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Tuesday, December 29, 2009

See Through Goldfish






TOKYO (AFP) – First came see-through frogs. Now Japanese researchers have succeeded in producing goldfish whose beating hearts can be seen through translucent scales and skin.
The transparent creatures are part of efforts to reduce the need for dissections, which have become increasingly controversial, particularly in schools.
"You can see a live heart and other organs because the scales and skin have no pigments," said Yutaka Tamaru, an associate professor in the department of life science at Mie University.
"You don't have to cut it open. You can see a tiny brain above the goldfish's black eyes."
The joint team of researchers at Mie University and Nagoya University in central Japan produced the "ryukin" goldfish by picking mutant hatchery goldfish with pale skin and breeding them together.
"Having a pale colour is a disadvantage for goldfish in an aquarium but it's good to see how organs sit in a body three-dimensionally," Tamaru told AFP.
The fish are expected to live up to roughly 20 years and could grow as long as 25 centimetres (10 inches) and weigh more than two kilograms (five pounds), much bigger than other fish used in experiments, such as zebrafish and Japanese medaka, Tamaru said.
"As this goldfish grows bigger, you can watch its whole life," he said.
Meanwhile another group of researchers who announced in 2007 they had developed see-through frogs said they planned to start selling the four-legged creatures, whose skin is transparent from the tadpole stage.
"We are making progress in their mass-production. They are likely to be put on the market next year," said Masayuki Sumida, professor at the Institute for Amphibian Biology of Hiroshima University.
Sumida said see-through tadpoles and adult frogs would be available in the first half of next year in Japan for laboratories and schools and as pets, with a price tag expected to be below 10,000 yen (110 dollars) each.
He also wants to sell the creature abroad.
Animal rights activists have pressed for humane alternatives to dissections, such as using computer simulations.
Sumida's team produced the creature from rare mutants of the Japanese brown frog, or Rena japonica, whose backs are usually ochre or brown. Two kinds of recessive genes have been known to cause the frog to be pale.
While goldfish are easier to keep, frogs are higher forms of life and therefore preferable for experiments, Sumida said.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Absolute See-Through (Clear) Zebrafish and See-through Goldfish



This is my first line of Zebrafish I named “Absolute.” It will be useful in many areas of research. It is a cross of rose^b140 which lacks guanine and nacre^b692 which lacks melanin.

I just started distributing them to the research community. Someone I sent them to in Japan mentioned their friend was working on a clear goldfish for similar areas of research. The clear goldfish have just been published:

“The clear goldfish have just been in the news papers. The Yomiuri Shimbun
With Christmas around the corner, a see-through goldfish might make a nice Christmas present for the ichthyologist who has everything.

The goldfish, with transparent scales that reveal its organs, was developed by a joint research team of Mie University and Nagoya University.
The fact that it grows to weigh as much as 1 kilogram will make it useful for research into blood constituents and organ behavior. A report announcing the development of the fish was made at the annual meeting of the Molecular Biology Society of Japan in Yokohama on Wednesday.
The research team bred the transparent fish by repeatedly crossing selected pale goldfish over three years.
As goldfish lay several thousand eggs at a time, they will make useful experimental subjects for the observation of blood makeup and the operation of internal organs without scientists having to dissect them.
In research carried out to hitherto, transparent zebrafish, which also lay a large number of eggs, have often been used, but they are ill-suited for research into studying blood and organs as they are small, weighing about 3 grams.
(Dec. 13, 2009).

endothelin receptor b1 (ednrb1; rose)
fewer iridophores and melanophores; Ednrb1 is a G-protein coupled receptor expressed by pigment cells and their precursors (Parichy et al. 2000).

microphthalmia a (mitfa, nacre)
lacks melanophores; Mitfa is a key transcription factor in melanophore specification

Saturday, December 12, 2009

Take a Breather

Thick Ice

It's been a deep freeze up this way. I had to make a shipment this
week and it took a lot of effort to get through the 4 inch ice in my
above ground tanks.

