Prepubescent ranchu spawning!!?

[orandablue]

How old do ranchus have to be to be fertile??? My "babies" I got from a store, are spawning. Big eggs everywhere! They are 3"? Is this normal? Is this just a trial run? The guy is 3", sibling, and chasing like crazy! Not sure if he is doing much fertilizing though!!?? Cant really tell. I just can't believe it! AND i dont know WHY?? The weather is very cold in ohio right now?? Hmmmm.

[afnaveils]

Goldfish can spawn as from the age of 9 months to one year old. It may be your ranchus' first spawn.

[johnatoranchu]

Don't try to link age with size in commercial pet store grade fish. The preferred size for that market is 2 1/2 to 3 inches but although commercially produced fish can reach that size very quickly they can then be held at that size almost indefinately. Goldfish will breed at 3 months of age in Thailand but even in the "West" it is not uncommon for goldfish to spawn at 6-9 months. Whilst it might be OK to breed from such young fish for some varieties, it is not advisable to breed from varieties which need "developing" (e.g Ranchu, Lionheads, Orandas) until adequate development has been achieved for obvious reasons. Your 3 inch fish could be 3 months old, or they could be 9 months, 12 months or even older. If your fish have good hoods and the eggs are large the fish are probably much older than they look.
John

[orandablue]

They have no hood development, looked undernourished when bought and are quite small. However the eggs are normal sized and look fertile! Can't hurt to try. They really love and seem to be bonded to each other. Do you think I should separate? I was wondering if they had been treated with hormones or something. Will know tommorrow if they are fertile eggs.
Thanks for advise.
Is it undesireable to breed two siblings?(presumably)

[HNLim]

I have goldfish that spawn at 5 months old, but the fry are useless. I have found that in Singapore, the best age for the female is from 10 months onwards. You will get very high defects and smaller offspring if the female is younger. The male does not affect the offspring much in terms of defects.

[johnatoranchu]

They have no hood development, looked undernourished when bought and are quite small. However the eggs are normal sized and look fertile! Can't hurt to try. They really love and seem to be bonded to each other. Do you think I should separate? I was wondering if they had been treated with hormones or something. Will know tommorrow if they are fertile eggs.
Thanks for advise.
Is it undesireable to breed two siblings?(presumably)

Sorry, but from your description of your "Ranchu" they are not worth breeding from. Breeding goldfish is no big deal, but breeding good goldfish is. I think the first consideration before rearing any livestock is - what will happen to the babies, who will want them? Remember, even breeding from the best stock obtainable produces large numbers of poor quality offspring so what is the liklihood of bread and butter pet shop fish producing anything worth rearing? Some might say that regardless of quality such spawnings help acquire experience but I do not subscribe to that view. Real experience comes from learning to cull effectively and when the parents are poor that invariably means culling everything as the faults are usually obvious very early on.
Leave the fish together, there is no benefit to be had in separating them. Let them eat any eggs they lay, that will provide them with extra nourishment and avoid future disappointment.
John

[orandablue]

I agree and disagree. Having only been breeding"specifically" goldfish for a year now I am happy to get practice runs in. Before I jump into messin' with $300.00 ranchu spawns. Imagine botching up a first "hand spawn" on a prize ranchu! But yes I do kill most of my babies. (Its the saturn in me.) I do work with the best fish I can afford. And the 'bread n butter' shops get there fish from the same place everyone else does China. I found a blue bubble eye in a BnB shop. However these guys are from a aquatics specialist store. There ARE gems to be found in the rough. Its still just "Fishin"!

[bigbettadan]

Johns fish don't come from China...... LOL

The bottom line is like begets like. You can't make chicken salad from chicken poo. It doesn't mean the the best breeder fish are the best show fish, but the attributes need to be there.

But you have the right to breed whatever you like, it is America after all.

Dan

[orandablue]

I was just thinkin maybe not ALL goldfish are from the big C. So how many goldfish ARE imported from other countries?? I would like a map with goldfish travel displays n icons!!LOL Also I grew up on an 800 acre farm (with chickens) you can talk about chicken poo!:-*

[orandablue]

I have goldfish that spawn at 5 months old, but the fry are useless. I have found that in Singapore, the best age for the female is from 10 months onwards. You will get very high defects and smaller offspring if the female is younger. The male does not affect the offspring much in terms of defects.always.>:)

[orandablue]

I am about to witness my first ranchu fry hatch! Pass the cigars :-* the lil black freaks have done it!!! I dont care if they have three tails I am keeping them!

[orandablue]

:worship::yess:>:D<I have been waiting a long time for this!! They just hatched! Happy New Year!

[jinyu_fan]

Congratulations! What a great start to the New Year.

[orandablue]

http://http://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu227/fishhead_gab/IMGP4866.jpg eating an egg cyst.http://http://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu227/fishhead_gab/IMGP4854.jpgfull of bbs cysts.

[orandablue]

1st cull at 2 week mark, boy they are tiny compared to oranda fry. But 60% of the fry had dorsal "spikes".
Got two more fry from another spawning of these two.
No more to come.

[judge]

You have amazing photography skill and an awesome camera and lens... I can even see the brine shrimp eggs in their stomachs.

Looking great.

[orandablue]

It is a macro lens that you can put on any DSLR. Your typical point n shoot lenses will not get magnified enough. We have it on a older manual pentax. A nice big body bought a yr ago, used of course. You will be able to see every imperfection on the fry as they get older! LOL

[BruceP]

Great Fry Pix!!!!
I just got a Nikon D60 and want to take fry (and other close up) pix with it. Is a Macro lense all I need in addition to the 18-55 lens that came with the camera? I ordered a 'set' of macro lenses but havent gotten them yet.
Again, nice pix!

[orandablue]

Have fun! Ya gotta master zooming manually! What are your fry??

[orandablue]

Just for the record...another spawning! These guys are fertile myrtle! The new calico ranchu from raingarden is in on the action this time.YaY! I think hes a male.lolhttp://i650.photobucket.com/albums/uu227/fishhead_gab/ranchuthree.jpgThat furcata is confused.

[BruceP]

Have fun! Ya gotta master zooming manually! What are your fry??

I have a bunch of oranda fry from a redcap Thai x Orange Thai. They are about 10 days now.
Got my macro lenses so Im trying to learn to take close ups. Havent gotten as close as you do so far.... still learnin' :)

[orandablue]

I just got a red cap. Cant wait to see those fish. To focus macro, first go to manual focus, then extend lens all the way, then move the whole camera to focus. You will be moving your head around alot and saying things like"WHER THE H_ _ DID IT GO"! :coffee: