Re: [GSAS-Member] So, how was the... Koi arm-twisting...

[Steev Ward <steevward@yahoo.com>]

Yes, the growth rates are extremely variable. It is hard to know how much of 
that is
due to individual genetic variation, but mostly it is a simple function of food 
intake.
Because the fry are capable of eating an enormous amount, or of just browsing on
detritus a small difference in the food uptake in a single day can result in 
one fish
being able to eat a larger organism than another is able to on a successive 
day. That
leads to a snowballing acceleration in growth for the biggest ones. 

When the size difference becomes great enough (like the 5x you mentioned) the 
biggest
ones are able to EAT the smallest ones - resulting in another spike in their 
growth
rate, because the Cannibals grow much faster than the fish eating just flake 
food (more
protein). So ove time - depending on the food available - you can end up with 
fewer
fish, consisting of a few "Lunkers" and a bunch of medium sized hangers on. This
happens with many other species of fish as well, like salmon or trout in a 
stream. I
prefer to separate out those "Cannibals" into a different container so that the 
others
can survive, but that can be a lot of work if you try to keep it up very long. 
Keeping
a bunch of live Daphnia in there seems to help to. When they get bigger they 
are less
apt to eat each other.

I need to go sort mine now come to think of it. AND I can look for interesting 
colors
(although it has barely begun to show).

Steev


--- Betty Goetz <haika@drizzle.com> wrote:

> I've been surprised by how variable the growth rates are. Unless there are
> different hatch dates on the batch???? I've got one that's ~5x larger than
> the smallest fry in my inside tank. And I'm starting to see mottling on
> some where for the longest time there were just bright light gold. At
> least now I know most are large enough to take flake food which is a
> relief. I'm very low on live food. Where are all the mosquito larvae this
> year????
> 
> Betty Goetz
    



      
_______________________________________________
GSAS-Member mailing list
GSAS-Member@thekrib.com
http://lists.thekrib.com/mailman/listinfo/gsas-member