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Goldfish Diary
2004/5
The Vermillion Singachus - F2
In
this issue, we update the Vermillion Singachu project. Our dream of
creating a new line of side view buffalo cheek ranchus.
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The
"Vermillion Singachu" project aims to create a line of side-view Singapore ranchu (hence the name "Singachu")
from selective breeding of Thai, Japanese and Chinese ranchu
bloodlines. The project is currently in the second year and the
second filial generation (F2) of Singachu.
Our desired line features of the Singachu are mainly:
- the pronounced "buffalo cheeks"
- one or two crown on the forehead
- a gentler and slightly longer body (for good growth)
- a slightly more open tail shape, preferably 4-lobes.
The Singachu differs from the typical Thai bred lionhead ranchu
found abundant in the local market where the later generally has a bigger,
"rounder and softer" head growth and also shorter body. In contrast, the Singachu has a
firmer and more "tapered" head frame and streamline torso.
This year's breeding activity is mainly focused on stabilizing
the line i.e. enhancing desired traits and getting rid of the
undesired traits. A new
male ranchu, having related lineage to the Singachu was
introduced into the breeding chart to
create more related lines of Singachu for line breeding.
A few "test" breeding brood and experimentation with
different breeding pairs were performed to study the
genetics of passive and dominating traits of the F1
Singachu. The biggest brood this year was about 12,000
fries (F2 Line Bravo). Only about 300 fishes remained after
5 major cullings to weed the undesired traits. This
important brood will be the main line for future breeding
plans. While there are generally some improvements from
F1s, the F2s are still far from our ideal Singachu as more
features need to be fine tuned.
As serious
goldfish breeding requires lots of passion and
patience, stabilizing the new strain of Singachu may take
at least another 5 filial generations - an effort that may
span more than 5 years! |
Head anatomy-
crown and buffalo cheeks
of the Singachu bloodline |
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Side view ranchu -
one of the female parents of Singachu line |
A typical lionhead ranchu
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Comparison:
The original Thai
side view ranchu has a more tapered head profile, firmer headgrowth and
more longish body compared to the more commonly found lionhead ranchu. |
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The armies of
Saron - the Orcs are looking for food
Closeup
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Brood of
F2LineBravo
estimated 12,000 fries
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Day and
night
culling
marathon |
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Thousands of
fries ready to "graduate"
to the big outdoor ponds |
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Concurrent
to stabilizing the Singachu line is the plan to bring in
the Japanese ranchu bloodline to further improve existing
Singachu features e.g. bigger buffalo cheeks, finer
scaling and better tail shape. Thanks to our close friend from Hong Kong, Hak King, who has married
the Chinese calico ranchu with the Japanese top view
ranchu in his bid to create top view calico
ranchus. Hak King has given us some of his seed sakura
ranchus specially selected for side view features. If
everything goes according to planned, we will see the debut of the
F1 red white and calico Singachu having Jap bloodline in
the next 2 years. As this is an outcross, the project is
expected to take even more years to assimilate the new
genetic feature into the improved Singachu.
There are many huddles to overcome and infinitely more to
learn in goldfish hobby. Though we are not sure if the
project will materialize, as is always the spirit of
the Vermillion Goldfish Club, we just give in our best
as far as our passion can drive.
More
photo archives of the Singachu project >>>
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