tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41792832829989113962024-03-05T22:03:24.782+08:00GoldfishArtQuaticsUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger153125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-85040607570927812762019-12-20T17:08:00.001+08:002019-12-20T18:21:00.839+08:00The SingPost Goldfish Definitive Stamps 2019<i><span style="color: #0b0129; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span></i><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>Be like a postage stamp, stick to one thing until you get there.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">~ Josh Billings<br />
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<i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;">SingPost</span> </i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">recently launched Singapore’s 2019 goldfish definitive stamps. I am honoured that the image of one of my goldfish was featured in the 1st Local and Local Stamp Book designs.<br />
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The image is of a Telescope Eye (a.k.a Dragon Eye) Pearlscale that has been on the main banner of <a href="https://m.facebook.com/juzFishArtQuatics">my Facebook page</a> for some years. Born and bred in 2010 in Singapore, it won first prize in the Pearlscale class at the <a href="http://goldfishartquatics.blogspot.com/2011/06/uniquely-singapore.html">2011 Aquarama International Goldfish Competition</a>. This uniquely Singaporean creation was the product of a breeding program that I had begun in 2006.<br />
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</span> <span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Tank view of the First Local Stamp Pearlscale<br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The basic features of the Pearlscale are a roundish body and pearl-like protruding scales, from which the breed derives its name. The more commonly available strains are the Ping-pong Pearlscale and the Crown Pearlscale.<br />
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The idea of creating a new strain came about in 2005. I wanted to set myself tougher challenges in the goldfish hobby and was determined to refute critics who believed it impossible to produce quality goldfish in tropical Singapore. Thus was the blueprint of the new variety conceived, based upon the Pearlscale variety - one of the most demanding goldfish to properly cultivate.</span><br />
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</span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">A big pearlscale from the Little Red Dot:<br />
Size from the top view of the First Local Stamp Pearlscale</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> My dream was to develop a Pearlscale with an adorable rounded body and short tail; and exotic oriental features in the form of dragon (telescopic) eyes, pom poms (velvety narial bouquets), and topped off with a mini crown. I also wished for it to have a multitude of colour variations and the potential to achieve an impressive size.<br />
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It does not take much imagination to realise that my ideas would be accompanied by a engineering challenge - a fish with a short tail on one end having the daunting task of powering a plumpish body which would sport the heavy payloads of dragon eyes, pom poms and a crown at the other end. Balance had to be achieved through careful selective breeding for the optimal backbone structure, body-head-tail proportions, eye size, tail shape and angle. This was important to allow the fish to swim with grace and refined deportment, and live a healthy dignified life.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Dragon Eye Pom Pom Crown Pearlscale came to life in 2013</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A goldfish breeding programme is a long term project. It entails knowledge of goldfish genetics and show standards, water quality management, contingency planning, ample pond space and the commitment to track the development of the bloodline.<br />
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In livestock breeding, a stable bloodline is one that exhibits a high consistency of desired traits over generations. Outcrossing - ie mixing with unrelated strains or bloodlines - is necessary to introduce new desired features to the baseline pearlscale variety.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> However, outcrossing is akin to shuffling a deck of hitherto ordered cards - once done, it is difficult to predict the hand that will next be dealt. Stable and desired traits may diminish or even disappear in the new hybrid offspring. A bad decision in outcrossing or casualties in brood stock can have catastrophic - or even show stopping - consequences for the whole breeding programme.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Tank view of a Singapore Dragon Eye Pom Pom Crown Pearlscale in 2015</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If the outcross proves promising, back-crossing - breeding the new outcrossed hybrid back to the original stable line - is done to reinforce any original desired traits “diluted” by the outcross. This process may take multiple iterations over years before the new bloodline stabilises. As such, preserving the “last working version” is crucial so that there is no need to return to square one, when things go awry.</span><br />
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Creating a new goldfish variety is a long game of patience with no guarantee of success. The journey was at times lonely, with few fans or believers when it began with the first generation in 2005. Singapore’s tropical climate has allowed me to breed up to 3 generations of goldfish a year (as compared to only one generation in spring for temperate climates like China’s or Japan’s). But even with the quickened progress, it took years to stabilised the new variety.<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">2019 </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Dragon Eye Pom Pom Pearl babies 5 month old</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> As of the time of writing in December 2019, this labour of love has endured for over a decade. Having given many of my best years to the cause, it all seems worthwhile whenever I see specimens developing nicely.<br />
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Whilst still less known here at home (at least before the stamps were launched!) the Telescope Eye Pearlscale has gained recognition internationally as a uniquely Singapore variety.<br />
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However, the quest for “pearl-fection” is a continuing passion and I would hope to continue enhancing the breed for as long as I possibly can.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> My heartfelt thanks once again to SingPost for showcasing my work in the prominent way that they have!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><i><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZ5Bpu8VlUknr6KdAaMCVnOxW2vfjpFPKxRw_qt7q_Lon4zn66xmm-QAx1amBx_IeO73hOEM63wzjc7STtIElOr01tZvh3OGwE7aRQlUKtACj0t3ZVNE3wrUKWsrT32V6Q-zI-s0XrzTK/s1600/goldfish-definitive-stamps.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="714" height="314" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuZ5Bpu8VlUknr6KdAaMCVnOxW2vfjpFPKxRw_qt7q_Lon4zn66xmm-QAx1amBx_IeO73hOEM63wzjc7STtIElOr01tZvh3OGwE7aRQlUKtACj0t3ZVNE3wrUKWsrT32V6Q-zI-s0XrzTK/s320/goldfish-definitive-stamps.JPG" width="320" /></a></i></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><i>You may purchase the Singapore goldfish definitive stamp set and Stamp Book from <a href="https://shop.singpost.com/" target="_blank">shop.singpost.com</a></i></span><br />
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Check out some of my blog articles:<br />
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My Goldfish Breeding Journey:<br />
~ <a href="http://goldfishartquatics.blogspot.com/2010/09/dream-of-goldfish-fanatic.html" target="_blank">Dream of a Goldfish Fanatic</a><br />
~ <a href="http://goldfishartquatics.blogspot.com/2011/06/uniquely-singapore.html" target="_blank">Aquarama 2011</a><br />
~ <a href="http://goldfishartquatics.blogspot.com/2010/10/balance.html" target="_blank">Balance</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> ~ <a href="http://goldfishartquatics.blogspot.com/2013/06/figment-of-imagination.html" target="_blank">Real & Imaginary</a><br />~ <a href="http://goldfishartquatics.blogspot.com/2012/08/culling-selective-breeding.html" target="_blank">Culling & Selective Breeding </a></span></div>
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My Goldfish Artworks:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">~ </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://goldfishartquatics.blogspot.com/2012/08/serenity.html" target="_blank">Serenity</a><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">~ </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://goldfishartquatics.blogspot.com/2017/10/ten-years-of-hard-work-for-minute-on.html" target="_blank">A Minute on Stage is 10 Years of Hard Work</a></span><br /><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">~ </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://goldfishartquatics.blogspot.com/2012/01/art-of-patience.html" target="_blank">The Art of Patience</a><br /><span style="color: #000120;">~ </span><a href="http://goldfishartquatics.blogspot.com/2009/06/blog-post.html" target="_blank">5 minute Pearlscale</a></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #000120;"><u><br />
</u>Enjoy more than 100 goldfish articles posted in <a href="https://goldfishartquatics.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Goldfish ArtQuatics</a>!!!<u><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-22030665420071807512018-03-27T22:59:00.001+08:002018-03-28T09:42:12.294+08:00Master of the Game ~ 遊戲大師<i><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br />
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<i><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-size: large;">“The future was clay, to be moulded day by day, but the past was bedrock, immutable.”</span></span></i>~ <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Sidney Sheldon, Master of the Game </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZHtu9ozlV5gR4WQUZvy-vuWJxY8B5jIoiA-YpOAwo32MrUlrsu38Szy-ol_mudFRtHhgJDaXiHSqqSIWKEloNr6GlxYbdnBvroiZQYR3Un1YPzGUCZFAIaWpc1UTVDbhxp3jCjf_Uq1g/s1600/BBR2017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="308" data-original-width="360" height="273" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZHtu9ozlV5gR4WQUZvy-vuWJxY8B5jIoiA-YpOAwo32MrUlrsu38Szy-ol_mudFRtHhgJDaXiHSqqSIWKEloNr6GlxYbdnBvroiZQYR3Un1YPzGUCZFAIaWpc1UTVDbhxp3jCjf_Uq1g/s320/BBR2017.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">BBR</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>I</i></b></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">t's the season of the Japanese Black Baby Ranchu (BBR or kurroko 黒仔 in Japanese), named after the greenish-black colouration of the baby Ranchu that has yet to acquire its adult colouration.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Every year, from February to June is the busiest period of the year for the Japanese Ranchu breeders. It is also an exciting season for the Ranchu hobbyists as they look forward to acquire good quality baby Ranchus. </span><br />
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Grooming Ranchu from their baby stage may seem like trying your luck with the Japanese <a href="http://tokyoexcess.blogspot.sg/2014/06/gashapon-gachapon-capsule-toys-in-japan.html" target="_blank">gachapon</a> (capsule toy) machines (<i>"tikum"</i> in local Singapore context). The suspense and excitement in opening the capsule, hoping for your favourite toy model within is simply overwhelming.<br />
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<span id="goog_502101876"></span><span id="goog_502101877"></span>However, Ranchu grooming entails more than sheer luck. The Japanese masters referred to grooming Ranchu as "making a Ranchu". They emphasized that a good Ranchu is 30% good bloodline and 70% good grooming. No doubt a higher grade BBR of good bloodline will have a much higher chance to become a good quality Ranchu, even the best Ranchu will be ruined if not groomed properly. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVqkTU6HRNK4M5q27O5kftHVFQURa_2AcoFba0eZlXJvAeqDIPbLToiiWIKEmIOsALWizyg-_OoYaAJhHV4LHOC3GkqBSn7Z9prR4NMyKMwVZrzkgcLpWTZNs89zPg7yUbNp2wT1udYbcV/s1600/gachapon.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="270" data-original-width="360" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVqkTU6HRNK4M5q27O5kftHVFQURa_2AcoFba0eZlXJvAeqDIPbLToiiWIKEmIOsALWizyg-_OoYaAJhHV4LHOC3GkqBSn7Z9prR4NMyKMwVZrzkgcLpWTZNs89zPg7yUbNp2wT1udYbcV/s320/gachapon.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Gachapon goldfish</span></td></tr>
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There are techniques in making the head, body and tail of a baby Ranchu in different stages of its life. By studying the characteristics of each Ranchu, the Ranchu keeper tailor and "fine tune" their development by adjusting the food amount, food duration and food variety. They also control the amount of water change, water temperature, depth of water and the number of fishes among other things.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjss9G2Lx7fi88xw5bNa15_b0R7b_Q5IqfC4PDCC6JKSZVzigQ8DEk1oa03CixkFDTK8KvqPcU5RfSr_iLW9iSfMLVWElG4NaUx5DCMw7ptsBIz340iI7fFBJT0Jm8jSF7dcehccd4ieCpe/s1600/AndoCBR2017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="352" data-original-width="360" height="312" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjss9G2Lx7fi88xw5bNa15_b0R7b_Q5IqfC4PDCC6JKSZVzigQ8DEk1oa03CixkFDTK8KvqPcU5RfSr_iLW9iSfMLVWElG4NaUx5DCMw7ptsBIz340iI7fFBJT0Jm8jSF7dcehccd4ieCpe/s320/AndoCBR2017.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Ando BBR 2017<br />
