Tsugaru Nishiki

[Sabine]

Sempai is selling these fish:
http://www.fishsempai.com/product_info.asp?product=995
The photo isn't too clear. I've never heard of this variety. Do they have dorsals? Are they blue? Can anyone here shed some light on these fish?

[afnaveils]

My understanding is that Tsugaru Nishiki are long finned ranchus and I guess they would be mainly red or W&R in colour.

[thomasn]

www.tsugarunishiki.com (http://www.tsugarunishiki.com). I don't know if it helps but here is google translation (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tsugarunishiki.com%2F&sl=ja&tl=en).

[demdamdemekins]

Topview phoenix tail anyone? They look really interesting. Thinking of picking some up Sabine?

[Cincy Ranchu]

Seems to me they are a yet uncolored phoenix that are probably red and white, as Blus Phoenix are blue very early on...Probably worth the chance of having them decolor into something very cool.

[Tedster]

I saw these fish in person back in September and they are very cool fish.
I'll be flying to Ontario next week for meetings and am hoping to stop by Andrew's farm for a quick visit.

[Sabine]

Thanks for the link and translation, Thomasn!
Are these fish similar to the blue egg phoenix, aside from the colour? Or do they have more of a ranchu body (thinking possible swimming difficulties)?
I'm tempted to try something new. Last year I filled my 55 gallon with 2 pairs of platies, they multiply and the store is happy to take them, unlike little ranchus. But they are not goldies...
I've hit a snag with my remaining ranchus - but that's another story. So I'm thinking about what to do, and there are not too many options when it comes to goldies in a small town in Northern Ontario. Sempai has shipped to me before. So it might be a possibility...
I'm still very undecided.
Tedster, did you see the parents? What colour were they?

[Ed @ Goldfish Utopia]

I am planning on getting these fish in January. I have a similar picture on my blog (http://www.goldfishutopia.com/ed). Scroll about half way down. I am under the impression that these fish are brown in color, but I will get confirmation.

Like demdamdemekins said, they are top-view "phoenix tail" ranchu.

[Tedster]

Sabine,
When I saw the fish in September, they were still uncolored. Not sure what color they are now.

TT

[afnaveils]

Andrew (TFS) mentioned these gf to me in a message today as long tailed ranchus.

[Sabine]

I talked to Andrew today, and he will send some photos. They are only 1 1/2" big.

[small_ranchu]

Do you mind sharing w/ us? :)

[Sabine]

I'll post photos as soon as I get them. Tried to read up on the Japanese website thomasn posted, the translation is difficult. It seems they retain their brownish colour for years, before demelanizing at age 4. But this is only one website with a spotty translation, and I'm still looking for more info.

[Tedster]

I just saw these fish in person again this past week-end and they are all still olive in colour. Very nice looking fish and he has lots available.

[cowiche ponder]

Tsugaru is a VERY sweet and delicious apple :youtellme: ( See what happens when you get an apple grower on the list??) We've been told that it was developed at the same experiment station in Japan that the Fuji came from.

It is one of the sweetest apples we grow and that is measured in brics..almost as sweet as table grapes.

Would love to see adult pics of the goldies!

[Sabine]

From what I read last night this is a variety developed around 1780, in Northern Japan, and they are supposed to be very tolerant to cold - perfect for my neck of the woods where even the summers can be cool at times.
On the other hand, I also found info that this variety died out, so who knows, they might have re-invented them :youtellme:
I'm getting excited and hope it works out. There is no way of shipping them yet because it is extremely cold this week, so I'll have to be patient.
Since these fish demelanize so late it might be interesting to cross them into my sakura ranchu - should make for nice calicos. But I'm way ahead of myself here ;-)
Ted: are they 1 1/2" plus tail? I can't imagine anything else, though it seems unusual for Andrew to measure just the fish's body.

[Tedster]

They were around 1 1/2 - 2 inches including tail. From the top, they look very similar to the egg phoenix. I didn't look at them from the side.

