For those who is interested with Japanese Ranchu

[yeemiau]

Hi there,

Glad you ask this question. (i'm refering to 10 ranchu, if 5 ranchu, space devide by 2)

For baby ranchu (present stage) they'll need a 2.5' x 5' space (approximately 1 meter square). can last till aug/sept. Then you can shift them to a 5' x 5' tank (approximately 2 meter square) This will last them the whole life time. Space is very important. Too much space, or too small space, or too little fish/too many fish... will effect their appitite therefore development. (But my recommendation just for a guideline, plus or minus a little shouldn't be a problem.) A big No-No is something like 4 fish in a 5'x5' pond.

Water level should be shallow. For Malaysia, best depth for babies is 4" (10cm) and adult is 6" (15cm).

Cement or Fibreglass tank does not make much different. Don't worry about temp fluctuation... even if you r using fibreglass tank, you can always give better shading or stick styroform on the tank's outter wall to keep temperature stable. 3 bucks a peice of 1" think styrofoam, easy-jup la...

I'd recommend using fibreglass cos it is easy to maintain. cleaning is many many many times easier then cement tank. you can flip it up and down just like a coin but you can do that with cement tank. some says cement tank buffers water hardness... but by changing 100% water 4-8 days period, you wouldn't worry about these problem anymore. Two important thing we need to plant in our mind set.. One, don't make yourself suit/work for the fish, but make the fish follow what you give/available/lifestyle. Two, keep everything as simple as possible and easy to work with. So, you'll spend more time to play with them but instead take more time to "work" for them. Think what suits you best before you think what suits the fish best. But of cos, we need to serve them in terms of feeding, water change, etc.

Location is always very important. PLace it at a place you'll get minimum good 3-4 hours or sunlight (morning sunlight is always the best). More sunlight is never a problem cos you can shade them with styrofoam, wood, etc. But you can't produce sunlight if there's not enough of it.

Our cement tank has a 2" drainage pipe at the corner with the water level slanting towards it. So, we just pull out the 2" PVC pipe and all the water will drain out from it. Our fibreglass tank has the same design. only difference is the fibreglass tank is not a permanent fixture and can shift around easily. For 100% water change, we scoop some tank water into a metal basin and put the fish in it. along with the air stone, we place it somewhere else and start draining the water and cleaning the tank. After job complete, filled the tank with new water and dechrolinate it. Place the basin back to the tank and wait till the basin's water is same with the tank's water temp. With that, you can scoop the fish one by one back to the tank. Easy. Remember, use metal basin, it is a much better conductor than plastic. If you use plastic containers... you gonna wait ages. While you wait for both water temp equals, you can enjoy the fish in the basin close up ans decide what to do next to groom it further... ain't it's nice?

If you use storage tank, make sure the water use is less then 24 hours. or else it is considered aged water... it is ok to use but fresh ones is better. Say , you plan to change water tomorrow morning; fill the storage tank only at night before the water change day. Green water or clear water... it is the matter of how heavy you feed or how much shade you put. When you got used to it, it is very easy to control. Pump some air if you have an extra hose but you do without it.

My advise is, don't rush into any quick decision... plan slowly (not too slow please,..heheh) and the fish will wait for you.

If you have the setup readied already... you can grab the baby anytime you like. Green water is for at least 2-3 months later. You'll need carpet algea around 10 days later... That will be their maindiet for the next few weeks until their colour change take place.

Hope my explaination helps.

Cheers.

[chinaryukin]

Thanks for the above explanation.

But how do i grow the carpet algae? how long it take to grow? any tip to fastract the growth of this live carpet? please advice..

a friend is selling 2 cement tank 5'x3'x17"depth, i'm thinking to get 1, enough for my space. but that tank is damn heavy. i hope it can keep 10 babies till they grow adult (lifetime).

do you recommend biofilter (to change ammonia/nitrit/nitrate)?

[yeemiau]

You'll need both of them for adult stage. 17" is a little high but still can do. Only thing I can comment is.... you'll be having REALLY hard time to scrub those fella wall clean. I have 4 units of 2.5' x 5' x 12"depth cement tanks.. got it new from wholeseller at around RM75 each, new... Been using that for 1 year and now changed to fibreglass.... it's like changing from a kancil to a camry... Easy cruise when you do the water change. An idea you can try... line the cement tank with resin. (Ryan, if you are readin this, can you please input some details on those resin+catalyst thing?)

For the tank size... at very very maximum, you can put 7-8 adults. try to have good numbers (minimum 4 fish in any tank cos it will bring you a lotsa benefits)

Maybe you should take 8 instead. 10 will be too much for that tank. But definately temperature will be much more stable than Fibreglass tanks. How much your friend is selling? (if you don't mind publishing the price.. hehe)

But bare in mind, you only need 6 inch water depth. You'll be risking the tail development if you put full tank.

You don't need any filtration of any kind. 100% Water change will do miracles.. hehehe Just a good airpump Regent9000 or equivalent will do the job. Cheap cheap system and very effective. I'd bravely say 99.9% Japanese is doing it this way.