colour changed about 1.5 months after arrival</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If making a Ranchu is just about growth and size, then it would be so easy to push BBR for rapid growth with an aggressive feeding regime and frequent water changes. However, t</span>he standard of a Japanese Ranchu is not to make a couch potato; a good Japanese Ranchu is a fish that epitomize both power in features and elegance in movement.</span><br />
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BBRs do much better in a group than in solo or fewer fishes because by nature goldfish are sociable fishes. In a group, they are less stressed by movement and disturbances near the pond. Group grooming also promotes competition for food and mitigate the risk of over-feeding. A few fishes will take their own sweet time to finish their food because they perceived the abundance of food. On the other hand, a group of fishes will naturally compete for food and in the process, they exercise more, which aids in food digestion and the building up of a strong bone structure. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The same spawn of fish from the same breeder groomed by different keepers will turn out very differently because of varying keeping techniques and environment. There is also a saying in Japan that many of the best Ranchu keepers are those who are creative because they tend to experiment on new and different techniques in making their Ranchu.</span><br />
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I am thankful to a modest and avid Singaporean hobbyist (who prefers to remain anonymous) to share his grooming in this blog post:</span><br />
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In April 2017, he acquired 10 pieces of Ando BBR and many of his fishes turn out very well. As a typical Singaporean staying in high rise flats with the constraint of space, he successfully groomed his Ranchu indoors without the natural sunlight. The use of LED lighting indoors to mimic the natural sunlight helped in the growth of the green wall algae. In turn, the green wall algae acts as a natural filtration and also provided a nutritional food source for the Ranchu.</span><br />
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One of his BBR even won 6th position out of more than 50 entries in the Small Tosai class in Thailand (Mid Year Siam Ranchu Challenge 2017). The following video shows the development of the prize winning fish:<br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>If you are game for "Ranchu gachapon", </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>please enquire for the annual BBR sales:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Email : juzFishArtQuatics@gmail.com</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Tel: +65-96732638</b></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-69997281406849664042017-10-16T22:54:00.000+08:002017-11-14T13:28:03.892+08:00A Minute on Stage is 10 Years of Hard Work ~ 台上一分鐘,台下十年功<span style="color: #38761d;"><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span></span></i></span> <span style="color: #38761d;"><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">無國界的藝術 </span></span></i></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-size: x-large;">Art is universal. It unites mankind in common brotherhood.</span></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">~ Excerpt from the quote of James Jackson Jarves</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><i><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span></span></i></b>he appreciation of all things beautiful is human nature, more pertinent is the fact that people from any culture can appreciate the beauty of a great piece of art or music from a foreign culture, without the need to understand that foreign language.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Today, I would like to share one of my favorite YouTube video - "Matsuri" by Master Kitaro. Master Kitaro often coalesce his music with the flavors and cultures of the countries that he performed in. In this particular music video, filmed in 2011 in his Hong Kong performance tour, the Matsuri theme was harmoniously blended with the euphony of Oriental musical instruments. <br /><br />The sheer concordance of the Kitaro tempo often evokes psychical peace and inspiration to many... including myself - overwhelmed by the profound serenity and inspiration from the tempo of Matsuri to sketch the dynamic beauty of the Goldfish :))</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Beyond doubt, many cultures also found the love for the Goldfish and develop various strains of Goldfish in accordance to their aesthetic preferences. We can often appreciate different perspectives of beauty from these communal development. Breeders also cross bred Goldfish developed by different cultures to create new and interesting perspectives. Like the beautiful music of Master Kitaro, the beauty of the Goldfish is appreciated by people of many cultures!</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Please also enjoy the exceptional musical performance by master Kitaro with the VIVA girls in <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHbKIgsA4vU" target="_blank">this music video</a>!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-39089134235291503112017-06-02T19:27:00.000+08:002017-06-02T19:27:26.112+08:00Aquarama 2017 ~ 國際觀賞魚與水族器材展覽會<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: large;"><i><br />如果你能找到沒有障礙物的路徑,那麼它也极不可能指引你到任何地方。<br /><br />If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere. </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">~ Frank A. Clark</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">judges working on the scoring.<br />Photo courtesy of Alvin Lim</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><br /><br />W</b></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">ith the acquisition of <a href="http://www.aquarama.com.cn/" target="_blank">Aquarama</a> by VNU Exhibitions Asia Ltd, the much anticipated International Ornamental Fish Event will be </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">held annually in Guangzhou, China from 2016 onward.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I felt very honoured to be invited as </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">one of the International goldfish judges in the goldfish competition. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjATbH5Pg_bnqnhl0WRt2CTA_I_sqHvver2lqBxGGKrgyDgaLyG5PvhnmxWLDHUbOXgYRtDenAOwwCWFXllsgMEZUcVuWQCCoRV3GkB5_v2tqXCHDkiO9nONEY3RVgIpSvdsGecdEthmFTI/s1600/GC.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="491" data-original-width="640" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjATbH5Pg_bnqnhl0WRt2CTA_I_sqHvver2lqBxGGKrgyDgaLyG5PvhnmxWLDHUbOXgYRtDenAOwwCWFXllsgMEZUcVuWQCCoRV3GkB5_v2tqXCHDkiO9nONEY3RVgIpSvdsGecdEthmFTI/s320/GC.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The opportunity to work and learn from some of the world's renown goldfish dignitaries from China, Japan and South East Asia was much cherished.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLTjLfelYsTPUa2KEoIFfVEiuDj2AHEe5ke6YaZA4caQUYbx24NeqmbUdJeItA09uECATGx8kzZP5k7h2w6GqVekxLcV57x0QoU11gvUHyRM8_efjrNCRm513Hd6pxZxFj7uqXqbShVAWf/s1600/demekin.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="391" data-original-width="259" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLTjLfelYsTPUa2KEoIFfVEiuDj2AHEe5ke6YaZA4caQUYbx24NeqmbUdJeItA09uECATGx8kzZP5k7h2w6GqVekxLcV57x0QoU11gvUHyRM8_efjrNCRm513Hd6pxZxFj7uqXqbShVAWf/s1600/demekin.JPG" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br />Though it was a hectic day of judging in the show, we find time to discuss on further plans to fine tune our judging operations and the administration for future shows. It was also a rare occasion for the judges to learn and share with each other about the goldfish standards and appreciation from our respective cultures.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Regrettably, I was unable to take as much pictures as I wish of the show due to the tight schedule in the judging and meetings. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We wish VNU a very successful venture in Aquarama as they are fully committed to continue the success of the Aquarama brand name </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">as one of the leading International Aquaria events in the world.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Show exterior</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-69519112669185560062016-05-17T18:52:00.000+08:002016-05-17T18:52:48.972+08:00Weaving Roots ~ 扎根<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;"><i>卓越是由掌握基本面实现的。</i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5bMt9zJh3QPUueF5yQsiA1jptCMHSSPXVpHiOogHGRxeiJmgvqtPJCL53gv4wm9Mpejqfkapfr1lLnf-nSXN1iOeSpG-VNavdGwbac9chV0JA63XwHYWXyh9OVQJLyd6uNnjV3dM0WyM6/s1600/bamboo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5bMt9zJh3QPUueF5yQsiA1jptCMHSSPXVpHiOogHGRxeiJmgvqtPJCL53gv4wm9Mpejqfkapfr1lLnf-nSXN1iOeSpG-VNavdGwbac9chV0JA63XwHYWXyh9OVQJLyd6uNnjV3dM0WyM6/s320/bamboo.jpg" width="240" /></a><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;"><i>Excellence is achieved by the mastery of the fundamentals.</i></span><br />
~ <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Vince Lombardi</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>P</i></b></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: center;">hyllostachys edulis is an amazing variety of bamboo. The young shoots of the bamboo takes 4 years to grow a mere 3 cm. However, from the 5th year onwards, it grows 30 cm everyday. Within 6 weeks, it reaches 15 metres and became a towering bamboo tree! Most people only see the amazing changes in the last 6 weeks but were not aware that the secret to this amazing feat lies in the first 4 years.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The first 4 years of the bamboo was not spent idling; it was actually weaving a vast network of roots deeply (扎根) and firmly onto the ground over hundreds of metres, building a strong base foundation for future growth. While the spirit of the bamboo is frequently used to refer to one who persevere to grasp the basic foundation before aiming for greater heights in the future, it is also an allusion that patience is needed to make a good piece of craft or artwork.</span></div>
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</span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In the art of making Ranchu, we know the importance of good progressive growth for the BBR. However, making Ranchu is not only about water changing and pushing aggressively for growth. As the body of the Ranchu is the easiest and fastest to develop, the overall proportions of a Ranchu can be distorted easily if the head and tail development are neglected. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Veteran Japanese Ranchu keepers often emphasize on the importance of a good foundation and balance rather than to push too aggressively for growth. Accordingly, a balance growth rate allows time for the fish to build the density of its tissues and bones gradually so that they will be healthy and beautiful throughout their adult life. Ranchus that are grown in a more controlled pace will also have a more refine finishing as well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The advance of fish food technology and the use of greenhouse to breed ranchus earlier in the year are the main reasons that tosai ranchus are getting bigger in the All Japan Ranchu Show (AJRS) held annually on 3rd November. Nevertheless, in recent years, the Japan Ranchu Association (JRA) has imposed a curb on the size of tosai in the AJRS. Oversized tosai Ranchu bigger than 16cm are deemed oversized and called HIDAI-GYO(肥大魚), literally meant "fat and big fish", they are disqualified immediately and will not be judged in the AJRS.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">References on keeping Japanese Ranchu:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">~ <a href="http://www.goldfishartquatics.blogspot.sg/2015/10/the-allure-of-japanese-ranchu.html" target="_blank">The Allure of the Japanese Ranchu</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">~ <a href="http://goldfishartquatics.blogspot.sg/2013/08/a-pinch-of-salt.html" target="_blank">How to use salt</a></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-88561334504450701342015-10-17T18:33:00.001+08:002015-10-18T00:14:50.161+08:00The Allure of the Japanese Ranchu ~ 魅力蘭壽<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;"><i><br />
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</i></span> <span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;"><i>有些時候,換個視角就看得到光明了。</i></span><br />
~ <span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-TW"><span class="">丹·布朗</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>Sometimes, a change in perspective is what it takes to see the light.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">~ Dan Brown</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>M</i></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ost who had visited Japan would be awed by its unique culture that has been very successful in conjugating tradition with modernization. Albeit Japan's technological prowess, various ancient trades and art still persist in the traditional way, reverberating the candid contrasts of old and new in the Japanese's lifestyle and society. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Goldfish aquaculture in Japan is no exception. Long before the advent of glass tanks, goldfish were kept in ponds and naturally, they were bred to be appreciated from the top view. Today, many Japanese goldfish varieties are still bred for their top view aesthetics with some of the important goldfish competitions in Japan still assessing the goldfish from the top view.</span></div>
