New Year Resolution ~ 新年的決議

砸碎決議的是懦夫; 設立決議的是傻瓜。

He who breaks a resolution is a weakling;
He who makes one is a fool.

~F.M. Knowles

 

Shiny scale Dragon Eyes Pearlscale (瑩鱗珍珠龍)

My dwindling postings over the weeks underscores the hectic schedule I have been through. My apologies to avid readers who are looking forward to my postings. With this posting, I would like to wish all a belated Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year. 

It has been a very busy year with many changes in my job and family responsibilities that it is compelling for me to address other priorities in life. So much so that it becomes rather unorthodox for a Goldfish fanatic to miss all the junior Tosai study sessions (MIFY) in the Oozeki Ranchu Club this year. Regretfully, I also missed the ASRS which coincides with the day I flew back from a long overseas holiday. My immediate priorities was to perform emergency water change for all my Goldfish ponds. My apologies to my friends who were trying to look out for me in the show.

Wrapping up a great 2010 for Goldfish breeding, I am looking forward to the 10^th anniversary of the Oozeki Ranchu Club and its 10^th Oozeki Annual Ranchu Show on 1^st January. Do come down to our free road show in Hong Lim CC on New Year’s Day from 12pm to 3pm.

The beginning of the New Year also marks the start of my TVR breeding season. Time and space permitted, I hope to breed one more generation of the Pompom Dragon Eyes Pearlscale in tandem with the TVR before the Aquarama 2011. 

Shhh... I am keeping my New Year resolution a secret :)

Pictures:

1) Shiny scale (瑩鱗珍珠龍) Dragon Eyes Pearlscale - a difficult colour to stabilize.

2) An extremely rare Dragon Eyes Pearlscale with 4 pompoms bred in 2010.

3) One of the 2010 Tosai going for the OARS.

Goldfish Photography ~ 留金歲月

快照留住了即將流失的時刻。

A Good Snapshot Stops A Moment From Running Away. 

~Eudora Welty

In those days of the film camera, Goldfish photography was more than a challenging feat - it was also extremely costly as the films were expensive. Moreover, the photographer could not preview the outcome of the shots and had to snap more photographs and develop them all, hoping that there would be a few good ones.

One of the most avid Goldfish photographers in Singapore is none other than Alvin, who is never short of Goldfish models from his club members. Rain or shine, he would be braving the elements in the open almost every weekend,  either cursing the unaccommodating weather or the uncooperative Goldfish that turned away from the camera or pooped at just the critical moment.

The advent of digital photography technology made it much more cost effective, time-saving and easier to compose and archive the photographs compared to the olden days. However, new technologies does not alter the fact that to take good photographs of the Goldfish, the photographer needs to have lots of patience and a good feel of the subject. This is also true for any photographer attempting to specialise in any subject matter, for without understanding the appreciation of the subject, it will be difficult to deliver the "wow" factor in his/her photography.

Though I have learned much about Goldfish photography from Alvin, unfortunately, I do not have as much patience and time for studio-style Goldfish photography. I am still eagerly awaiting his new set of studio photographs that he had promised to update in the Vermillion Goldfish Club website. Stay tune to the Vermillion website by following the club's new twitter updates!!!

Photos:

1. Alvin and his weekend pass time.

2. One of my first attempt in studio photo taking in 2005 - over exposure in some parts of the picture.

3. One of my favourite Butterfly Dragon Eyes - it is relatively easier to set up and shoot top view pictures of Goldfish compared to side view pictures.

Haze ~ 煙霧

自我是光明的遮眼紗。

Ego Is The Veil That Shuts The Light

~Author Unknown

It's hazy these days - the unwelcome haze has returned to Singapore again :( Rain, shine or haze I would still have to tend to my beloved fishes. Every end of the year is both my Pearlscale breeding season and a time to bring my family for a holiday. I have to reduce my Pearlscale spawns to a manageable number in order to enjoy my overseas holiday with peace of the mind.

