cigar shape. 

From the side, I like Se-Koshi (back curvature) to be as flat as possible up to the start of O-Tsutsu (tail peduncle). Reminiscent of a long Japanese boxwood comb. For body parts terminology please click here.

Quality of food and its portioning, along with exercise, is crucial to keeping ranchu in good shape. I will write about this subject in a separate article, reflecting on my experience.

HIGHRANCHU TIMELINE - ONE FISH'S JOURNEY - PART III

Presenting my next OYA fish - a female from the same spawn of April 15, 2014. She has always been a strong fish. Body shape is a bit shorter than in previously discussed RANCHU, but still proportionate.

Little over 2 months old. Photographed on June 5, 2014

Little under 3 months old. Photographed on July 8, 2014

Little over 3 months old. Photographed on July 28, 2014

Little over 5 months old. Photographed on September 27, 2014

Little under 1 years and 7 months old. Photographed on November 2, 2015

Little under 3 years and 3 months old. Photographed on July 5, 2017

COMMENTS

Today it is a strong and active female OYA fish of 6.5 in (16.5 cm) long. The body remains a bit short for my liking, but the overall shape is good. O-TSUKE (tail peduncle scale bracelet) and O-ZARA (under-tail plate) were and remain very good. The tail's O-GATA (tail shoulders) used to be quite stiff, but became somewhat more elastic with age - an improvement.

As seen in photos, this fish has started to loose her red markings pretty early, as she was still developing. Now there is only one red eye with no more red left.

For body parts terminology please click here.