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The most famous of all Japanese goldfish is of course the Ranchu. In fact, the Chinese Ranchu was created in the early 80's when the Japanese Ranchu was introduced into Fuzhou to cross with the Chinese lionhead. Ironically, it was the Chinese Ranchu that first took the goldfish world by storm. The Thai breeders have also imported the Japanese ranchu and selectively bred it for appreciation in the side view profile. The Thais, being very skilled in ornamental fishes, and inevitably these ranchu become very popular too and are widely known as the Thai ranchus (side view appreciation). </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Top view profile of a Chinese ranchu:</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">head is more rounded, body more olive shaped,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Why are the original Japanese ranchu not as well known as their cousins in China and Thailand? The main reasons being that in Japan, ranchus were mostly bred by closed groups of Japanese hobbyists in ranchu clubs, hence the lack of commercialisation until the age of the Internet in the mid 90s. Another reason is that most hobbyists are not accustomed to appreciating goldfish from the top view because of the popularity of keeping goldfish in glass tanks. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What then is the allure of the Japanese Ranchu? </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For a culture passionate about the refinement of anything, the aesthetics of dynamics is but only a natural course in the Japanese goldfish art and culture. The Japanese ranchus are bred not only to look beautiful from the top view but also to swim beautifully. They also seem to exhibit very different temperament from the Chinese and Thai ranchus; Japanese ranchus are extremely hyperactive like playful puppies. This could be due to their structure that was bred for swimming aesthetics.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The most endearing moment for the Japanese Ranchu keeper is a shoal of cute ranchus wagging their tails and sexy peduncles in anticipation of their meals. Their active temperament, stocky peduncle, broad back and wider tail spread are a real joy to be appreciated from the top view ponds. Many people who started keeping the Japanese ranchu soon realised that they have open up a whole new perspective in enjoying the goldfish hobby.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Always therapeutic to watch a group of healthy ranchus feeding</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Tips of starting the Japanese Ranchu hobby:</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The Japanese ranchu have been closely inbred and isolated for more than a century in Japan and are very sensitive to gill bacterial and gill flukes. A wrong footing in the hobby can prove very painful and disastrous for the newbie. However, the Japanese ranchu can be very easy to keep if we are discipline and observe some basic rules.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>1) Reliable source </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Get your Japanese ranchu from a source who has quarantined and acclimatized the ranchus to local conditions for sometime. Healthy fishes should be eating well and swimming actively.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>2) Do not mix Japanese ranchu with other types of goldfish or ornamental fishes.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Avoid mixing Japanese ranchu with other types of g</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">oldfish or ornamental fishes from other continents. The Japanese ranchus are not well immune to new pathogens carried by fishes from other continents due to a century of isolation. Mixing them is not impossible but usually prove very tricky. The story of all Japanese ranchu wiped out in a matter of days after mixing with other varieties of goldfish is all too common. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>3) Learn to diagnose their sickness before they deteriorated. </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">With early diagnosis and applying the correct treatment, the chances of recovery is very high. For such hyperactive fishes, low appetite, listlessness, parking on the bottom or floating near the water surface are tell-tale signs of sickness. The good news is, the majority of the sickness can be tackled with salt and anti-bacteria treatment in the early stages of development.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>4) Be familiar with the basics and salt treatment techniques</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Perform the salt treatment whenever you mix fishes from different sources or different ponds. Salt treatment should be used as a routine maintenance too. The <a href="http://goldfishartquatics.blogspot.sg/2013/08/a-pinch-of-salt.html" target="_blank">salt treatment article</a> which I shared in an earlier post has received very favourable feedback from hobbyists who tried it out. They observed that the fishes have improved in health and growth.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>5) Water quality and feeding</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A good water change regime based on your stocking and feeding should be observed by the ranchu keeper. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In essence, learn to feel and read the water quality by studying the behaviour of your ranchus. Water change regime will vary according to the stocking, feeding and environmental factors.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: #cfe2f3;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In general, for goldfish keeping in Singapore,</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> w</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ater change should be at least 80% to 90% once every 7 days. The frequency of water change also depends on your stocking, feeding and weather conditions. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">it is highly recommended to buffer the water with baking soda because we have very soft municipal water. The guideline is one tablespoon of baking soda for every 25 US gallon, which should buffer the water to maintain a stable pH above 7 for a week or so under normal conditions. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Either a bio-filter system indoors or the natural wall algae and green water in the outdoor can be used to maintain the water quality. The later is preferred as goldfish are essentially outdoor fish that do best with ample sunlight. Some advance hobbyists have also successfully used the high output T5 lightings or the metal halid to groom wall algae and natural green water algae to maintain good water quality indoors.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>6) Well balanced diet</b></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpV2Q6uGW9iA_8Bvm0TWFuxC8VngyN7pdpOLEzyiQzs69NjpE9FJoDDdq18_C3ZQ8nE8451RHJ6rdCmKCJbXJldB-AlfrS77vCNDGfWNYZu07AgTRJBvX4CQAufHoSz4hScvc9RVb3LxXQ/s1600/sumo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpV2Q6uGW9iA_8Bvm0TWFuxC8VngyN7pdpOLEzyiQzs69NjpE9FJoDDdq18_C3ZQ8nE8451RHJ6rdCmKCJbXJldB-AlfrS77vCNDGfWNYZu07AgTRJBvX4CQAufHoSz4hScvc9RVb3LxXQ/s1600/sumo.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In competitions, winning ranchus are ranked in accordance to the sumo titles. Sumo wrestlers may be big and fat but they are not the average fat man; they are very strong and very agile - thanks to the nutritional food and a strict exercise regime. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is the aspiration of the Japanese breeders to develop their ranchus like sumo wrestlers.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So it is the same for the ranchu - big, strong structure nurtured with good exercise and a well balanced diet.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">More frequency of lighter meals is preferred to a few heavy meals. Keep them well fed, but not too indulged so that they will have plenty of exercise foraging the pond for food. The older second year (nisai) and third year fishes (oya) also do not need as aggressive feeding as do young yearlings (Tosai). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>7) Start small</b></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA2qFQbQReAry4k3ARM4dpFDKzUE0ljmyWFFnzYqlKs6xdELAm0t5OZjatTSyZE_ts0u0AXECReUtOXvAzcJd5_V4TP6wX_UL4t52clDQLa17TvKBByHXAwbLLteYWyFTGw2GeCX4RAdXN/s1600/bbr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjA2qFQbQReAry4k3ARM4dpFDKzUE0ljmyWFFnzYqlKs6xdELAm0t5OZjatTSyZE_ts0u0AXECReUtOXvAzcJd5_V4TP6wX_UL4t52clDQLa17TvKBByHXAwbLLteYWyFTGw2GeCX4RAdXN/s1600/bbr.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Black Baby Ranchu (BBR)</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Patience is very important in the art of the Japanese ranchu. Learn the hobby from basics with the cheaper grade ranchu. Black baby ranchu (BBR) are also good to kick start the hobby. Investing in the hobby too aggressively without a good understanding of the ranchu would likely kill the hobby.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Eventually, most hobbyists do not need to acquire very expensive or very high grade ranchu to enjoy the hobby. Most are just happy with the average ranchu for general appreciation. Like many other hobbies, it all depends on how we want to play, there are different grades of ranchu to satisfy players of all levels and expectations.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You may contact me for any queries regarding the Japanese ranchu or any type of goldfish. No purchases is required.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Recommended readings:</span></div>
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<a href="http://goldfishartquatics.blogspot.sg/2013/08/a-pinch-of-salt.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;" target="_blank">Salt treatment article</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.goldfishartquatics.blogspot.sg/2009/10/taming-ranchu.html" target="_blank">Taming the ranchu</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://goldfishartquatics.blogspot.com/2009/06/art-science-of-top-view-ranchu.html" target="_blank">The art and science of top view ranchu</a></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-2389921627717577752015-10-03T20:37:00.001+08:002015-10-03T23:16:21.440+08:00Facebook! ~ 面簿<br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;"><i>於風格,暢遊潮流;</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;"><i>於原則,穩如泰山。</i></span><br />
<i>~ 托馬斯·杰斐遜</i><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><i><br /><span style="color: #38761d;">In matters of style, swim with the current; <br />in matters of principle, stand like a rock</span>.</i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">~ Thomas Jefferson</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/KimWeeArtQuatics" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="163" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinUXuPpld_zHlsRdeUpfA2FBCZt7XvytS5SRi0GTtZxeflL2iadnapNuvA2Y9s3iSQT9np8NuV-1-DDHf6vL3cS2_E0Cq_1YExBBQ3g065CN_jy5vVZ6mqu7zKocuGr0hRNayYcxYUt9SR/s400/myFBcover.JPG" width="400" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.facebook.com/KimWeeArtQuatics" target="_blank"><br /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>W</i></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">hat is the big fuss now that I am on facebook? It is nothing so cool nowadays since facebook has been around for a loooong time and almost everyone has one. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The main reason that took me so long to embrace this social media is that it can potentially expose too much of my privacy that I am comfortable with. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Apart from the fish hobby that I have always been happy to share in public, I would still prefer to keep my personal and family life private. Well, I reckon it is a matter of control which means first I must understand what facebook can do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So it took me a long time trying to understand it, and by the time I decided to jump onto the bandwagon, my younger generation told me that facebook is no longer the coolest thing in social media :'(</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Nonetheless, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think facebook is a powerful tool to reach out to more people and ideal for sharing short and candid updates, especially now that I could not blog as often as I would love to. My blog, GoldfishArtQuatics will remain as my favorite platform to share more lengthy thoughts. Thanks for being very kind and supportive of my blog all these years!</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.facebook.com/KimWeeArtQuatics" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="94" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPZtG7TXsI-WHs8kdiOSL5AzFFncnwgmLLYO6ZXG5rJFqgnR9X_Tkq5WPJZ20hKa8mEIkUy595BcQcuEUTyjxHdrEaKliqaOYlbZPZiRAc_lyk0-FjtSKvtUTIcAIO3C0woCM_8zagQg2h/s320/likeus.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> http://www.facebook.com/KimWeeArtQuatics </span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and by the way,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the <a href="http://www.vermilliongoldfishclub.com/" target="_blank">Vermillion Goldfish Club</a> is also now on facebook:</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.facebook.com/VermillionGoldfishClubSG" target="_blank"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiajL6vfY8RIlEWmfiFcWysyxzkyYMm6W2fpsEztGVlLqxjmQKIM0k7WJE2x6BTlhqUrku3Ww1RdFniX_dYDfk_6bmWWsTuqHto0_RMvtGEuQLEIK_sdcsXTcD2QiZHhI72U3fxDjhpBD9N/s400/Vermillion+FB-01.jpg" width="263" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: orange; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">http://www.facebook.com/VermillionGoldfishClubSG </span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-62800672867430654702015-08-07T19:57:00.001+08:002015-08-07T19:57:24.019+08:00SG50 - Happy Golden Jubilee Singapore!!! 新加坡金禧年<br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;"><i><br />
</i></span> <span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;"><i>多數人放棄是因爲他們看到的衹是還有很長的路要走,而不是他們已走了很長的路。</i></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d;"><i>~ 匿名</i></span><br />
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</i></span> <span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-large;"><i>The reason most people give up so fast is that they look at how far they still have to go, instead of how far they have come. </i></span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>~ Anonymous</i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifc6dxHqeTLTM0_Jvf5P4OJknUId06QK9E0SUY4VMSeh4nUvSV59llDfUD0ONjtQ34z5ts967xjLuT8Z5PM2_VPYhCdqwcT8cmqW7xQ6m6diKnjdkQQ94xbqxK815n81iutlPwLqZHwKNJ/s1600/sg50-logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifc6dxHqeTLTM0_Jvf5P4OJknUId06QK9E0SUY4VMSeh4nUvSV59llDfUD0ONjtQ34z5ts967xjLuT8Z5PM2_VPYhCdqwcT8cmqW7xQ6m6diKnjdkQQ94xbqxK815n81iutlPwLqZHwKNJ/s200/sg50-logo.png" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>J</i></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ust last week, I discovered one of my pearlscales in a breeder pond has developed a little crown head wen. This is no coincident as I had created my new variety from the Chinese crown pearlscale, what that's more interesting was that the head crown phenotype had been inhibited for quite a number of years before it resurface again. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In recent years, I have been focusing on the tail structure and pearl scaling and have not paid very much attention on the head crown. My thought was that once the finnages and scaling are stable, I can cross them with the crown pearlscale again to re-construct the head crown.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I was really elated that after 10 years, my dream creation with all the characteristics I aspire - pearl scaling, dragon eyes, pompon complete with head crown has finally congregated in a single fish. A rare specimen that exhibits good finnages and complete balance. It is an example of how aesthetics can be harmonized with structural balance. I cannot describe how happy I am :))</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This weekend, on the 9th of August 2015, Singaporeans will be celebrating 50 years of our national building. How timely that this fish has arrived for another good reason for celebration. I am proud that this new variety has been acknowledged by a few goldfish dignitaries in China. I hope that my crowned dragon eye pompon pearlscale will be known as a goldfish uniquely made in Singapore :))</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In this Golden Jubilee year for Singapore, my wish is for fellow Singaporeans to forge a stronger sense of national pride and identity based on the virtues of trustworthiness, perseverance, efficiency and hard work. </span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><i>Happy 50th birthday Singapore!!!</i></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-82880150607166343622015-06-12T10:20:00.000+08:002015-06-12T10:20:03.110+08:00Aquarama 2015 <h2 style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border: 0px; font-stretch: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-image-outset: initial; border-image-repeat: initial; border-image-slice: initial; border-image-source: initial; border-image-width: initial; border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #38761d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5em;"><i><br /></i></span><i><span style="color: #38761d; font-weight: normal;">快樂是: 想的、説的、做的形成一致。</span></i><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5em;">~ </span><span style="font-weight: normal; line-height: 36px;">甘地</span></span><br /><span style="color: #38761d; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5em;">Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.</span></i></span></span></h2>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">~ Mahatma Gandhi</span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><i><br /></i></b></span>
<span style="font-size: x-large;"><b><i>H</i></b></span>erewith in this blog post are videos of some goldfish in the Aquarama 2015 goldfish competition. To view the pictures of all winning goldfish entries, please check out the <a href="http://www.vermilliongoldfishclub.com/" target="_blank">Vermillion Goldfish Website</a> featured article on Aquarama 2015.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-91009372008344829482015-02-18T13:46:00.000+08:002015-02-18T13:46:21.024+08:00Bountiful Harvest ~ 豐收年<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigeEzpHznw48idjh-cACZi29-tw_kW_LWfdWVGvmBQ9wTXyFtdsk7tkPsfx0m-rAKfKbMXhlkYotOcIKpjX9gqCw3KIKR7N6zGUS5qZUBfALn8GZvuPCu-SBazppZslIrB_u4yGHu1scV7/s1600/gfangpow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigeEzpHznw48idjh-cACZi29-tw_kW_LWfdWVGvmBQ9wTXyFtdsk7tkPsfx0m-rAKfKbMXhlkYotOcIKpjX9gqCw3KIKR7N6zGUS5qZUBfALn8GZvuPCu-SBazppZslIrB_u4yGHu1scV7/s1600/gfangpow.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A beautiful Lunar New Year<br />red packet with auspicious goldfish</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><i><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-TW"><br /><span style="color: #38761d;">給我<span class="">6小時</span>砍倒<span class="">一棵樹</span><span class="">,我</span></span></span><span style="color: #38761d;">將<span class="short_text" lang="zh-TW"><span class="">會</span><span class="">花</span><span class="">前四</span></span>個小時磨斧頭。</span></i></span><br />
<span class="short_text" lang="zh-TW">~林肯</span><br />
<i><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large;"><br />
Give me 6 hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">~ Abraham Lincoln</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx-v9_IsCCzlQgKtS9B4b9uurbBYcjkaztu3It98KsyLyr2V-O3SVE629ehaqMG62QvCbkb9usS5eXYMSiDnDeFSM47s_aSh5bC2Cm0BXjOH-4CgsoGdHI8VHHjMT-66rzOD-3O0uZH91y/s1600/oars4a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx-v9_IsCCzlQgKtS9B4b9uurbBYcjkaztu3It98KsyLyr2V-O3SVE629ehaqMG62QvCbkb9usS5eXYMSiDnDeFSM47s_aSh5bC2Cm0BXjOH-4CgsoGdHI8VHHjMT-66rzOD-3O0uZH91y/s1600/oars4a.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Star stud 2015</span></td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">T</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">he first quarter of the year is usually my busiest due to the Ranchu breeding season. This year, the first Ranchu spawn happened on 10th of January. On one hand, I am happy that the spawn sizes are bigger than previous years, but on the other hand, I am worried about the time and effort required to raise these unprecedented size of Ranchu spawns. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Though I had managed much larger spawn sizes with my Pearlscales, raising the Japanese Ranchu requires far more time and effort. So I stopped after collecting 8 spawns as I do not want to bite more than I can chew. The lack of space and food can easily stunt very young fries, rendering irreversible effects on their future development and all efforts will go down the drain. </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfqN0TOGu5eZBAs1cvbE3BySXucVJif1xIB1YogC96amHt7H7YIT7xxwZiKEdNqwKIaYhI3QACzQWAd9NP4hVRWbQQdSbWBUCCgwdWZ9D7A-WUi5vOg1DhpVQPgVW61TbnXG8KYjk2kW43/s1600/seedpair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfqN0TOGu5eZBAs1cvbE3BySXucVJif1xIB1YogC96amHt7H7YIT7xxwZiKEdNqwKIaYhI3QACzQWAd9NP4hVRWbQQdSbWBUCCgwdWZ9D7A-WUi5vOg1DhpVQPgVW61TbnXG8KYjk2kW43/s1600/seedpair.jpg" height="198" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Another seed pair of my bloodline<br />red -male, red-white - female</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9BUPp0pxakTDqgP3p9X-Egp8QXPBL4J3I6xjKoCMT8Bmq75aQHhM8LPLXbiwotYgPG5U8CWvnq3DEjlBqQjNvztqK47uvnSoz7c_-3CNi39AkMiHzejr3EUVOpM9U7-th44EJFnTAeVVo/s1600/SpawnA2015.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9BUPp0pxakTDqgP3p9X-Egp8QXPBL4J3I6xjKoCMT8Bmq75aQHhM8LPLXbiwotYgPG5U8CWvnq3DEjlBqQjNvztqK47uvnSoz7c_-3CNi39AkMiHzejr3EUVOpM9U7-th44EJFnTAeVVo/s1600/SpawnA2015.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Quick snap of a spawn A this morning</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This is a very exciting Ranchu year for me not only for having the spawn sizes that I have always craved for, but also my most important seed male that sired a few spawns is one with big and strong frame, a feature not so common for male fishes (at least for my Ranchu bloodline). I had always thought that it was a female when it was younger due to its size and broader features. This fish had also done me proud by winning the East Torishimari (4th position) in the OARS Tosai class. With better seed parent fishes and more spawns, I hope to do better than last year.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-size: x-small;">Spawned: 24th Jan 2015<br />
Video: 17 Feb 2015</span> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tomorrow (19th February) marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year of the Goat and an extra long weekend to enjoy the festive holidays. This also means that the daphnia supplier will be on holiday too. This is one of the most challenging and busy period for me to ensure that the fries have alternative food sources and continue to grow at a steady momentum. It is a strange dilemma every Lunar New Year that I always look forward to the family reunion and festive mood, and yet also hope that the holidays will be over soon so that my precious BBRs can once again feast on their favourite daphnia. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I would like to wish all a very happy, healthy and prosperous Lunar New Year!</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-8293321193832325492015-01-13T19:57:00.001+08:002015-01-14T17:48:57.151+08:00Tora Oranda (Tiger Oranda) ~ 虎紋獅<div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-TW">朋友</span></span></span></i></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-TW"><span class="">影射</span></span></span></span></i></span><span style="color: #38761d;"><i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-TW"><span class="">自己。</span></span> </span></span></i></span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Your friends are a reflection of yourself.</span></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">~ Elizabeth George</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">3.5 months old Tora Oranda</span></span></span><br />
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<i><b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span></span></b></i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">he calico goldfish (五花) was created by crossing a transparent scale </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">(透明</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">鱗</span></span>) </span>goldfish with a metallic scale </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">(</span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">正常鱗</span></span>)</span> goldfish. As such, the calico goldfish spots some hard metallic scales over matte-transparent scales. In some cases, metallic scales congregated in clusters and create interesting <span style="color: #38761d;"><i>reflective effects</i></span>. Hence, the term reflective scales </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">(反光鱗) </span>are also used broadly nowadays. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdjEl4XXxsmHLBmqyz9xsfg1IsFyY0QICKEKGGg5o99ktXdFW_bXeTC9is85mtWAWHUPecMm6GZS3oc25_6FPwBZTMvMCM0YxPK2eLxxGJ5irkrQ8t56ve18aNyAAMxkWxFDuoVsASHR7z/s1600/R01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdjEl4XXxsmHLBmqyz9xsfg1IsFyY0QICKEKGGg5o99ktXdFW_bXeTC9is85mtWAWHUPecMm6GZS3oc25_6FPwBZTMvMCM0YxPK2eLxxGJ5irkrQ8t56ve18aNyAAMxkWxFDuoVsASHR7z/s1600/R01.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A pair from the same spawn having sky-blue patches and red head wen</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Calico goldfish has very random and varied combinations of black, orange, yellow, brown, red, white and even sky-blue coloration, likened to a painting canvas decorated with impressionistic hues of intermingling colours. It is no doubt, my favorite colour pattern!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Another of same spawn with lesser black markings</span></span></span></td></tr>
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My recent outcross of the Chinese calico oranda with the Thai black (nacreous scale) oranda yields various different and interesting colour patterns within the same spawn. Many of which spotted the tiger-liked decorations with orange base and black markings. I hope some can grow real big and majestic like a tiger ;-)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am also selling some excess fishes in my <a href="http://goldfishrealm.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">sales blog</a>. </span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-82505490569855157942014-12-11T13:07:00.000+08:002014-12-11T13:07:01.137+08:00Focused... ... ...<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Sapporo TV Tower</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /><br />Life is like a Camera...<br />Focus on what is important,<br />Capture the good times,<br />Develop from the negatives,<br />And if things don't work out,<br />Take another shot.</span></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">~ author unknown</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><b>I </b></i></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">had a great family vacation in Hokkaido where I was once again immense and impressed by the Japanese culture. The Japanese's passion for detail and quality is evidence in almost everything made-in-Japan from fruits, wagyu beef, gift wrapping, cuisines, even the toilet bowl and of course, the Ranchu! I know what comes to most people's mind - nope, I didn't manage to bring back any Ranchus for it seems that only food fishes are popular in Hokkaido :((</span><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DJ5NEpr8sA11smM_LUH6W7s1kpuia9L3J8YDdmrb1n-FR9ymiFAVmxNlKRRaGSI_CHUa5ebcF0uF78tb5rn4MEFNo26hwtFov-oVe5ZcUmCg3_iuUNJCTES3RREeEI7kWcrpbhy4e1FM/s1600/mify2014.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-DJ5NEpr8sA11smM_LUH6W7s1kpuia9L3J8YDdmrb1n-FR9ymiFAVmxNlKRRaGSI_CHUa5ebcF0uF78tb5rn4MEFNo26hwtFov-oVe5ZcUmCg3_iuUNJCTES3RREeEI7kWcrpbhy4e1FM/s1600/mify2014.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;">MIFY 2014</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Every year, the cyclical routine of Ranchu breeding, Pearlscale breeding, Oozeki Ranchu Club Tosai Study meetings (MIFY) swashed by and before long, the Oozeki Ranchu Show (OARS) on New Year's Day would prelude yet another new cycle of goldfish activities. Back home in Singapore, as the year-end monsoon brings good respite from the tropical heat, I am kept busy with preparing the seed Ranchus for the breeding season. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIcOiN_tA8jPaU5y2W2l4GoXBctgAR89BAjA0vw2QD6AWVokK8T-2jh70PEzuvO1j63Obpx95Ep2arE3t-xTLeVQ-SH29Wga7TnojtmfP3-1sfacwlptekXc71ZjI-ZmeuaPTA8Doroi06/s1600/Pearlbreeding.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiIcOiN_tA8jPaU5y2W2l4GoXBctgAR89BAjA0vw2QD6AWVokK8T-2jh70PEzuvO1j63Obpx95Ep2arE3t-xTLeVQ-SH29Wga7TnojtmfP3-1sfacwlptekXc71ZjI-ZmeuaPTA8Doroi06/s1600/Pearlbreeding.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Pearl breeding pair</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">2015 will be my 12th consecutive year of breeding the Japanese Ranchu and as usual, it is my resolution to better myself in Ranchu breeding than the previous year. I have some interesting experiments for the coming Ranchu breeding project, but first of all, lets hope for a few healthy and big spawns to play with. <span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Well, even if things don't work out as plan for my Ranchu breeding, there is always the Aquarama 2015 to look forward to. How not to feel excited for 2015? :-))</span></span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Seed Females for 2015</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I wish all readers a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.<br /><br /><span style="color: #38761d;"><i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></i></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif; font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">14th Oozeki Ranchu Show (OARS)<br />Hong Lim Green Community Centre<br />12pm ~ 3pm</span></i></span></span></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-63247166769168281522014-09-23T19:19:00.002+08:002014-09-23T20:02:54.746+08:00Efficiency ~ 效率<br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-CN"><br />如果对你</span><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-CN"><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-CN" tabindex="-1"><span class=""></span><span class="">真的</span></span>很重要,你</span><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-CN"><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-CN" tabindex="-1"><span class=""></span></span>会找到一个方法。 </span><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-CN" tabindex="-1"><span class="alt-edited"><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-CN">要</span>不</span></span><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-CN"><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-CN" tabindex="-1"><span class=""></span></span>,你</span><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-CN"><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-CN"><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-CN" tabindex="-1"><span class="">将</span></span></span>会</span><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-CN"><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-CN">找到一个</span><span class="">借口。</span></span></i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /></span></i><i><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">If it is important to you, you'll find a way. If not, you'll find an excuse.</span></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">~ Unknown</span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSniulcy1jjWmhRff7DSFDgOd3l2ajuLh3dZCfbexU9-T5n4-nvwnMHlH_2BsCimysOkZG3bdakr0fgtpQtEZnHq72XlrFT-AYfuzsCb95MpJGoVPF5tPzmRHojuvL9CIfeDOKk-_8WrmW/s1600/pearl.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSniulcy1jjWmhRff7DSFDgOd3l2ajuLh3dZCfbexU9-T5n4-nvwnMHlH_2BsCimysOkZG3bdakr0fgtpQtEZnHq72XlrFT-AYfuzsCb95MpJGoVPF5tPzmRHojuvL9CIfeDOKk-_8WrmW/s1600/pearl.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #38761d;">A baby black dragon eyes pearl<br />that I am monitoring closely</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span></span></i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">hanks to the concern from some readers about my well being since I have not been active in this blog for quite a while. Rest assured that I have never been more active in the goldfish hobby than ever before. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Besides my annual Pearlscale breeding and planning for next year's Ranchu breeding, I am preoccupied with something that I have not indulged for many years - collecting other varieties of goldfish!<br /><br />In fact, I love all fancy goldfish and used to keep almost every variety of fancy goldfish until I had to make space and time to focus on goldfish breeding. For years, I abstained from keeping other varieties of goldfish that are not directly relevant to my Ranchu and Pearlscale breeding projects. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1qKKkKRWoLc3G107nJiRmR38iXqRZQfGstUCvoelkKLtUN6_1NCjfgM4ehSD7SGWNEbI-El9AcKbi9U94tPv1p8nGSQ7HH6V0QAbTX83sUlZ3myTiGwyNAkS9nF1fw4TDelWwP90Q_b6W/s1600/b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1qKKkKRWoLc3G107nJiRmR38iXqRZQfGstUCvoelkKLtUN6_1NCjfgM4ehSD7SGWNEbI-El9AcKbi9U94tPv1p8nGSQ7HH6V0QAbTX83sUlZ3myTiGwyNAkS9nF1fw4TDelWwP90Q_b6W/s1600/b.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">New collection:<br />Pair of blue brown dragon eyes butterfly</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">This year, I am very fortunate to have a good friend who helped to improve my set up and cut down on the time and effort of my maintenance chores tremendously. So now with an efficient set up that free up much time and spaces, I am happily succumbing to my temptations to collect other varieties of goldfish again. I may also breed some of the other varieties in a small scale just for the experience as I do not think I will have the capacity to track the bloodlines as much as I do for my Ranchus and Pearlscales.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">New collection:<br />Thai black orandas</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It is a matter of time that my freed time gaps and spaces will be filled up with fishes and more fishes. <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Kudos to my good friend Xing again ;-)) </span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-29573924825285777202014-06-19T23:21:00.000+08:002014-06-20T21:30:41.709+08:00A Mountain Is Still A Mountain ~ 見山還是山<div style="color: #38761d; font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">
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求知若飢,虛懷若愚 </i></span><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-TW"><span class=""><br />
~ 史蒂夫·喬布斯</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">~ Steve Jobs</span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Some of my 5-month-old</span></div>
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<i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large; font-weight: bold;">N</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ot too long ago, I learned something very interesting from a good friend regarding the </span><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Zen</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (禪) perspective of the different stages of learning:</span></div>
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<b>Stage 1: A mountain is a mountain (</b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: 新細明體;">見山是山</span>)</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">This is the beginning level where we simply use our senses to experience the things around us. There is no profound feel for the subject matter (the mountain). This is the state of mind of the layman.</span><br />
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<b>Stage 2: A mountain is not a mountain (</b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: 新細明體;">見山不是山) </span></b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">This is the next level where we use our logic to analyse the subject matter. We see multiple perspectives and dissect the subject into smaller parts to analyse. The mountain is no longer just a mountain as we examine the streams, the birds and the animals within. This is the state of mind of the scholar who studies the subject earnestly.</span><br />
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Stage 3: A mountain is still a mountain (</b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b><span style="font-family: 新細明體;">見山還是山</span>)</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">In this level, we no longer use psychological projection to label things. We see the streams, the trees and the animals as part of the whole that makes up the mountain again. The mountain has not changed, but what has been changed is a more refined sensual feel of the mountain. This realm of feel (心境</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">) cannot be expressed with words. This is the state of mind of the enlightened. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the discipline of art, it is this "feel" that we should aspire to nurture. The same recipe followed by different cooks will not make the same quality of dish; the same teacher giving equal attention to his class will not have equal quality of work from his students. There is nothing wrong with the recipe or the teacher, the deterministic factor is just ourselves.</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">While I have yet to attain the realm of feel to fully appreciate the profound teachings of </span><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Zen</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, I strongly believe that the basis of learning anything really well is to first master the fundamentals. Without setting the basics right, it is just a matter of time that things will fall apart. We would be wasting our energies going round and round and nowhere else, just like a hamster on the tread wheel. </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The other key aspect of learning as I have always emphasized, is to be truly objective and humble to see our own faults. If we think we are perfect then there is no more room for improvement. The worst case will be to think that we are already in the higher levels of learning but in actual fact, still grappling with the basics. Such will be destined to be stagnated on the same spot like treading hamsters. In our local slang, it is known as "hentakaki" ;-)</span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-85196713704406932932014-04-21T21:23:00.000+08:002014-04-23T12:14:32.819+08:00Failures & Successes ~ 成敗得失<br />
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子曰: 知之為知之,不知為不知,是知也。<br />
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</span><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Knowledge is knowing what you know and knowing what that you do not know.</span></span></i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />
~ Confucius</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><b><i>I</i></b></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">t's been 3 months since my first Ranchu spawn for the year 2014. This year there are</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> more fishes meeting my personal expectations. I am also extremely happy to have overcome a couple of major hurdles that have been puzzling me for years. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Making Ranchu is very much like making crops in agriculture - even if we are prepared to work very hard and are equipped with the best tools and techniques, there is always a major element we cannot control - the weather. I reckon it is nature's way of telling us to stay humble even at times when things are looking good. The law of nature is ever ready to make a fool of any complacent man. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">How easy it is for us to be enslaved by our own egos if we are afraid to admit our ignorance and only de</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">sire for</span> other</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">s</span> to see our successes? The fact is, experiences are gained through failures. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I know not if I can do better next year, but common sense tells me that not everyday is Sunday ;-)</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-33165323064667575592014-03-14T00:39:00.000+08:002014-03-14T00:39:08.453+08:00Water Change ~ 水換<i style="color: #38761d; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
</span></i> <i style="color: #38761d; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">精工慢養<br />
</span></i><i style="color: #38761d; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">Slower Growth for Refinement</span></i><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">~ An idiom in Chinese Goldfish aquaculture</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><b><span style="font-size: x-large;">M</span></b></i></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">andatory water change everyday is a misconception of keeping the Japanese Ranchu for as far as I can remember. If grooming Ranchus means feeding them heavily and performing water changes everyday to stimulate growth and upkeep the water quality, then we are better off keeping commercial food fishes. </span><br />