The game plan is to grow them bigger as fast as possible so that their flaws  are more obvious for me to cull confidently. Structural and feature flaws in the back curve, scaling, and finnages of the Goldfish would not be discernible until they grow bigger. 

Interestingly, we can usually see more of our own flaws as we "grow" - in skills and self-esteem. When we failed, our pride supports us but when we succeed, very often, our ego would betray us. Ego results in a swollen head and arrogance while pride gives a swollen heart and the pleasure of accomplishment with humility.

Fortunately for us, the haze in Singapore is still very minor compared to some cities in Malaysia. Let's hope the rain and the cooler weather would bring respite to the hazy conditions. 

Pictures:
1. Moderately hazy Singapore's skyline

2. Month old fish have not develop the scaling and rounded body

3. 6.5 weeks old fishes with more matured features

Balance ~ 平衡

我夢想著掌握平衡的藝術。
What I Dream of is an Art of Balance

~ Henri Matisse

It would be getting even tougher for me to balance new commitments in both family and work from this year onwards. One of my resolutions is to spend more quality time with my family as I have been doing with the Goldfish hobby all these years.

Having overcome most of the technical issues with regard to Goldfish breeding,  it is time to move on to more refinement in the process. Hopefully with improvement in techniques and more stable bloodlines would make it more time and effort efficient to manage my Goldfish breeding programmes.

"Balance" would also be the focal point for my Goldfish breeding road map, especially so when I have chosen to breed two varieties of short-tailed Goldfish. I think it would be as challenging to create a well balance and graceful swimming Pearlscales with Dragon Eyes and Pompoms just as the Top View Ranchu. In order for a fish with heavier front portion of the body to swim with balance, I would need to work on specific features to offset its CG (Centre of Gravity).

I am currently busy with breeding my Pearlscales. This would be very exciting yaer as the F3/F4 are usually important milestones after a major outcross. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Pictures:

1) Bred in 2010, a Calico Short Tail Dragon Eyes Pearlscale displaying excellent balance.
2) Red white Short Tail Pompom Dragon Eyes Pearlscale.
3) Red black Short Tail Pompom Dragon Eyes Pearlscale with some head wen.

Dream of a Goldfish Fanatic ~ 魚痴愚夢

萬事始於夢

Nothing Happens Unless First A Dream

~ Carl Sandburg

My kinky gems ~ Dragon Eyes Pompom Pearlscales

A spark of insanity to create a completely new variety of Goldfish in Singapore was how it all got started. What followed next is years of planning and staying focus to make my dream comes true. It is more work in our climate to breed Goldfish because the tropical climate is not the natural habitat of the Goldfish. If for some reasons that the seed fishes couldn't spawn for that year or are wiped out by some diseases outbreak, everything would be back to square one again.

By 2010, I have incorporate all the exotic features from three different varieties of Goldfish into one strain of Goldfish,  however, there is still much work to fine tune the features in order to create the desired configuration of my dream fish. 

With no available literature pertaining to Goldfish breeding in the tropical climate, the pain and anguish learning from scratch and making all the mistakes these years can be very discouraging sometimes. The push factor to holding on to this mentally and physically taxing journey is the tremendous joy of seeing my dream fish coming slowly to life. 

In this blog post, may I share with you a video clip of my blood and sweat, powered by my fanatical Goldfish dream. 

Teething Problem

沒齒難忘

As Unforgettable As Losing One's Tooth

~ A Chinese Idiom

Most Goldfish hobbyists who do not use sand or gravel in their aquariums would have come across those mysterious white chips lying on the base of their Goldfish tanks. They are irregularly shaped hard, white and sharp pieces ranging from 1mm to 3mm. Hobbyists who use coral chips to buffer their water would usually attribute these as the small crumbs of coral chips from the filter bed but for those who don't, they continue to be baffled by the presence of these stuff.