Andrew also has some japanese jikins and tosakins around the same size.

[Daryl]

I have a few of these - they are about 3 years old, now. They do take a long time to decolor - almost as long as the Blue Phoenix does. In my experience, the BluePhoenix only take on the blue color at about 12-14 months of age. The Phoenix tailed RAnchus, also, waited 15 months to do so.

They have wens - where a Blue Phoenix (or a Phoenix Eggfish) does not. A wen is a fairly dominant feature, however influenced by feeding, and does not cross well into the Eggfish - atleast for several generations. The bodies and tails can be excellent - nicely balanced with exceptional tail length. Two of mine have tails that are 1 1/2 times the body length, and one has a tail that is over twice the body length.

I will eagerly look for pictures of any fish you get - and would love to have your opinions about them! :)

Apple grower???? So, why, when you need different varieties of apples trees to make sure they are properly polinated, do you not get apples that are crosses of the two trees? For example - to get Honey Crisp to produce, it is necessary to plant something OTHER than a Honey Crisp tree with them. Would not the apples produced be crosses between the two???? (I am planting an orchard on a spare 10 acres next spring.....)

[Sabine]

A little more info to add. A fellow Japanese goldfish enthusiast translated a bit more from that webpage I previously quoted.
This variety goes back to 1770, and was bred in the far North of Honshu. They practically died out during WWII. In 1948 only 2 female Tsugaru Nishiki were found to have survived.
Breeders re-established the variety by crossing Azuma Nishiki and Ranchu, and managed to stabilize the variety after 15 generations.
They demelanize late, and will turn red eventually.
It seems that they are gaining popularity in Japan in the last little while.
I made room today in my 55 gallon (selling platies) just in case, but am still waiting for photos.

[Sabine]

Here are photos Andrew sent me:
http://goldfishkeepers.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=6&pictureid=101
http://goldfishkeepers.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=6&pictureid=100
Sorry for the blurry shots, they were resized when I uploaded them into my album.

[small_ranchu]

They look nice... Are you getting them?

[Sabine]

I plan to get 3, but it is still too cold for shipping. Shipping to me is complicated anyway, so I have to rely on Andrew to figure it out.

[afnaveils]

Hi Sabine,

Did you finally get your Tsugaru Nishikis? How are they doing? How do they look? Pictures?

[Sabine]

Sorry, but I'm anxious to get them too. Guenther has now got his 3 Wakin selected, and Andrew is trying to figure out the shipping of those and my 3 little fish. Previously my fish came by small plane, but they don't accept live fish anymore.
The coming week promises to be a bit warmer, so I hope we might get things underway. I'll let you know as soon as there are news.
Until then, I keep looking at these guys:
http://www.tsugarunishiki.com/qa/qa2.html#5
Aren't they awesome?

[demdamdemekins]

Wow...

http://www.tsugarunishiki.com/auction/photo/0614-1.jpg

http://www.tsugarunishiki.com/outline/photo/2.jpg

[Sabine]

Today, between a snowstorm yesterday and a pending blizzard tonight, 5 of them arrived (and 6 wakin for Guenther).
Pictures will have to wait - I'm going to fatten them up first ;-)
I'm sure Guenther will tell you about his wakins - they are gorgeous :yess:!

[cowiche ponder]

Ok I want one or four :)

[Sabine]

http://goldfishkeepers.com/forum/picture.php?albumid=6&pictureid=146

[afnaveils]

Hi Sabine,

Thanks for the pix! Can you tell us some details about importing goldfish from Germany to Canada. Any difficulty to retrieve from cargo, customs, etc? How was it all done?

[Sabine]

Gerard, I got those fish from Sempai. I'm in Elliot Lake, 200km west of Sudbury.
Guenther is here too, a few months at a time. He can`t take the wakin to Germany, neither can he bring his fish from Germany here. That`s why he got those wakin - he needs some fish to breed :)
Sorry for the confusion.