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Even for young Ranchus that require ample feeding to grow and develop into strong adults, </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">sometimes, we have to slow down </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">to regulate their development so as to achieve overall balance of head, body and tail.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Skilled Chinese Goldfish masters also embarked on the technique of slower paced growth at certain juncture to fine tune the development of their fishes. The technique is called 蹲魚 (</span><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">dun yu</span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">) which literally means "squat the fish". </span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A hobby is meant to relax and should not become a chore. At times, there maybe no choice but to do more frequent water changes, but it should not be a normal routine. Control feeding and stocking to achieve good development of Ranchu with a manageable water change regime becomes more relaxing both for us and the fishes. Another good reason, especially for our local hobbyists now is to conserve water in the midst of this horrible dry spell.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-385110796546887812014-03-04T21:45:00.001+08:002014-03-11T18:00:43.997+08:00Stress Reliever ~ 緩解壓力<span style="color: #38761d;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br />
It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy that makes happiness.</span></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">~ Charles Sprugeon</span></span><br />
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Photo: 1st March 2014</span></span></td></tr>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span></span></i></b><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">he daily lunch-time ferrying to and fro from work place and home to feed the baby Ranchus becomes very tiring in this extreme heat and humidity. Singapore has not been spared from drastic climatic changes that is also happening elsewhere in the world. Little rain has fallen in Singapore since 13th January and the prolong dry spell is the worst recorded in 50 years!</span></div>
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</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I was quite fortunate to collect one more spawn when the temperature was still not too warm for the breeder Ranchus. The spawn hatched healthily on 13th February and completed the first major culling over last weekend. I have since stopped attempting any new spawns as the weather condition is not conducive for the female Ranchus to nurture good quality eggs. Hopefully, it will be cooler in March as we expect some wet showers towards the Qing Ming Festival in the first week of April.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">It can be quite dismaying to think that there may only be hope for more rain in another month to cool down the daytime temperature. Nevertheless, the baby Ranchus made me forget about my problems and fatigue every time I watch them swim. The hard work commuting all the way to feed them is definitely worthwhile for they are my best stress reliever :))</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-45026132447927177672014-02-26T21:13:00.001+08:002014-02-26T21:13:37.275+08:00Aesthetics & Engineering ~ 美學與工程學<i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br />先了解其物,才知其可愛或可恨。</span></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">~ </span></span><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-TW"><span class="">達芬奇</span></span></span></span></span></span><i><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><br /><br />Nothing can be loved or hated, unless it is first understood.</span></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">~ Leonardo da Vinci</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">I</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">f we try swimming the breast stroke underwater as leveled as possible nearer the surface of the water and then in the deeper parts of the water, we will feel much more resistance in the deeper water compared to nearer the water surface.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Reducing our aerodynamic profile by pointing our hands straight or keeping them very close to the body reduces these resistances and we glide forward easily. Now imagine that we are Ranchus trying to swim with our hands wide open to simulate the open tail fins. The stress and strained will be felt mostly on our shoulders and joints as we pushed forward (assuming if we managed to swim this way underwater).<br /><br />The tail bones of the BBRs are very soft and delicate and prone to damage. We can reduce the resistance and strain on the tail fins by lowering the water level (10cm to 14cm). However, do take extra precaution on the water quality and provide good aeration because the water volume is decreased and the rate of oxygen exchange from the air stones is also reduced due to the lower water level.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">Spawn A:<br />spawn date: 11 Jan 2014<br />video date: 24 Feb 2014</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Next, imagine swimming with hands wide open and some weights tied to our abdomen to simulate a Ranchu with a full "stomach" and then, if we can, wag our hips like the peduncle of the Ranchu (just kidding). It is just common sense that we will struggle to keep our heads up against gravity and our hips may be injured due to the strains. For a Ranchu swimming with a heavy and full "stomach" and wide open tails, the strain on the back and tail core from the weight may alter their backbones, ruin their tail bones and tilt their tail dish (ozara). </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;">A seed ranchu having damaged tail shoulder</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">BBRs, like human babies need more feedings to grow and path the foundation for a healthy adult. However, overfeeding them may do them more harm than good as exemplified by the above analogy. So spread out the feedings to more moderate feeds vs a few heavy feeds to reduce the weight of the BBR and encourage them to look for more food and exercise, which in turn aids digestion and growth. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgWIhrmFSI4HqtE6z8TYg432cq7XkoP-QbPSLACAo5MILQYhaiRhp8pd9G7k6FSb2GtUdXP7NPktD-6iAdC8rcwX7UrAApfNCZYjb2dkrYqgXQwmaW7wK2YIz-pbM32SozJXiXrz_TD8e1/s1600/benttailbbr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgWIhrmFSI4HqtE6z8TYg432cq7XkoP-QbPSLACAo5MILQYhaiRhp8pd9G7k6FSb2GtUdXP7NPktD-6iAdC8rcwX7UrAApfNCZYjb2dkrYqgXQwmaW7wK2YIz-pbM32SozJXiXrz_TD8e1/s1600/benttailbbr.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">BBR with flip up tail tip on the right side<br />and a folded tail tip on the left</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the flip side (pun unintended), underfeeding the BBR will make its tail closer as it naturally evolved less widely-spread tail to swim faster and compete for food with its peers. In essence, the Ranchu keeper should exercise their own feel and judgment to groom their Ranchus. As each Ranchu is unique, some will turn out better than the others with specific grooming techniques. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even with these measures in place, we can only minimise but not eradicate the possibility of tail or structural damages in a BBR simply because Ranchu aesthetics defies nature: In the first place, why are we asking for a fish with beautifully spread out tail to swim and glide at ease and with good balance? Isn't the Ranchu art an amazing engineering feat? Which is precisely why the Japanese always refer to "making a Ranchu" literally. There is no perfect Ranchu and as we appreciate that it is not easy to be a Ranchu, we should try to see more of the beautiful aspect of every Ranchu and not only on its flaws :))</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I am now selling some excess BBRs in my <a href="http://goldfishrealm.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Goldfish sales blog</a> to most people who may be keeping the BBR for the first time, I reckoned that this blog post should come in handy in saving much repetition and making the concepts clearer ;-) </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span></span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-91970426828721883812014-02-14T17:47:00.000+08:002014-02-14T17:47:35.806+08:00Necessity Spurs for Change ~ 窮則思變<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">BBS production line</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">I'm a greater believer in luck, and I find the harder I work the more I have of it.</span></i></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">~ Thomas Jefferson</span></span><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>Y</b></span></span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">es! the Ranchu fries survived the Lunar New Year long weekend without any daphnia. Though I had started using Baby Brine Shrimp (BBS) last year, this is the first year that I attempted feeding BBS exclusively to my Ranchu fries. The truth is, I had no choice as there was no daphnia supply for a few days. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Th</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">e fries fed exclusively with BBS had grown significantly enough to complete their first few major cullings since the Lunar New Year.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> At this juncture, I am happy to have allayed the long term worry about not getting anymore supply of daphnia in future when farmlands in Malaysia give way to urbanization.</span></div>
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<center>
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/RJ8-YlhCEGs?rel=0" width="400"></iframe><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Spawn A <br />Spawn date: 11 Jan 2014<br />Video date: 13 Feb 2014</span></span></span></center>
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From now, I will continue to use the BBS to supplement the erratic supply of daphnia and fine tune on the BBS hatchery. Hopefully one day, I do not have to depend on the daphnia to feed goldfish fries anymore. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">BBS feasting for Spawn E</span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">This is the first year that I managed to spawn all the female Ranchus that I planned to breed, which means that it will be a litmus test on my Ranchu bloodline that I have maintained for a decade. I am really excited to see the potential of the bloodline this year :))</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Paradoxically, as I become more relaxed and least worried of whether my Ranchus will have a good spawn, I got these big healthy spawns that I never had before. Maybe it is the weather or maybe I am just lucky to have done something correctly that I did not even realised - and this is a cause for concern because if I do not know why I failed or succeed, I would never be able to deliver consistent results. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-87912518534049928972014-01-30T12:51:00.001+08:002014-01-30T12:51:56.018+08:00Contradictions ~ 矛盾<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br /><span style="color: #38761d;">Give the People what they want - and they'll get what they deserve.</span></span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">~ The Kinks</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Lunar New Year decorations in Chinatown</span></span></td></tr>
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<i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><b>T</b></span></span></i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">omorrow (31st Jan) will be the New Lunar Year of the Horse. Somehow, the festive mood is not felt as much as in previous years. Maybe there were just too many holidays in close proximity as the memories of Christmas and New Year are still very fresh in my mind. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Besides, I am also preoccupied with a big problem this year - how to feed 4 sizable spawns of baby Ranchus over the Lunar New Year holidays, during which, there will be 3 to 4 days without the supply of daphnia. Isn't having bigger TVR spawns what I have always deemed as the biggest hurdle to clear and I finally got it this year? </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Lunar New Year red packet (angpow)<br />from our lottery outlets<br />with goldfish designs for<br />prosperity and luck</span></span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Incidentally, this would be one of the most challenging year and a good opportunity to explore and experiment on alternative food sources like pellets or prepared food to supplement daphnia. I have culled the bigger spawns as much as possible to mitigate the limited food supply and control the water quality during the holidays.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">No matter what, the Lunar New Year is the most important date in my culture for meeting up relatives, paying respects to the elders and family reunion. Of course, I will behave and spend more time with my family than with my fishes ;-p</span></div>
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May I wish all a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous Lunar New Year!</div>
</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-47487715460660561682014-01-16T23:43:00.000+08:002014-03-12T17:21:06.385+08:00 Feel Factor ~ 感覺<br />