I was also puzzled for years until I saw the carcass of a Ranchu. The row of sharp "chips" of various sizes lining along the throat/jaw bone of the Ranchu instantly solved the mystery. Apparently, the Goldfish would shed its teeth and grow new ones to replace the old ones over time.

Apologies for the gross image of the Ranchu skeleton but it is quite amazing how the teeth of the Goldfish resembles that of a carnivore.

Pictures:

1) White "chips" on the base of Goldfish tanks.

2) A Ranchu skeleton.

3) Close up of the throat bone with teeth.

Perspective ~ 視角

對事物的觀點掌握適當的視角後，許多事將能水到渠成。

When you get a proper perspective of your perceptions, you may be surprised how many other things fall into place. ~ Roger Birkman 

Appreciating Goldfish from the side view

It should be the effect of global warming that Singapore is getting very extreme weather nowadays. Scourging heat waves and heavy rain took turns to rein on our little island country. Floods brought by torrential downpours, stalling vehicles and falling trees are the talk of the town.

My fishes should have no complain about the weather mayhem except that they are given much lesser feeds than usual. In fact, growing them slower at appropriate juncture is another perspective of the art of Goldfish grooming. It is a very common perception for Goldfish hobbyists to equate good growth of their fishes to good keeping skills. However, pushing for growth too aggressively may affect the aesthetics of the fish; there are also more health related problems associated with overfeeding than underfeeding.


   Another perspective to appreciate the Dragon Eyes Pearlscale - from the top view 

In this time of the year, I have almost completed sorting out the TVR and Pearlscale breeders by their gender. While the relatively cooler weather this year is beneficial for nurturing good eggs in the female fishes, my only concern is, there may be too little rain next year to trigger the spawning. All the rain for next year seems to be pouring this year.

More Haste Less Speed ~ 欲速不達

物極必反
Things driven to extremes will backfire.
~ A Chinese proverb

I wish I have been distracted by the celebrations of the World Cup but regrettably, I have never been a big soccer fan. Moreover, it is my day job that has been keeping me so busy lately that I need to pull back a little on the hobby. All my fishes are put on the low gear for growth to ease my task on water change.

This year's whacky weather seems to suggest that it is still goldfish breeding season in Singapore but I am not collecting any spawns. Over the years, I have learned better than to rush in this hobby. Tempting it may be, getting myself overwhelmed unnecessarily with goldfish breeding right now will leave me with no space and energy to engage the crucial breeding seasons for next year.

Work is really killing me but luckily I have the hobby to keep my sanity. Strangely, I don't know why the aftermath of MFGC 2010 leaves me feeling a little languid... the kind of feeling when your favourite clown has quited the circus... I know I will feel better again in the next goldfish breeding season ;P


Picture:
Two of my new breed Dragon Eyes Pompom Pearlscales 2010. Probably another two or three iterations to stabilise the strain.

Mirroring ~ 以人為鏡

以铜为镜，可以正衣冠；

以古为镜，可以知兴替；

以人为镜，可以明得失。
~唐太宗

Mirror our image to adjust our attire;
 

Mirror history to understand the rise and fall of empires;

Mirror others to self appraise.

~ Emperor Tai Zhong, first emperor of the Tang dynasty

1st prize "Mirror Image"# entry of MFGC2010

Most of us use the mirror everyday - when we wake up in the morning, we wash up in front of the mirror; before we get out of home, we check ourselves in the mirror to ensure that we are neat and appropriately dressed.

We all know too well of this mirror that reflects our external self but few know of the other mirror that reflects our inner self. The latter is none other than us - human beings. We can always self-appraise from others' failures and successes.

It is not difficult to see our true self especially in competitions where our pride is at stake. Have we been objective to see our own weakness when we lost? Have we been humble to see more room for improvement when we won? The flying eagle and the well frog see the same sky very differently - the eagle feels small and humble as it soars in the vastness of the sky; the frog feels big and arrogant looking at the "small" sky above the well. 

