Expectations ~ 期待

金玉其外，敗絮其中。
All that glitters is not gold.
~ a quote from the Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare

The BBRs are nearly a month old. This is a critical stage where they will be undergoing dramatic changes over the next few months. The experienced breeder knows better than to jump to conclusion too early, for the changes that ensues could make one highly motivated one day and downright demoralized another day. Though higher expectations equate to higher disappointments, nevertheless, fishes seldom disappoint as humans do... 


Much of the pains of breeding the TVR can be alleviated by being humble and respectful, and be constantly appraising ourselves.

BBR Spawned in 27th FebruaryVideo taken on 25th March 

Looking for Consistency ~ 追求一致

如果不迷失，那就有可能永遠不會被發現。 

If you don't get lost,
there's a chance you may never be found.

~ Unknown author

BBR 2012: 27 February Spawn - photo taken on 22nd March

I wondered how I had managed to survive the past weeks. Work had been hell, but domestic matters just happened altogether. Nevertheless, I had squeezed in time to do the necessary culling and water changes for the BBR, usually late at night or in the wee hours of the morning. It's tiring but it's also how I keep my sanity in check amid the hustle and bustle of life.

Though there are more spawns this year, unfortunately, the fertility is not up to expectation. Perhaps the abrupt weather condition after the New Year messed up the biological clock of the seed fishes, inadvertently affecting the quality of the eggs. Until the reasons for successes/failures are known, I consider myself still in the stage of exploration as my results can never be consistent...

The next few weeks can be very busy again, depending on how things goes in the work place. Time permitting, I would embark on some experiments to collect more eggs. Otherwise, I would just make the best out of what I have and try do better next year.

Exceptions ~ 特例

自然界為每一條規律都按上了特例。

Nature provides exceptions to every rule.
~ Margaret Fuller

Local bred female F12KF02B3
good overall structure

1st choice - Local bred female F12YK01B1
Not much head wen, desired tail and tail seat

It is again the TVR spawning season. This year, I have prepared 6 pairs of seed Ranchus. So far, 4 females had spawned and amongst them, 2 are Oya fishes. 

If the eggs from these Oya fishes hatched successfully, it would be a new breakthrough for me - unlike the males, which I have no problem to breed for consecutive years, I had never been successful in breeding a female seed TVR successfully for two consecutive years. This is a very significant step in developing a bloodline, otherwise, I could only bet on the males to enhance the desired traits when I need to backcross to a prior generation.


I was also very excited when my first choice seed female are amongst the females spawned. This is a fish with my desired tail taste (Ogata) a tail bracelet, but unfortunately, it has almost no head wen. As such, I had crossed it with 2 males with good head wen.

Local bred male M12WW02B2

Though it is widely believed that the tail structure is inherited from the male fish while the head wen structure is inherited from the female fish, I reckoned that the rules of Nature are never that straightforward - there will always be exceptions. As far as I can, I try to select seed fishes with the strongest desired traits. Let's see how this spawn develop first before deciding to make more of the similar spawn combination.

Local bred male M12KF01B3

As per request by some readers, I would try my best to update my spawns in this blog. Please excuse me if I could not reply your mails in time during this busy period.