A little update, with video
Hi.
Took some video of the late summer kohaku's a week ago - posting to lodge it as a diary record. 280 ish in the tank, and these are the best from the spawning which only delivered 2.6k at first selection. The video doesnt show the quality differences between the fish - and there are big differences. there are only a few that I think I will keep until nissai. Size wise - well, I havent measured any of them, and my best guess is the largest are around 15cm / 6 inch. As the best 10% of the spawning - difficult to be unhappy with the patterns. So this brood fish set produced high proportion of patterned fish - but the jury is out on growth potential. The early summer spawning had a much lower proportion of patterned fish - but they've been easier to grow. The quandary is - what kohaku pairing do I run with next year?
And a click link: video
Here's a short vid from my ipcam of the early summer kohaku spawning keepers taken a week ago - again, just as a diary record.
A a click link: video
btw - Kangei Koi Club's Garden Show results are now in - you may remember I entered two kohaku's and one tancho - well, my homebred kohaku's won a competitive prize by coming 1st and 2nd out of 3 in size 1 kohaku. A good start - especially considering I bred them this year! The next test is winning an award like that but in an open show format; that's 2015's challenge. I must set up a page and start recording these awards....
Other news; I've been so busy with work that Amanda's been looking after the fish for weeks now. I've bought another IP cam so I can keep an eye on both grow on tanks more easily, and just got that set up today.
I've been trying to maintain temps in the low 20's in the grow on tanks as a minimum - with a target temp of 24 degrees. the 15kw air source heat pump is working really well but when air temps drop to near zero, it could only deliver 19 degrees water temp in those consistently cold air temps - so I've turned on my old 6kw one to bolster the heating and help me maintain at least 23 degrees. It's costing me through - with the wise owl electricity meter set up to monitor electricity usage in the polytunnel - and knowing what the daily cost is with no heating - I can report that heating these growing on tanks (un covered) is costing between £6 and £10 per day! (depending on ambiant air temperature) Average is £8 per day.
The brood fish tanks were are 10 degrees today - which is warmer than they've been for a while. 6 degrees seems to be where they sit on the cooler days.
The other news is that I asked Mike Snaden to look for some males on his recent Japan trip, to bolster my kohaku and shiro brood set options for next year. I'll make the trip to Bristol in a few weeks once the current work rush calms down, and am really looking forward to seeing the koi.
Took some video of the late summer kohaku's a week ago - posting to lodge it as a diary record. 280 ish in the tank, and these are the best from the spawning which only delivered 2.6k at first selection. The video doesnt show the quality differences between the fish - and there are big differences. there are only a few that I think I will keep until nissai. Size wise - well, I havent measured any of them, and my best guess is the largest are around 15cm / 6 inch. As the best 10% of the spawning - difficult to be unhappy with the patterns. So this brood fish set produced high proportion of patterned fish - but the jury is out on growth potential. The early summer spawning had a much lower proportion of patterned fish - but they've been easier to grow. The quandary is - what kohaku pairing do I run with next year?
And a click link: video
Here's a short vid from my ipcam of the early summer kohaku spawning keepers taken a week ago - again, just as a diary record.
A a click link: video
btw - Kangei Koi Club's Garden Show results are now in - you may remember I entered two kohaku's and one tancho - well, my homebred kohaku's won a competitive prize by coming 1st and 2nd out of 3 in size 1 kohaku. A good start - especially considering I bred them this year! The next test is winning an award like that but in an open show format; that's 2015's challenge. I must set up a page and start recording these awards....
Other news; I've been so busy with work that Amanda's been looking after the fish for weeks now. I've bought another IP cam so I can keep an eye on both grow on tanks more easily, and just got that set up today.
I've been trying to maintain temps in the low 20's in the grow on tanks as a minimum - with a target temp of 24 degrees. the 15kw air source heat pump is working really well but when air temps drop to near zero, it could only deliver 19 degrees water temp in those consistently cold air temps - so I've turned on my old 6kw one to bolster the heating and help me maintain at least 23 degrees. It's costing me through - with the wise owl electricity meter set up to monitor electricity usage in the polytunnel - and knowing what the daily cost is with no heating - I can report that heating these growing on tanks (un covered) is costing between £6 and £10 per day! (depending on ambiant air temperature) Average is £8 per day.
The brood fish tanks were are 10 degrees today - which is warmer than they've been for a while. 6 degrees seems to be where they sit on the cooler days.
The other news is that I asked Mike Snaden to look for some males on his recent Japan trip, to bolster my kohaku and shiro brood set options for next year. I'll make the trip to Bristol in a few weeks once the current work rush calms down, and am really looking forward to seeing the koi.