The 2nd prize "Mirror Image"# entry in MFGC 2010 by
Dr Wee is one that I admire very much.

#The "mirror image" is an interesting category introduced in My Fancy Goldfish Competition (MFGC) since 2008. In this category,  winners will be judged on how close the duo entry resembles each other. Since all goldfish are unique, it is indeed a great challenge! Check out the MFGC2010 updates in the Vermillion Goldfish Club website now!

Too Good To Be True ~ 好事多磨

宁為有瑕玉,不為無瑕石。

Better a jade with a flaw then a stone without.

~ Author unknown

As the Ranchus grow bigger, some of their structural flaws manifest. Fishes having desirable traits for breeding are earmarked as breeder fishes while those with show potential will be groomed specially for shows. Besides segregation by show and breeder classes, the sexes are also separated to minimise the chances of premature spawning at such juvenile age.

 

Tosai 2010

Through all these years, I have learned to appreciate how difficult it is to produce a good Ranchu. The work is humongous, but the results are always uncertain and the more I breed Ranchu, the more I am humbled to feel how much I still do not know about this art.

 

My favourite fish with a bent right shoulder.

It will be one of my important breeders for 2011

 

Hopefully, the few promising breeder fishes selected from each spawn would yield better results next year. My main focus of for the next few years will be to achieve consistency both in TVR grooming and breeding techniques.

Stretching The Limits ~ 極限所能

休息是為了走更長的路。
To rest is to prepare for a longer journey ahead.
~ A Chinese saying

My initial plan to push the Dragon Eyes Pearlscale fries to grow faster is hampered by the drastic weather conditions. One moment it was so hot and humid and the next moment torrential rain. In this weather conditions, it would be foolhardy to feed the fries aggressively to hasten their growth rate; one wrong step could potentially wipe out years of hard work. Slow feeding means slow growth, and slow growth means slower culling as their flaws are less obvious to cull.


Rare blue-brown

Though things have slowed down for the pass weeks, I am still kept busy with more frequent water changes to dilute the acid rain. Life  only got a little easier finally after the 4th culling of the Dragon Eyes Pearlscales yesterday. Some day, some where, some things or someone would break if I do not slow down a bit on goldfish breeding. So for the next few months, I hope to channel my focus  on filling the orders for my goldfish artwork. 

Picture
1. Dragon Eyes Pearlscale spawn #4 at 19 days old.

Keep The Best, Forget The Rest ~ 取優捨劣

"在萬中選千，千中選百，百里拔十，方能得出色上好者”~ (拙園老人1904 《蟲魚雅集》)


Sieve out the best thousand from 10 thousands, then select the best hundred from the thousand to get the 10 outstanding specimens out of the hundred.
~ quote from a Chinese book published in 1904.

It was a great relief after culling the largest batch of Dragon Eyes Pearlscales last weekend. The inconsistent supply of daphnia in the rainy season, the cost of feeding such a big batch and the space constraints all signaled the time for urgent culling. Culling was slow and eye-straining, stretching from day time to night time because the fries were still a bit too small to review most of their flaws. Inevitably, I had to keep more fries than I normally do after the first culling.

The focus of Pearlscale breeding this year would be more on fine tuning the features by crossing in the main line of Dragon Eyes Pearlscale to the F2 of the Pompom Dragon Eyes Pearlscale (短尾龍珠球). A rare colouration I  want to breed more this year is the blue-brown (紫蘭花). Having only two precious specimens of seed males, it is paramount to propagate this unique colour before the line is lost.

With 5 big spawns of Pearlsales this year,  so I can afford to be very picky. I am not too worried about the large number of fries now as eventually not many will meet my expectations. Yeah! Keep the best and forget the rest - a slogan I learned from my old friend Ron. I hope one day, he will come back to this hobby again.

