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

["Betty Goetz" <haika@drizzle.com>]

I've been watching every day but I don't think that the smallest are prey
yet to the biggest. The biggest one is probably the one catching the few
mosquito larvae I find that are small enough for this tank. Otherwise, I
think the feeding opportunities are pretty uniform. But I do need to get a
'sorting' tank set up for the biggest ones. I'm just starting to see some
black mottling on some...just in the past couple days. I wish I could find
more mosquito egg rafts to put in this tank! I'm going to try some frozen
baby brine also.

I've been watching the color developing on my shubunkin fry also and just
yesterday noticed spots where there might be orange eventually....the
black mottling has been apparent for quite awhile. I don't know when these
shubunkin fry hatched, as they were netted out of my great blue heron
ravaged above ground ponds. The largest are an inch long now. I know with
my 'regular' comets, I don't get orange until the next summer.

I wish I had lots of daphnia but this new place doesn't seem to 'grow'
live food as well as my old place. I'm still experimenting with placement
of my culture tubs. I'm not even getting many mosquito larvae!!!

Betty Goetz

> 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
>
>
>
>
>
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