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<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><i>Few are those who see with their own eyes and feel with their own hearts.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">~ Albert Einstein<br /><br /></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b>M</b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">ore than a century of intensive linebreeding and inbreeding by the Japanese breeders have produced the consistent and beautiful Japanese Ranchu of today, but also very delicate fishes that are prone to sickness when conditions are not right for them. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thankfully, the Japanese Ranchu are mostly having problems with gill flukes and gill bacterial, which can usually be treated successfully if diagnosed in the early stages. Problems like head and body ulcer, fungus, argulus, anchor worms are not common for the Japanese Ranchu, unless contaminated by fishes from other sources.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Birds that sing the same kind of song may<br />not be the same type of birds ;-)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Developing a keen "feel factor" for the fishes is fundamental for a successful hobby, especially so for the Japanese Ranchu which are much more sensitive than most other varieties of goldfish. Fishes can't converse with us directly, so if we have a good "feel" for how the fishes are doing, we could </span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">preempt for many unnecessary casualties.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span id="goog_1732969584"></span><span id="goog_1732969585"></span>Many people who believe that having profound experiences in keeping the Chinese or Thai Ranchu, then keeping the Japanese Ranchu will be a bliss are in for some nasty surprises. On the contrary</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">, experience in this case may be the biggest hindrance - be prepared to unlearn many things that we learned about keeping other varieties of goldfish. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb-CH0K2mzOunDRAm_4ACrjylmMqInBH_xLsxDTm4QGk1xLPRaVWUjGLOLjgh0SerdWAJxqkSyp85pli_sB47pYOfzbD0V69g0lTlNbgmngJX_ugMXvuqlcI6x3J7cR7afFti2ju_LjXMN/s1600/brushegg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb-CH0K2mzOunDRAm_4ACrjylmMqInBH_xLsxDTm4QGk1xLPRaVWUjGLOLjgh0SerdWAJxqkSyp85pli_sB47pYOfzbD0V69g0lTlNbgmngJX_ugMXvuqlcI6x3J7cR7afFti2ju_LjXMN/s1600/brushegg.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">The previous big spawn in August did not turn up well and I have culled most and kept less than 10 pieces. This is the time of the year again to breed Ranchu with the cooler ambient and higher temperature swings and I have the opportunity to experiment with more parent combinations. I am glad that the spawns size are getting bigger with better quality eggs for the past 2 years, however, my work load is also growing over the years. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Hopefully, I can still juggle work and Ranchu breeding this year. </span></div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-31881066678747226862013-12-01T00:53:00.000+08:002013-12-01T00:53:50.618+08:00How You Wana Play? ~ 你想怎麼玩?<div class="item_content">
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><i><br />We're all in the same game, just different levels. Dealing with the same hell, just different devils.</i></span><div class="byline">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">- Unknown
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;"><b><i>A</i></b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> long hiatus from blogging to take care of some very important stuff both at work and at home. Fortunately, things have worked out fine after a few months of hard work. In the course of which, I was compelled to make some time sacrifices from the hobby and that inspired the current post about different perspectives of playing this game. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Never have I craved for those beautiful and fantastic cars like the Ferrari or the Lamborghini. I mean, I appreciate the beauty and the ingenious engineering of these performance cars. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Besides, I can't afford one and I am also a bit of a tacophobia, the fact is,</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> I really am more than happy to own a simple and low maintenance car that I can commute from point A to B. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In the context of a car, I am a complete newbie and chose not to be bothered with its engineering or inner workings. Though I have never washed my own car, I have never missed any service schedule because I value safety on the road.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVPivghMvqR7HVepNbjmNYhNBsgsXU5ThAHkOcaxUuSnwwckmYCveF1pbssO3rG1ZJHkeUg1FEK6RNdIi7LFaCm3E1SwmhkIcOpKbIGdJ7raQHG2nfyiRuTFy1mf26fwUFiZoBX8_cLvP4/s1600/Tosai13.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVPivghMvqR7HVepNbjmNYhNBsgsXU5ThAHkOcaxUuSnwwckmYCveF1pbssO3rG1ZJHkeUg1FEK6RNdIi7LFaCm3E1SwmhkIcOpKbIGdJ7raQHG2nfyiRuTFy1mf26fwUFiZoBX8_cLvP4/s1600/Tosai13.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Tosai bred this year, one of the<br />important seed females<br />for next year</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">In the context of fish keeping, I am everything a serious hands-on hobbyist, interested to know all about them: how to make them more beautiful, how to groom them for competition and how to breed them well. While people also keep fishes for various reasons, some would go for the Fengshui (geomancy) aspect but even for most who really love them would be happy to </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">settle for some simple setup that they can maintain easily; not many people would like to</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> spare the time and effort to do what I am doing for the hobby. It is just different levels of play based on personal preferences and priorities. </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl5ZCviE2OIFvfW35OI29B_O_ZtfgLfQ7lMgWFJuY60C-lV9n_nwPi1eYe0f89TrdOox5j1UM0hqmjbIuaBlC4Qphn-nouwJ11Y6ZzcETJk9t1OQvS6Vk6TJthsJcZR6BNZeSPyXxvxFD1/s1600/spawnprep2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl5ZCviE2OIFvfW35OI29B_O_ZtfgLfQ7lMgWFJuY60C-lV9n_nwPi1eYe0f89TrdOox5j1UM0hqmjbIuaBlC4Qphn-nouwJ11Y6ZzcETJk9t1OQvS6Vk6TJthsJcZR6BNZeSPyXxvxFD1/s320/spawnprep2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No matter what level of play, hobbyists should adapt fish keeping to their lifestyles and not to unduly stress the fishes or themselves. After all, a hobby is where one can feel relax and enjoy. Not everyone needs a competition grade goldfish to enjoy the hobby just as not everyone needs a Ferrari. Besides, there are too many traffic lights in Singapore to really appreciate the real power of this beautiful masterpiece... but, I digress ;-) </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It's time to beef up the Ranchus again for the Ranchu breeding season. This would be my 10th consecutive year of breeding the Japanese Ranchu. Though I have still a lot to learn and improve upon, I feel proud that I have persisted and never looked back since. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For me, it is all out for the things that I want to do.</span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-82871458422751446532013-10-10T12:09:00.000+08:002013-10-10T12:11:19.077+08:00Quality vs Quantity ~ 質量與數量<i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;">質量是: 當沒人注視時,你做了什麼 ?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;">~ </span></span></span></i><span style="font-size: small;"></span><i><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="short_text" id="result_box" lang="zh-TW"><span class="">亨利·福特</span></span></span><br /><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;">Quality is what you do when no one is looking.</span></span></span></i><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">~ Henry Ford</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZJVoPTJAvgxSQu9VCcGSTBWxnSKGg3qbNMNoMdF0Eq6pDuZ4hF-yMh3MhfLKG3w3loqf8-hqZWryyMUGcAw2F1qEwHGCm0-HweVkh7hMMzsg-Eq4mVzFx1bVAS0cic11g0ltkhd42YfT/s1600/localbred100813.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZJVoPTJAvgxSQu9VCcGSTBWxnSKGg3qbNMNoMdF0Eq6pDuZ4hF-yMh3MhfLKG3w3loqf8-hqZWryyMUGcAw2F1qEwHGCm0-HweVkh7hMMzsg-Eq4mVzFx1bVAS0cic11g0ltkhd42YfT/s320/localbred100813.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><i><b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">F</span></span></b></i>inally, I am relieved from some domestic affairs that kept me preoccupied in recent months. For now, I am busy with picking up what I had neglected in my job. Nonetheless, it's great that I have a more carefree time whenever I am with my fishes and not to worry about what matters more than my fishes - my family.</span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">The yield of the Pearlscale spawn this year is much better than last year's and I will soon be segregating them by gender, making breeding plans for the best seed fishes. Comparatively, the big spawn of TVR in August has rather low yield and I have culled away most of them.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiANKuXTRK5g7zeQsf0Mgw_EHrYS-leqyZMQGy7FLazfI5SyV5Cnqf63bs_ufJzmqRWxZ-dI3vTnkAJzTmxvC7FO1IX-vVauhFrXcbf_UF6LmKZIM5jlmcfDncAcbvmXqX3BhlPx59ZXvxM/s1600/pearl220913.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="311" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiANKuXTRK5g7zeQsf0Mgw_EHrYS-leqyZMQGy7FLazfI5SyV5Cnqf63bs_ufJzmqRWxZ-dI3vTnkAJzTmxvC7FO1IX-vVauhFrXcbf_UF6LmKZIM5jlmcfDncAcbvmXqX3BhlPx59ZXvxM/s320/pearl220913.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I think I have a better feel of selecting seed fishes for the Pearlscale than with the TVR. The correct seed pairing is the way to achieve many good fishes with a relatively small spawn size.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Anyway, there is always something to learn from a good or a bad spawn. Somehow, I came to expect that the good things in life are seldom in great abundance ;-)</span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-5222355630849866462013-08-24T23:14:00.001+08:002013-08-24T23:14:32.303+08:00Dumb Ways To Die ~ 笨死法<center>
<span style="color: #38761d;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Happiness is nothing more than good health<br />and a bad memory.</span></span></i></span><br /><br /><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">~ Albert Schweitzer (1875 - 1965)</span></span><br /><br /><br /><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="225" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/v4A_18kf4PY" width="400"></iframe><br />
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<i><b><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">T</span></span></b></i><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">he other day my son shared with me the video of "Dumb Ways To Die" and I had the instant inspiration to write my next blog post. Through the years keeping goldfish, I have collated a list of silly "fatal errors" by hobbyists that caused the lives of their beloved goldfish. Frankly, I was also a proud contributor of some of these "mis-happenings" :-P</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"></span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">~ forgot anti-chlorine</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #274e13;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</span><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">~ forgot air tube<br />
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~ forgot power shutdown schedule</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">~ water overflow overnight</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">~ pump sucks water dry</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">~ faulty heater cooked fish</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13;">~ capillary action drained out water<br /><br />
~ watching TV while doing 2% salt dip<br />
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~ never quarantine<br />
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~ mixed new fishes to current collection directly<br />
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~ un-sterilized livefeeds<br />
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~ expired food<br />
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~ overstocking<br />
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~ overfeeding<br />
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~ netting the fishes after their full meal<br />
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~ adding in different medications, hoping one will work<br />
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~ adding salt into tank with zeolite filter media<br />
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~ overstretched water change schedule<br />
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~ overdosed medication<br />
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~ overdosed salt<br />
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~ never buffer water<br />
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~ incompatible tankmates e.g. pleco prefers slime coat to algae</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QgLtNRn-kwsucWXjlw5wZ4eroKbf1ptpPJgue02yBdHf8-qq-kYkaoDDUoFp318jyFttV30L6O8qwFaqwfDjU5nHBRqxspuC9OJKDSHtENGH1YwTOYmbD3Mf9nScTn20NbQWif0Y19ar/s1600/pearl2013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9QgLtNRn-kwsucWXjlw5wZ4eroKbf1ptpPJgue02yBdHf8-qq-kYkaoDDUoFp318jyFttV30L6O8qwFaqwfDjU5nHBRqxspuC9OJKDSHtENGH1YwTOYmbD3Mf9nScTn20NbQWif0Y19ar/s1600/pearl2013.JPG" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">As I drafted this post, someone dear to me also got the inspiration to compile the dumb ways with which I could have died one day:</span></div>