Pictures:
1. Short Tail Blue-brown Dragon Eyes Pearlscales (紫蘭花)
2. Day culling
3. Night culling

A Butterfly Dream ~ 莊周夢蝶

惠子曰：「子非魚，安知魚之樂？」
莊子曰：「子非我，安知我不知魚之樂？」
~ 莊子: "知魚之樂"

Huizi : "You're not a fish — how do you know the fish is happy?"

Zhuangzi : "You're not me, so how do you know I don't know that the fish is happy?"
~ Excerpt "Happiness of a fish" by the ancient Chinese Philosopher Zhuangzi

 

Inspiration from the show "How to train your dragon"

Stealing some free time in the Pearlscale breeding season to tease my shiny scale Dragon Eyes Butterfly. Isn't it a very happy fish? :)

For the next few weeks, I am bracing myself to cull two large spawns of Dragon Eyes Pearlscales (45k to 50k). The challenge then is to grow such a big brood healthily and big enough for culling.

What Drives Me Crazy? 玩魚也瘋狂

怎麼不可能 ? 關鍵在于你有多想要去做。
~ 好友阿英 (五花蘭壽狂想曲)

Why impossible? It depends on how much you really want to do it.

~ My very good friend Ying (http://www.calicoRanchu.hk)

I haven't got much rest time after 3 intensive months of TVR breeding - 3 big spawns of Short Tail Dragon Eyes Pearlscales and 1 spawn of Calico/Sakura TVR are keeping me very busy. Quite a few people had asked me how I  managed to garner so much energy to juggle marathon goldfish breeding, a full time job and a young family. The long answer to what keeps me going is my penchant for creation, many good friends to enjoy the hobby together, and of course, a supportive family (actually they had totally given up on me :P ).

 

This year's Tosai fishes to groom for the OARS

Limitations are all in our minds right? Lest I sound like a inspiration speaker, I want to profess that everything has a price to pay. Frankly, the cost, time and effort to breed Goldfish in Singapore would put most people out of this feat. A Goldfish breeder is also nothing glamorous in our Metropolitan city. Rain or shine, weekday or weekend, there is no holiday for the Goldfish breeder. The highly menial tasks in water change and culling also mean much time away from friends and family too.

Dragon Eyes Pearlscale Spawn - Not for the fainthearted

Another of my motivations to breed Goldfish is for  the purpose of competition.  Nothing beats the joy of competing with own-bred fishes. I use competition as a benchmark on the success of my breeding projects.  Not on winning, but on how my entries pit against others'.

How not to give up on me? The mess at home
in the Pearlscale breeding season

By the time I wrap up the Pearlscale breeding near the end of the year, it will be time again to plan for the TVR breeding - this is the cyclical routine that I have been following for the pass few years. Life as a Goldfish breeder is very tough but I am enjoying every bit of it. So the very short answer to what keeps me going is just the word "madness". 

# The MFGC is happening this May 27th ~ 30th, online entry form can be downloaded from the Vermillion Goldfish Club Website, Samgoldfish Website and the RafflesGold Forum. Closing date is 30th April.

Cherish What We Have ~ 知足常樂

找碴兒是為了滿足我不斷提高技術的渴望。

I have this desire to keep improving, so I find fault.
~ Heston Blumenthal

I often ponder if I am in the wrong part of the world to fall in love with goldfish breeding. I love the outdoors and nature, yet I live in a land of concrete jungles with  a very fast pace of life and limited space.

Batch A - 78 days after hatching

The TVR hobby taught me many things about life - Life is never perfect, just as there is no perfect Ranchu. The Japanese Ranchu Masters preach about "learning to see more of the beauty of a Ranchu than its flaws", so I should learn to appreciate what I have - health,  happy family, good friends and the time with my fishes. 

As I lament that breeding goldfish is much more difficult and expensive in tropical Singapore, I really have to feel very fortunate to be a Singaporean - without peace and prosperity for my country, I would be more worried about life's other basic needs than to fret over my Ranchus. After all, I am VERY proud to be a Singaporean, Singaporeans are passionate about striving to be World Class in all our endeavours.

