Spawnings are going much better this year compared to last year
So, 4 spawnings completed and the scores and the doors are:
2 x shiro spawnings
a) matsunosuke female, omosako male
-spawned in a cage net suspended in one of the growing on ponds.
-spawned on the first night
-eggs put into 3 separate volumes of water, but all eggs failed
root cause - suspect eggs were not fertilised
b) uedera female (omosako parents), 2 x omosake males + 1 ckf male
- spawened in the green vortex tank which is connected to the growing on tanks
- spawned on first night
- eggs moved to a show vat filled with 6 week old water
- treated with MG straight after moving them
- the largest hatch I've had - judging by eye
- fry currently growing on outside in one of the fry ponds
these spawning were test spawnings - trying out a new setup as I continue to hunt for an approach to spawning that is easier for me to manage, and produces more success more of the time. the green vortex approach appeared promising so I've gone with it 2 more times with kohaku sets.
2 x kohaku spawnings
a) momotaro female, matsue male, takigawa male
- spawened in the green vortex tank which is connected to the growing on tanks
- spawned on first night
- eggs moved to a show vat filled with 6 week old water
- less eggs from this c.80cm female than I've had from other 70cm females :-(
- treated with Methylene Blue straight after moving them
- c.50% fertilisation rate; currently waiting to see how many hatch
because of the low number of eggs, we ran another kohaku spawning straight away as a backup. the momotaro female is the one I want to rear fry from - but if there are not enough eggs, or the hatch rate is bad etc, then we will have the backup of another kohaku spawning to either take the fry pond, or to blend the hatchlings together to achieve a full fry pond's worth of fry.
b) the backup spawning - same combo as the Jul 14 spawning; okawa female, 2 x dainichi males
- spawened in the green vortex tank which is connected to the growing on tanks
- spawned on first night
- eggs moved to a show vat filled with 6 week old water
- lots of eggs!
- treated with MG straight after moving them
currently waiting to see the result.
Conclusions:
The new approach I'm taking to spawning seems to be working - and it's a lot less work for me than spawning in show vats. The compromise is that I can't video or even observe the spawning so I don't get to see how the males are performing. But the result from 3 spawnings carried out in the green vortex approach is very consistent, and so far I'm quite excited about potentially having gone a long to way solving my spawning problems.
Next steps:
Hopefully, we'll have a good hatch from at least one of the kohaku spawnings and we can get the fry out into the fry ponds over the weekend.
My focus the last few weeks has been on the spawnings, and I've not been feeding the growing on tanks, other than once per day on days when we havent spawned. I've only a few more weeks left to continue growing on the tosai so I've filled up the auto feeders this evening, and lets see how the go over the next few weeks before the final tosai selection around the end of this month.
Here's a video taken from the IP cam on the July 14 growing on tank - feeding this evening.
Click - video link
2 x shiro spawnings
a) matsunosuke female, omosako male
-spawned in a cage net suspended in one of the growing on ponds.
-spawned on the first night
-eggs put into 3 separate volumes of water, but all eggs failed
root cause - suspect eggs were not fertilised
b) uedera female (omosako parents), 2 x omosake males + 1 ckf male
- spawened in the green vortex tank which is connected to the growing on tanks
- spawned on first night
- eggs moved to a show vat filled with 6 week old water
- treated with MG straight after moving them
- the largest hatch I've had - judging by eye
- fry currently growing on outside in one of the fry ponds
these spawning were test spawnings - trying out a new setup as I continue to hunt for an approach to spawning that is easier for me to manage, and produces more success more of the time. the green vortex approach appeared promising so I've gone with it 2 more times with kohaku sets.
2 x kohaku spawnings
a) momotaro female, matsue male, takigawa male
- spawened in the green vortex tank which is connected to the growing on tanks
- spawned on first night
- eggs moved to a show vat filled with 6 week old water
- less eggs from this c.80cm female than I've had from other 70cm females :-(
- treated with Methylene Blue straight after moving them
- c.50% fertilisation rate; currently waiting to see how many hatch
because of the low number of eggs, we ran another kohaku spawning straight away as a backup. the momotaro female is the one I want to rear fry from - but if there are not enough eggs, or the hatch rate is bad etc, then we will have the backup of another kohaku spawning to either take the fry pond, or to blend the hatchlings together to achieve a full fry pond's worth of fry.
b) the backup spawning - same combo as the Jul 14 spawning; okawa female, 2 x dainichi males
- spawened in the green vortex tank which is connected to the growing on tanks
- spawned on first night
- eggs moved to a show vat filled with 6 week old water
- lots of eggs!
- treated with MG straight after moving them
currently waiting to see the result.
Conclusions:
The new approach I'm taking to spawning seems to be working - and it's a lot less work for me than spawning in show vats. The compromise is that I can't video or even observe the spawning so I don't get to see how the males are performing. But the result from 3 spawnings carried out in the green vortex approach is very consistent, and so far I'm quite excited about potentially having gone a long to way solving my spawning problems.
Next steps:
Hopefully, we'll have a good hatch from at least one of the kohaku spawnings and we can get the fry out into the fry ponds over the weekend.
My focus the last few weeks has been on the spawnings, and I've not been feeding the growing on tanks, other than once per day on days when we havent spawned. I've only a few more weeks left to continue growing on the tosai so I've filled up the auto feeders this evening, and lets see how the go over the next few weeks before the final tosai selection around the end of this month.
Here's a video taken from the IP cam on the July 14 growing on tank - feeding this evening.
Click - video link
