Goldfish Selecting and Rearing - Ryukin By Don(NYGold)
Hello fine members of GFK I was asked to put together a little something on culling Ryukin. I’m no expert so bare with me. I have some pictures because I think it’s easier to explain than with words.
Most people my self included like to have big spawns with lots of fry but after having a HUGE spawn I think I would rather have spawns on the smaller side like 200 or less. Having spawns of over 1000 fry at a time can be a real pain if you don’t have the room. Here is a picture of what a spawn of close to 3000 looks like.
As you can see it’s very crowded and without the proper space and food these little fry will be off to a bad start. I posted this picture before and Gary told me they didn’t have enough space, I gave him some BS excuse about there being enough space but Gary was right (Sorry Gary).
These little guys are about 2 weeks old but you can actually cull some even sooner. Here is an over head shot of a few fry at 6 days old. At this stage from the top you can see crooked spines. I didn’t have a picture of a fish with a crooked spine so I drew one I hope you get the idea.
Twisted spines are probably one of the first things you can cull out aside from 3 eyes and 2 heads and stuff like that I would probably keep those any way. A 2 headed fish is probably worth a million bucks.
As the fry get about 2 to 3 weeks old they start looking more like fish than alien bugs.You’ll find some with little spikes instead of dorsal fins, some that are banana shaped and some that have a butterfly like tail. I’m looking for a Ryukin that has a nice full tail that goes straight up and down after it leaves the peduncle. Here is a picture of a fry with a tail that I would cull.
These pictures are both the same do you see how the top part of the tail and the back are on the same plane? When this fish is all grown the tail is going to droop off its butt, throwing of the balance and the swimming motion of the fish.
The above picture is more of what I’m after. See how the tail shoots up at a nice angle after leaving the body? While this fry isn’t perfect it is much better than the one in the previous picture.This tail issue alone will cut the number of your fry down well over 50%.
As the fry get older it gets easier to cull basically because you can actually see the damn things.At 6 to 8 weeks you can start looking a bit closer at the fry like particularly the peduncle area.It’s a bit hard for me to explain the peduncle gets shafty looking .
See how the peduncle is long (the space between the body and the tail)?
This throws the balanced look of the Ryukin way off at the same time it exposes the anal fins so they can be seen from the side. Not a HUGE fault but something you try not to have. You also have to remember the tail will fill out and sometimes cover some or all of the anal fin as the fish grows.The tail will fill out but that long shafty peduncle will never shrink.
Here is a picture of one that’s a little better than the last fish . While about half of the anal fin is exposed the peduncle doesn’t have that long shafty look to it. The body has a nice balanced diamond shape to it, the tail comes up off the body at a nice angle and it has a beautiful dorsal fin.The dorsal comes up nice and high and has a smooth curve (not serpentine) and just disappears in to the body. This guy is also showing the slightest little start of a hump.
This is what I mean by the diamond shape. It has nice balance and proportions and has a nice chunky Ryukin look to it. Yeah yeah yeah I see the anal fin too but I would keep this fish around and hope when it gets older the tail will fill out and cover at least half of that anal fin.
Lastly at about 3 or 4 months they aren’t fry anymore now if everything works out you have a Ryukin.This guy has a nice pointed head and the beginning of a nice BIG hump. The top of the tail really comes off the body at a nice angle and the anal fin is out of sight. This fish I would NOT cull.This is what I’m looking for this is a KEEPER.
Well that concludes my little culling article I hope it makes sense.
Before I go I would just like to say don’t get to hung up on the little nit picky stuff if your looking to breed the PERFECT Ryukin your going to be very disappointed.
If you get a fish that’s a 7 or an 8 on a 1-10 scale your doing pretty good.
Us Ryukin lovers have to get our act together right now I think it’s easier to get a good TVR in this country than it is to get a good Ryukin.
Don(NYgold)
