Yup, Trinket. I am especially proud of this group. They are very big and solid and..... nice! I am dreaming of little ones that are going to be like their big daddy, Sterling!!!! I have been plugging them full of protien - brine shrimp, fish flakes, krill, etc. for their entire lives - and they are nice and big and FAT!
I have been culling all along. I have one more cull that I will do, and then it will be simply separating - the ones I want or want to give to friends and the ones that will go to the pet store in the future. They may be nice and big - but they are really too little to go anywhere, yet. I have a breeder friend who may get a few of the larger ones in a few weeks, but, in general, I need to keep them for at LEAST 24-30 weeks before they are big enough for even the best petstore to be interested. They are simply too fragile before that - and do not look enough like a "goldfish" for the general public to have interest. AFter all - a little bronzy thing is NOT the same as a big, bright red/white fish with fins!
I started out with only a few hundred - but this was a particularly "good" group - with the majority being really nice fish.
I even kept 2 single tails myself. I am interested in how they will grow out - and, because a friend kept going over to Sterling's tank last year at show and dreaming about what a broadtail/single tail would be like (he likes single tails). I hope that the singles grow out well so I can take them this year to show/give to him!
One of the single-tailed ones has the BEST body of the whole spawning. I wish it were on a doubletail fry!!! WOW. It has a huge hump and a deep belly already!
I expect that the colors will start to come at between 12-16 weeks of age. My spawns last year did it about that time with the Ryukins. (My Phoenix are over a year old and still have not gotten color!)
