Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

March 11 2011 is a significant day in history...sadly so as many Japanese lost their lives because of nature's wrath. A 8.9 Richter scale earthquake hit northern Japan that sent tidal waves so devastating that it ripped through all the costal towns flattening many homes and many lives were lost.



Among those whose lives are in peril or killed by the earthquake and subsequent tsunamis are ranchu keepers....many unbeknown to us. In AJRS 2009, there was this great winner by the name of Master Masaru Matsuda




For ranchu hobbyists/keepers outside of Japan, there are not much information about the welfare and well being of all the ranchu breeders/masters in Japan.... we can only glean information through words of mouth, but nevertheless will like to wish all of them well and speedy recovery from this huge disaster. Master Masaru is in Miyagi and very close to the epicenter of the earthquake.... hope he and his family are well and safe.




My fries are doing well after another round of Costia attack, but through experimenting....I am treating Costia attacks successfully.



An older piece from 2011 Spawn B

Visting Hanajima

Hanajima San....an accomplished Orchid Judge, Horticulturalist, Hotel Owner and Japanese Ranchu Enthusiast and Importer. There are so much I want to know about this Japanese gentleman...I feel he have a wealth of ranchu knowledge that can be shared with hobbyists...if only I have a chance to spend some quiet time with him. I had that chance when I visited his ranchu farm late last year, but it was a short visit.

Hanajima San studied in America, keep a home in Florida and travel frequently from his business/home in Bangkok to Japan and USA. As it was a short visit, there was not much that I can enquire and learn from Hanajima San...I really like to understand the relationship and kinship between the various breeders and Hanajima San will be a great educator on that.

The ranchu farm is situated on the upper floor of the hotel car park...unique and easily accesible through the hotel lobby. Contrary to what I was told, I find the concrete ponds well kept and all the fishes very healthy. Hanajima is hands-on and know all his fishes and he shared some great photos of his import collections.

Ranchu farm on upper floor of the hotel carpark








My three group of fries ran into serious trouble over the weekend. Last Friday had a miscommunication of instructions to my son and he poured all the live daphnia to feed the fries. Came home later in the evening and all the fries floating and by Sunday morning the three groups of fries were down with severe costia. Costia is very fast in bringing down fries and the parisites is very potent causing lots of flashing and some fries even keep on flipping over. Salt and acriflavinne doesn't help and I have to resort to PP to bring the parisites under control...Lost almost 30%...some died and some just not worth salvaging. This is the sad part of being a breeder...its very painful and gut wrenching.....



Nevertheless some more spawns coming up and looking forward to better days.