Batch B 73 days after hatching

So I am on cloud nine, cherishing the brief early morning respite from the maddening crowds, amongst the chirping birds and the buzzing cicadas, I enjoy the company of my Ranchus :)

Metamorphosis ~ 蛻變

子曰：惟有上智与下愚不移。

It is only the wisest and stupidest that do not change.

~ Confucius

All the BBRs have almost completed colour change. Their colour at this stage is still not stable until they are at least another month older. If we are not careful with the water quality at this stage, many may become bleached (full white).

Batch A ~ 66 days after hatching

Batch B ~ 61 days after hatching

MY Fancy Goldfish Competition (MFGC) 2010

曾經擁有
 A good snapshot stops a moment from running away. ~ Eudora Welty


MY Fancy Goldfish Competition (MFGC), the biennial event jointly organised by the Vermillion Goldfish Club and Samgoldfish and supported by The RafflesGold Forum is one of the most prestigious and anticipated All-Fancy Goldfish Competition in Asia. Judged by some of the World's most renown Goldfish judges and participated by strong entries from famous breeders and avid hobbyists in Asia, it is definitely a Goldfish Event not to be missed! Here is a preview video prepared by my fellow club member, Alvin Tan:


An Alvin & Alvin Production

The beautiful Goldfish portraits in this video are photographed by Alvin Lim, who spent hours in the open recording these wonderful specimens groomed by the Vermillion Goldfish Club members. Fishes would come and go, but photographs would leave us fond memories forever. Apart from Goldfish keeping skills, I have also picked up some photography techniques from Alvin.

Stay tune to the MFGC to watch some of these fishes in action!

Double-Edged Sword ~ 雙刃劍

Candor is always a double-edged sword; it may heal or it may separate.

~ Wilhelm Stekel

There is a time to push and a time to pull back when grooming the TVR. Harmonising with the laws of nature and yet at times, breaking the laws of nature; the more I dwell into the art of TVR, the more I feel I am wielding a double-edged sword. So much zen about the TVR... after all, the fancy Goldfish could never have existed in nature without man's intervention and years of selective breeding.

Batch A ~ 51 days after hatching

This year, I got a few BBR (Black Baby Ranchu) achieving 6 cm before they changed colour. The Japanese believe that the transitional stage from BBR to CBR (Coloured Baby Ranchu) is like the metamorphosis of a caterpillar to a butterfly. It is a difficult time for the BBR and they lose much of their "baby fats". It is also the time for us to pull back a on aggressive feeding and keep a much closer watch on water quality.

Batch B ~ 46 days after hatching

Sweet 16 ~ 吾家有魚初長成

You've got to do your own growing, no matter how tall your grandfather was.
~ An Irish Saying

It is important to push the BBRs to grow as much as possible before their colour changes. The risk of pushing too aggressively without good water quality management will result in sick fishes. Even if we can keep our BBRs healthy with an aggressive feeding regime and water quality in check, it does not mean we should feed our BBR like pigs.

Sweet 16 ~ 44 days after hatching

The technique of grooming the BBR is likened to that of a Sumo wrestler - they are nurtured to epitomise strength, power and agility. The Japanese technique of grooming BBRs and Sumo wrestlers entails high quality food and good exercise as well. It is no coincidence that the ranking of Ranchus in the AJRS takes after the ranking of the Sumo wrestlers.

Ask any Japanese Ranchu Master and they will say that the bloodline is the most important criteria to making good BBRs. Besides the bloodline factor, grooming is what we do by varying pond space, amount of feed, type of feed, stocking ratio, water change regime and environmental conditions.

BBRs just after feeding ~ 37 days after hatching

This year, I have some breakthrough in making the BBRs bigger than previous years before their colour change. But I got to watch out for obesity and the fats growing on the wrong parts of the body. It is still too early to tell the results and I am still learning how to make a Sumo Ranchu :)