Rob's Ranchu

I had a large flock spawn in my backyard pond this summer and there were Azumanishiki, Japanese Ranchu and Chinese Royal Gooseheads all in the mix. I collected some of the eggs and brought them inside for hatching. From the resulting fry, I found a few that were worth keeping. The Ranchu x Gooseheads look really nice and have much better backs than the pure Gooseheads. Also, there are a few metallic Azumanishiki x Ranchu. I am hoping these will turn red

Azumanishiki update, side view. Some dark kirins in this group

These are Chinese Royal Gooseheads. They are easily the most difficult variety that I have bred. They notoriously have dorsal spikes and single or undivided tails, and occasionally very deranged scale patterns. This is my 3rd generation, and I am finally getting some decent ones. I hope these will produce more consistent results in the future. For the good ones, they really are magnificent as adults

Nice solid red!

It’s nice to get some solid reds again

My Azuma Nishiki fry are coming along nicely. I’m doing daily water changes, but soon they’ll be moved to bigger quarters

When I first set up this pond a couple of months ago, I did get a bit of hair algae in the bog portion, but fast forward a couple of months, and the water is “gin clear” in full sun. As an added benefit, I can raise Japanese Rice Fish and baby goldfish in the bog section