Japanese Ranchu Magazine

I've been looking for a copy for 3 years and finally found one in Japan! I believe it has been out of print for a while. It has jinchu kai and other amazing fish in its pages. <}}}><

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Large black and gold common

7 boxes of goldfish. Commons and sarassas.

Friday, November 20, 2009

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Cooking With Tequila Class: Do you keep Goldfish? Do you want a couple TVR? (Jaw hits floor)

My wife sprang a cooking class on me last night: cooking with tequila. I happened to be wearing my Ranchu Breeders Social XI shirt that I customized with a few extra picture of Ranchu. After a few dishes and tequila shots the guy at the table next door asks if I keep goldfish and I reply yes... What followed nearly made my jaw hit the floor. He asked do you want a couple tvr? What the hell? He lives two blocks up the street and has two male oishi from NeoRanchu's last import that he was looking for a good home for. Small freaking world. Thank you Tequila, Thank you PETE!
Here they are, two very hansom male Oishi from the Neoranchu June 2006 Import. I believe this is the last import of TVR from Japan I'm not in the hunt for suitable females to pair them up with. There are a few candidate girls that I'm hoping can visit my fishroom to produce a next generation. I doubt anyone will be willing to permanently part with their priceless girls but there is a commercial source that may be able to help me. If I can not find suitable mates they'll be heading off to another good home to hopefully keep the Oishi line alive and well in the States, and preferably Oregon. ;)
Thier current and soon to be former home.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Cleaning House

Making room for larger tanks. This rack holds 15x 20 gallon tall
tanks. The are all drilled and plumbed for recirc. They going to a
marine fish breeder. I still have a 15 tank rack of 20 talls and a 24
tank rack for 20 longs.

Friday, October 16, 2009

Thursday, October 15, 2009

109 Common Goldfish

A healthy batch of common/comet goldfish.

Monday, October 12, 2009

DIY Wet Dry Filter Sump in a 29 gallon tank

This is a very simple yet effective DIY filter that can handle the waste of a goldfish tank. The filter media can be altered to meet you needs and budget. The first one I build years ago had lava rock and quilting batting as the filters. Bio balls are much cleaner and the next one will utilize matala mat in addition to the polyester pads.

The bio chamber is one cubic foot. The glass pane is about ¾ inch off the bottom. The smaller pane is siliconed to the sides and bottom but the bottom corners are mitered so the allow water to drain.

The bioballs rest on egg create.

Polyester pads complete the filter.

Another view.

Final install.


The guy I built if for confessed to me after buying a dozen more fish for his tank “David, I'm sorry I doubted you. I’ve got to tell you I thought you were selling me a lemon, but this thing rocks.” The tank is a 220 gallon and has 25 large sarassas and wakins. It is equipped with automatic daily water changes an is plumbed to a floor sink under the tank.

Sunday, October 11, 2009

240 gallon fiberglass tanks

They need a little work but the great thing about fiberglass is it is
easy to fix. They nest well and are very light. Maybe used for top
view fish or as filtration sumps.

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Out with the old In with the new.

The old 600 gallon quarantine system mid removal.

Down to the cribbing supports.

The new 1,000 gallon (3 ton) quarantine system plumbed for recirculation and to drain. Filtered by a 100 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank of bioballs/matala.

The back of the tanks will get various sizes of four foot tanks: 75 or 120 gallons.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Ranchu Kanji

Sunday, September 20, 2009

One of the few shubunkins in the batch

The Goldfish and Its Systematic Culture 1902

A new 107 year old book for the library. Can't wait to find all the
lost pearls of wisdom in the amazing book.

Another batch rescued from over feeding in a koi pond

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Another Koi Pond is Goldfish Free

They've been hogging the dainichi from the poor koi ;)

Monday, June 29, 2009

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Ancona Ducklings



We just picked up 7 Ancona ducklings from a local duck specialist. We are keeping a few and sending the rest on to friends. They are an endangered breed of medium large egg laying ducks. These are 3 days old today. They start laying eggs at 6 months and produce about 250 eggs a year per duck.