Goldfish Growth Inhibitor...very Discouraging Options

[junkeatng]

Hi All,

Gong Xi Fa Cai to all those who are celebrating Chinese New Year.

I came across this very interesting article about goldfish growth and the factors affecting it.

It is a very 'scientific' article but from what I can derive (from my limited scientific mind), it indicates that goldfish tend to experience growth spurts at the beginning of spring after a cold spell. If that is indeed true, it could well mean that here in the tropics, we may never grow our goldfish to the sizes attainable in more temperate climates. Now isn't that discouraging???

Please comment...in particular Doc Goldrush who may be able to shed more light on this topic.

[bekko]

Oh.... My head hurts.

I think the authors began their deliberations with the assumption that all goldfish have a winter dormant period, a spring spawning season, and a summer/autumnal growing season. They used the physiological changes that take place when coming out of winter dormancy as clues to guide their studies on regulation of growth hormone release. But, they never said that a winter dormancy is necessary for the release of growth hormone.

In warm climates, goldfish grow year-round. They do not have to shut everything down for winter. You could argue that growth hormone is always available so goldfish should grow larger in the tropics.

There would need to be a controlled study to address this issue directly to find out for sure. My wild guess is that annual growth rates in tropical and temperate regions are probably pretty similar.

-steve