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<span style="color: #38761d;">~ Sleeping 4 to 5 hours per day during spawning season<br /><br />
~ Rushing almost everyday between hobby and job<br /><br />
~ Culling fishes into the wee hours of the night<br /><br />
~ Skipping lunch to check out the fishes at home<br /><br />
~ Water change in the outdoors under direct afternoon sun or thunderstorm<br />
<br />~ Prolong exposure to chemicals doing quarantine</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkTzcX67CJcHNvrvCi8hVK1G_TWHVga6jNZ42my_8DjXMcktuPrso-XRSc9sdEZLiWTXNCC5vOOKJg8tPopE8qf7eeokgTNu2wBLEWABqoCqMH4XjbnN6DqMAsHiak9C_0I4suMS9rBfVi/s1600/tvr2013-b.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkTzcX67CJcHNvrvCi8hVK1G_TWHVga6jNZ42my_8DjXMcktuPrso-XRSc9sdEZLiWTXNCC5vOOKJg8tPopE8qf7eeokgTNu2wBLEWABqoCqMH4XjbnN6DqMAsHiak9C_0I4suMS9rBfVi/s1600/tvr2013-b.JPG" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">LoL...<br />
can't help it :-P </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I am currently tending to two spawns of Pearlscales since last month and 1 spawn of Ranchu on 9th August, Singapore's National Day.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What's the problem with a dumb but happy life? ;-)</span>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4179283282998911396.post-33890257511446864542013-08-08T22:57:00.000+08:002013-08-13T13:30:31.637+08:00A Pinch of Salt ~ 一把鹽<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: italic;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-large;">一把鹽就搞定了!</span><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;">~ 阿福 (以往香港金魚街風水</span></span></span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: italic;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-style: italic;">魚</span>店的老闆)</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: italic;"></span> <span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: italic;"> A handful of salt solved the problem!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">~ Ah Fok - ex-owner of a LFS specialized in goldfish in Hong Kong's Goldfish Street</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX4ZCfhwI9trxWoRdtPY9yhAtcVp3lZLqdspZTayauw4-ICDqWsvQ-Qv31b6Rq2iQpFSChMxzJFOcVrt3VPmg1jzKkkukW4yZrpoF-1Yy5CaK9_EO_x5NGKc7ilzxl5I9PeJJYiKqZSXlF/s1600/rocksalt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX4ZCfhwI9trxWoRdtPY9yhAtcVp3lZLqdspZTayauw4-ICDqWsvQ-Qv31b6Rq2iQpFSChMxzJFOcVrt3VPmg1jzKkkukW4yZrpoF-1Yy5CaK9_EO_x5NGKc7ilzxl5I9PeJJYiKqZSXlF/s1600/rocksalt.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Rock Salt</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-large; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">M</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">any times that I have shared about salt treatment with fellow goldfish hobbyists, that it would be better to document it here</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> for easier reference. Please note that this article pertains to goldfish only. You should consult relevant information </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">about salt concentration and treatment for other ornamental fishes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Salt (sodium chloride) is a cheap and effective first-line combat against many parasites. The</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> correct concentration of salt is very crucial: too little would be ineffective and too much may kill your goldfish </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">together with the parasites.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It should be noted that some parasites may be resilient to salt and that salt is also not a remedy for fungal or bacteria infection. Salt should not be used as a long term water conditioner - Do we take paracetamol everyday even if we do not have a headache?</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />There are 2 concentrations of salt of particular importance to goldfish keeping:</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">~ <span style="color: red;">2% salt dip</span> (20 grams of salt per litre) - used for short (a.k.a 'shock') dip to kill microscopic parasites like gill and body </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">flukes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">~ <span style="color: red;">0.5% salt treatment</span> (5 grams of salt per litre) - used for short term acclimatizing and treatment of goldfish during quarantine </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">stage. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>How to measure salt concentration (salinity):</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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</span> <span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By weight:</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- using a kitchen scale, 0.5% salt is 5 grams/litre and 2% salt is 20 grams/litre.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
</span><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">By a Refractometer:</span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- an easy and accurate way to measure salinity is using the optical instrument known as the refractometer.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- sample 3 drops of water onto the optical surface and close the lead. Look through the eye </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">piece against a light source to see the readings.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- Depending on the model of the refractometer. Use the </span><span style="color: red;"><span style="font-size: large;">‰</span> (</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: red;">or per-mille)</span> scale on the right hand side and refer to the following picture for readings on 0.5% and 2% salinity </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">highlighted in red.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">- Please note that </span>1‰ = 0.1% <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">and read accompanying instructions of the refractometer for proper usage and calibration.</span></div>
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<tr><td><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglbkNn2UKm9UPG8c_JuFS5wmYYWuH5Kk8dcRmZAeApXPUInqvNEAbLrjg59O3IvXHRRZYWYMjANf5Gm1Sb5KlM0q_-VFgxrWRGSaw4K1zhTtLoGZk83nSBBIiYoDDFtmnHiM5zbT7CN_Co/s1600/refractometer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglbkNn2UKm9UPG8c_JuFS5wmYYWuH5Kk8dcRmZAeApXPUInqvNEAbLrjg59O3IvXHRRZYWYMjANf5Gm1Sb5KlM0q_-VFgxrWRGSaw4K1zhTtLoGZk83nSBBIiYoDDFtmnHiM5zbT7CN_Co/s320/refractometer.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A Refractometer</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4-apdCsW_Koec5qJrXuYvBXh107a3uVJ5-vyea5KqP36HYUbBGHN6aWqoIJygLA96lKPqTyqTeCpdW0w4VSQM_5mqq5Zoatg_7iaK1spvfH9-eNLpA8Tvva2wIt0rqzid4HpmtovLRtPW/s1600/refractometerReadings2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4-apdCsW_Koec5qJrXuYvBXh107a3uVJ5-vyea5KqP36HYUbBGHN6aWqoIJygLA96lKPqTyqTeCpdW0w4VSQM_5mqq5Zoatg_7iaK1spvfH9-eNLpA8Tvva2wIt0rqzid4HpmtovLRtPW/s400/refractometerReadings2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Salt as a treatment for parasites:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In goldfish, a very common parasite is the gill flukes (microscopic parasites) and most of them could be eradicated with a few cycles of 2% salt dip followed by 0.5% salt treatment.</span></div>
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<b>Salt as a therapeutic agent:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The 0.5% salinity is a very important concentration use in therapeutic treatment because the blood salinity of many vertebrates are close to 0.5%. Incidentally, salt soothes the goldfish by improving gill functions and reducing osmotic pressure. It also aides in the healing of wounds and induces a healthy slime coating. In this concentration, besides calming the fishes, it is effective against the eggs and further propagation of many parasites. As salt is rather inert against most other commercial medications, it can be safely added to most anti-bacterial and anti-fungal medications. The best practice when using salt concurrently with another drug is to consult expert advises or documentation first (for example, it is widely believed that salt should never be used together with formalin or potassium permanganate, mainly due to the dyhyrating/oxidising properties of these drugs which deplete the already reduced dissolved oxygen in salt treated water).</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-BbpRefue1CibylHh1Nz0dd6H85OnydaXkWjbbCpBvlXybUh-T8vjl_uybY6uj9s6dfifjrxys5jEGE6cg2iI7URT8-fZGqkGOMO3eNbHvdGn3h_GbAdqSiXEsA9KnX37Fs6hZ34MSo0T/s1600/tosai2013-b.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-BbpRefue1CibylHh1Nz0dd6H85OnydaXkWjbbCpBvlXybUh-T8vjl_uybY6uj9s6dfifjrxys5jEGE6cg2iI7URT8-fZGqkGOMO3eNbHvdGn3h_GbAdqSiXEsA9KnX37Fs6hZ34MSo0T/s1600/tosai2013-b.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Salt is indispensable for the </span><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Ranchu</span><br />
<span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">~ A local bred TVR 2013</span></td></tr>
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<b>Salt as an acclimatizer when mixing fishes:</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When introducing new goldfish to your current collection, even if the new fishes are fully quarantined, extreme caution must be observed to acclimatize the 2 groups together. This is because goldfish from different tanks/ponds are hosts to their residential pathogens found in their habitats. Crossed contamination when they are mixed together triggered an onslaught of new pathogens that their body immune system may not be prepared to counter react. The story of how an introduction of new fishes managed to wiped out the whole community in days is all too familiar. In many cases, either the existing community or the new fishes survived, depending on which pathogen is "stronger".</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Just like the common flu bug that is always present in healthy humans, healthy fishes would still be hosting some pathogens. These pathogens exist in equilibrium with the immune system of the host body. Paradoxically, it keeps the fishes healthy by having a busy and active immune system. However, an outbreak can be triggered when the host is excessively stressed or weakened due to external factors, like poor water quality or the introduction of new fishes.</span></div>
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The objective of a proper fish mixing regime aims to eradicate as much of these flukes and weaken their effects so that both communities of fishes can gradually acclimatize to each others' presence.</div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-small;">A salt dip demonstration</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Salt dip procedure:</b></span></div>
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If the goldfish is reasonably big and that you are confident, gently ply open its gill plate a little to look at its gills. The gills should be blood red and that the gill filaments are full and healthy, not dull red, pink or whitish. Those with pink or dull coloured gills should be treated with anti-bacteria gill medications. </div>
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1) Change 80% to 90% of the water in the pond/tank and add in new dechlorinated water. </div>
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2) Use rock salt (please do not use the table salt) to dose the tank with 0.5% salinity (make sure all the salt are melted before taking the readings).</div>
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3) Prepare a small container of dechlorinated water with 2% salt solution. If the container is big, you may perform the salt dip for more fishes at the same time, otherwise, you can do it one at a time.<br />
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4) Dip all the new and current fishes in your collection that you wish to mix together in the small container of 2% salinity solution from 3 to 5 minutes. The fishes will struggle and may even float sideways and grasp for air. If you are new to this and not so confident yet, you may perform shorter dips in a few intervals.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLk0hF1ZkQ1y-YZdKE2Lti5L8eUo_beG8HR7RNmIF7dL9fkVPj-GhgHtuxjueMR318FXfnIWlADQdks789xcQ9kwZxBdiNDaJlTiBpPMAPHrJKIW0LwSfDhmCRq125XRXy1hiLC2ra_9en/s1600/Vetpearls.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLk0hF1ZkQ1y-YZdKE2Lti5L8eUo_beG8HR7RNmIF7dL9fkVPj-GhgHtuxjueMR318FXfnIWlADQdks789xcQ9kwZxBdiNDaJlTiBpPMAPHrJKIW0LwSfDhmCRq125XRXy1hiLC2ra_9en/s1600/Vetpearls.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="color: #38761d;">Routine salt bath also keeps older<br />fishes healthy, like this pair of 2.5 years old<br />Pearlscales</span></td></tr>
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5) Take out the fish and let them recuperate in a small bowl of clean dechlorinated water for 5 minutes and than transfer it back to their habitat pond/tank that was previously dosed with 0.5% salinity.<br />
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6) In this period, do very light feeding and monitor that all the fishes are active. If a water change is needed, re-dose the new water to 0.5% salinity.</div>
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7) Repeat steps 4) to 6) on the 4th day, 8th day and 12th day to rid of the adult and larvae flukes that hatch approximately every 3 to 4 days.</div>
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If you have lasted through to this part of the article, I am glad that my effort to share has paid off. As with the old adage that we should take things we hear with a pinch of salt, the best way is still to try it out yourself ;-))</div>
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