Alternative, You can find all sort of tub/containers with low walls and wide surface area from hardware shop, industrial supply companies, junk yards, etc. Our sensei uses trunk line for trucks/4WD for his ranchus.... see pic; it is a container used by Japanese local construction contracters for cement mixing, it also fit at the back of their truck. Nice....

For fast tracking carpet algea growth.. (just an idea) you can filler the container/tank/tub with 4" of water and get some carpet algea from other tank (but soak it in tap water for a while to kill gems/bacteria) then dump it into the tank together with a few pallet feeds. By the way, no need to dechlorinate the water and give heavy sunlight. If you have planted tank liquid fertilisers... just dump a little in,....

[chinaryukin]

a friend told me a LFS in KL selling their used cement tanks.
so i went there yesterday late afternoon...RM100 i already paid for 1 tank since fibre tank of same size is selling at RM350 and i get the feeling cement give better temperature control. the shop is at jalan pasar, k.lumpur.
there is 1 more tank left same size and price.

it's damn heavy. i need 4 men to take it up to my unit (i wish i have landed house). now i think i've made mistake, should get plastic/fibre tank instead.

as a starter i don't have "other tank", where can i get this carpet algae to start with, can i take stater from your plant and bring back with the fish?
do you mean this fish can live with tap water (no need to dechorinate) or only for growing carpet algea?

[yeemiau]

Fish sure die with chlorine... only for carpet algea...

After you've washed and settled down the cement tank, just fill it with 4" of water and drop a few pallet feed and maybe some liquid fertilisers (you can get some from your friend with planted tanks... This will express the process...
Seeding it is super fast culturing... you'll have enough time to culture it... 1 week will see some results.

no worries. one tank is more then enough.

[Ryan]

Hi ChinaRyukin,

In my opinion, basically both cement and fibre glass could be used. But using
cement, you are going to have a lot of hard work.
Major differences:
1) For concrete, it has a higher tendency to absorb heat and as Yee Miau's
advise as the water level is 6" only for baby ranchu (kuroko), please do remember to cover them, other wise in the hot afternoon , all your baby ranchu would become "masak" (cooked) already.
2) Cleaning is much simpler as the surface is much finer in fibre glass tank than in concrete tank.
3)If you are going to use concrete tank, make sure that there is a hole where
you could drain the water, otherwise, you are going to have quite a task to clean the aquarium.
3) Water cleaning (100%) over a period of 4~7 days is a must, try to make sure that your aquarium are easily clean (including scrubbing), locate in a good position where you have easy access to water...so on and so forth.

What Yee Miau meant is that you do "NOT"need filtration for your aquarium (this is with the assumption that the water would be changed within 4~7 days pending on the stage of ranchu development). You definitely need to put anti chlorin especially when it is on the baby stage, they are very sensitive to clorin.

I intend to buy the big fibreglass as the baby ranchu would be growing very fast as I believe that in another 3~6 months time, I won't have a big space
to rear them. A big aquarium when the ranchu is bigger would help the fish to swim more and therefore allow it to grow better.

Anyone in KL interested to buy the fibre glass tank (5feet x 4feet x 12inch)? I hope to combine and then put in the order to the guy that Yee Miau has recommended. It cost RM 160/tank plus RM 40 for transportation from Ipoh to KL, then you could self collect from my house. This is cheap compared to the one I asked from local KL fibreglass fabricator and they are charging me RM 680 per one.

We need a combination of 10 tanks to place in the order. I am going to order for 4 tanks for myself. Whoever is interested, please pm me ok.

Regards, Ryan

[chinaryukin]

ryan,

is that the standard and only size they make it.
i'm keen to get 1 since 1 already got 1 cement tank, but is it possible to make a 6'x4'x1' instead, which is 1 foot longer? can you help to check with the manufacturer.
when is the date their sending the tank to you?
where is your place?

[yeemiau]

I think due to saving on developing a new mould, we asked him to modify from a existing model therefore the low price. Ryan's KL contact might have included the new mould into it. Those fella very smart one... they make you pay for their mould.

[Ryan]

Dear China Ryukin & Kar Wai,

I actually called up the fibre glass as back up plan because
I am not sure that we could get so many party interested
to buy 10 so that we could order from the Ipoh guy.

But the price in KL is just too expensive. And I think I would
try to get from the Ipoh guy. As for the new size, I would check it out with
him as well.

Anyway, if it is just 2 of us, we are going to have only 5 tanks.
I would check whether he would want to accept the order or not.

By the way, I live in Bandar Utama, PJ.

Regards, Ryan

[Pilik-Palak]

yeap, simen tank is very hard to clean but i bought 1 simen that hv a smooth surface.the surface was paint with green paint and i try many hard ware shop still failed to find what type paint it is.some ppl who do the landscaping told me that that might be water proof paint.I really not sure and hope someone here can give the names of this paint?.