Ryukin / Growth / Development Options

[rmb]

hi..

looking at buying some small baby ryukin in the UK.

the fish are only 5-6cm long and show no sing of a "hump" . Is this normal ? and when would one expect young fish to start showing a hump.......?

Hope you can advise

thanks
Robert

[bekko]

The eye is disproportionately large which makes them look like they may be stunted.

The hump develops slowly. When you have a whole batch of siblings in front of you it is not to difficult to pick the ones which will have the best hump. When looking at a small subset, it is impossible to tell. At this size, and given that they may be older then their size would indicate, I suspect they will not develop well.

These do not look like imported fish. Were they bred locally?? Best to track down the breeder and get the details.

-steve

[rmb]

hi Steve. thanks for the comments which are much appreciated

I am in the UK and presume the fish have come in from China.

Will try and get some more info before making a decision.

We have a very limited choice on Ryukin at the moment. Most fish in the stores are very low quality. There are a couple of good suppliers but if you want a top quality fish you have to pay top dollar.

thanks again
b.rgds
robert

[juppie4]

Hi,

where abouts in the UK do you live? I live in London and I have to say that its not impossible to get good Ryukin if you look in the right places. Alternatively go to www.fancygoldfish.org They have fantastic high quality goldfish. best in Europe i suspect.

Cheers.

P.S from my experience those fish you have in the picture will never turn out to be anything worth calling a Ryukin. They just dont have the right shape and roundness to them. And they look a little stunted as well.

[rmb]

hi Juppie4

thanks yrs.. I tend to agree with you.. my first reaction is that they would not make the grade.

I will check out the website you mentioned.. so far I have purchased some fish from OS Aqautics in Dorest (which were OK) and also a couple which we advertised on ebay (very unlikey i know, but they turned up OK).

Star Fisheries in Surrey have some fantastic fish but they are not cheap.. £50-75 each....

fyg I am in Surrey, near Esher...

b.rgds
robert

[bekko]

I just wrote an article for the American Goldfish Association on the cost of a goldfish. The premise was that the major cost of a goldfish is not the cost of the fish itself, but the money spent on equipment, feed, electricity, water, etc. If you are going to spend $100 to take care of a goldfish over it's lifetime, them why buy something second rate just to save $10 on the purchase price.

-steve


This post has been edited by bekko: Tue, 12 May 2009 1:16 am

[juppie4]

Yeah the website i mentioned is Star fisheries! I have never bought from them yet. But I have had a chat with the guy who runs the show and it all seems very good to me. They are pricey yes but I would have to agree with bekko. You shouldn't save on the price of a fish, after all its something you should enjoy enough to part with the money for a good fish. Aside from that I have found that buying older fish is much better than new born fish. I have lost a few young fish in my time but have kept all of my fish which I bought at around 3-4 inches. I think they have faced more disease and general problems and have left behind those to weak to cope with them and due to that they are more resilient.

Cheers.

[rmb]

thanks for the comments from you both ..

I must agree that you haev a point. we spend a lot of money on tanks/filters etc and perhaps not enough on the fish themselves.

I have visited Star Fisheries and the quality of the fish is outstanding...it may be time to break open the piggy bank.

b.rgds