Illinois shubunkin breeder and pond keeper

[BlueShubunkin]

Hi, I am new to the GK forum, but have been breeding goldfish on a small scale for 20 years. I am also a 2nd generation goldfish breeder. I like blue fish and long fins, and am not fond of real round bodied fish, so, of course, I am breeding shubunkins. I have been selecting for deep blue and black fish with little or no red or white. I also have some Bristols now, and am working on a winter hardy strain by crossing with American shubunkins. I also have some veils but have not tried to breed them.

I am in east-central Illinois and also am an avid pondkeeper and aquatic plant keeper.

So many hobbies, so little time. Maybe when I retire...

[small_ranchu]

Hi BlueShubunkin,
Welcome GFK forum. :)

[sweetshannon]

Welcome! We would love to see pics of your pond....
hope you enjoy it here.

[Jed]

Welcome to Goldfish Keepers! I can't wait to see pictures of your shubunkins. :)

[medhrse]

Hoe long have you had Shu's I am very interested in them also !. Have a mixed bag in my pond of Shubunkin's of what I could find Localy. I think mainly London's an Jap. type trying to learn more .

[BlueShubunkin]

I have been breeding shubunkins for almost 20 years, now. I now have my first group of breeding age Bristol Shubunkins. I lost most of my American Shubunkins this winter. It was a very hard winter for my pond fish. Luckily, all of my Bristols were inside in my basement for the winter.

I have seen some spawning activity but haven't found any fry, yet. They are in a 1000 gallon stock tank in my yard.

[medhrse]

My Husband likes Koi ! We went to see some yesterday about 200 his friend got shipped from Malaysia . He had what he called trash fish mixed in. Jap. & what look like Londons Shubunkin's 8-10 " 2 really big gravid fem. I brought home of course will put in with some smaller male Shu's . I'm ending up with about 12-15 fish when he's done sorting an quar. . Some are comets I don't want! Some black Koi My other 1/2 brought one of those home . I'll try to take some pictures . There were also a couple that looked like crosses! Do you have any pic of your stock? Will you be or are you selling any ? It's a shame you lost so many fish this winter.We had a tuff winter to , but was lucky not to loose any . Now it's almost 105 today . Good to hear from you!

[BlueShubunkin]

If I get a decent number of fry, yes, I will have some available. We'll wait and see what happens. Yes, I had a lot of time in selecting my all blue and black American Shubunkins. I usually keep an air pump running in the pond all winter. It keeps one little hole open. It kept tripping the ground fault interuptor, so we disconnected the electric line. Usually, this would not have been a problem, but it was just too cold for too long, I'm afraid.

I have included a photo of one of my blue shubunkins that I had. I hope I did everything correctly. If it works, I'll try a photo or two of my Bristol shubunkins