Yes or No?

[HNLim]

In our place, Tikus (Short fins pearlscale) are sold for as little as S$1.20 (appx. US$0.90) each. My Tikus has been spawning almost every other day. My question is should I collect the eggs and take the challange of raising the Tikus fries or just leave them to be eaten up in the tub. Just go and buy them from the LFS as it would probably cost me more to feed and raise the fries than to buy them directly from the LFS.

What's your view?

[mikroll]

Hi HNlim,
Your question is interesting. I think you must decide to tell us first what are your objectives before a proper comment can be given.
If you breed for your own pleasure then do what pleases you, but if you are breeding for money only then you must produce what sells based on cost to produce. so what are your goals?

[bekko]

I'm curious Mr. Lim whether you have the little rat-head tikus or the larger ping-pong? Also, do you find tikus more delicate than ping-pong? Sorry for the questions, but it is hard to find information on the finer points.

One of my favorite varieties to breed is the single-tail common goldfish. Their retail price in the pet shop (as arowana food) is less than my cost to raise them. But, every once in a while, a really pretty one will come up in the net and then it is all worth while.

-steve

[HNLim]

OK, let me put it this way. Money making from Goldfish is not what I am after. Getting the best fish is what I am after.

Now retailing at S$1.20, I would assumed the cost to the LFS would be around S$0.40. So, for me to match the S$0.40 would be almost impossible. What I normally do is to buy about as many pieces that I can find that will stand a chance to making it to the show tanks. After several weeks, I would find the few pieces that would make the grade. The question here is; is it possible that the breeders keeps the best for himself and sell off the culls, which people like me will choose. If this was so, the only way to get the best is to breed them yourself.

This brings me to another question, are we better than the commercial breeders at producing the best?

[Virginia ranchu]

I think there is a whole different level of appreciation to the development of a line bred strain than to the ownership of a single nice fish of unknown background. Though you can find attractive specimens at the LFS, it is often difficult to produce high quality offspring from them unless you have a group of individuals with the same genetic background.

It's also a bit like giving up gardening because the grocery store got some nice tomatoes.
:)

Rob

[bekko]

My understanding is that the farms try to sell off the low-grade fish at a young age to make room. The better fish are grown to a larger size and sold later as their value increases.

This does not necessarily mean we can grow better fish at home. If you grow 100 fish at home the probability is that your best one will be in the top 1% for its variety. A farm growing 10,000 fish will have 10 select offspring which are in the top 0.1% for its variety.

-steve

[HNLim]

I'm curious Mr. Lim whether you have the little rat-head tikus or the larger ping-pong? Also, do you find tikus more delicate than ping-pong? Sorry for the questions, but it is hard to find information on the finer points.

One of my favorite varieties to breed is the single-tail common goldfish. Their retail price in the pet shop (as arowana food) is less than my cost to raise them. But, every once in a while, a really pretty one will come up in the net and then it is all worth while.

-steve
What would you classify this as?
http://i44.tinypic.com/50787.jpg

[bekko]

Sifoo Lim,

I thought tikus, ping-pong and pearlscale were all the same thing until reading an old thread which you contributed to. These photos were saved, but I must apologize to you, the other contributors and the forum for not being able to remember where that discussion was:

tikus
http://www.raingarden.us/tikus.jpg

ping-pong
http://www.raingarden.us/ping-pong.jpg

Yours looks more like the tikus, but perhaps yours is better because the back has a nice shape. Is that correct?

-steve

[HNLim]

Maybe in my opinion, a Tikus should look something like this:

http://i39.tinypic.com/2w52jnn.png

[jinyu_fan]

I find this fish much more pleasing to the eye.

[Sabine]

This last fish would be my favourite too. Is it a question of outcrossing once in a while to get the fantail-shaped bodies with pearlscales?

[bekko]

You do not have to out-cross Sabine because any batch of offspring will have plenty (too many?) with the long body form. The long body form does not become as rounded as the tikus or ping-pong. The breeders in Malaysia consider these inferior. However, the long body form is also a stronger fish which swims better, has fewer disease problems, and is much less likely to have swim bladder issues.

-steve

[afnaveils]

In our place, Tikus (Short fins pearlscale) are sold for as little as S$1.20 (appx. US$0.90) each. My Tikus has been spawning almost every other day. My question is should I collect the eggs and take the challange of raising the Tikus fries or just leave them to be eaten up in the tub. Just go and buy them from the LFS as it would probably cost me more to feed and raise the fries than to buy them directly from the LFS.

What's your view?


I personally think that it is more satisfying producing our own fish although you may be right economically. There are more challenges to improve the quality of the gf, the colour, the shape and all features you may set as a challenge. One thing that may be important to consider is bringing a new fish into your system. This fish may carry all sorts of virus which can contaminate your population at home and so, may be an economical disaster at home after all.