Sangreaal's Growout Form

[Lam Nguyen]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sangreaal Thanks Lam. It's the only chance I'll get to take side shots of them, then they're outside for the rest of their lives. Needless to say, I'm taking advantage of that photographically. Maybe the next growout you can get in on so you can give your rear a rest. This is just too fun....

LOL! Yes I definitely will get in on the next grow-out contest, except I don't know if I still have a rear to rest cuz I have been kickin it purty hard! Hahaha!!!!! Please keep up with the beautiful pixs of your babies!

[Sangreaal]

Even though they're inside, the kids all seem to know it's Spring as their appetites are flourishing. I'll be working at my desk and see this tight little group all wagging at me from behind the glass. As soon as they see that they've caught my eye they gesticulate wildly and any hint, any hint at all of my hand going to the bag of feed on my desk or toward the upper left corner of the tank starts a mad dash frenzy to that area, which is, of course, their usual feeding spot.

They are anything but subtle.

I started taking pics of these faces so you could see that they really are thinking, but then I thought to myself, "Well hey! I can take a carpy video!"

So here it is. I hope it works...

[smithvillemike]

great video, thanks for sharing. They are definately active when it comes time to eat.

Mike

[Sangreaal]

Quote: Originally Posted by smithvillemike great video, thanks for sharing. They are definately active when it comes time to eat. Mike

Which, according to them, is 24/7. It was 2 or 3am when I took this video...not exactly 'feeding time.' *LOL* I am amazed at how much food they can consume all at one time. Usually I feed them sparingly but often. Once I decided to see when they would actually be full--they looked like a herd of pot-bellied pigs after porking out on the "all you can eat" menu. *LOLOL*

[Sangreaal]

Moved the kids to the 150 gallon tank since the 75 has gotten waaay too small for them--or rather, they've simply outgrown it. Mikado is now a whopping 9", "Gentle" the Tancho is 8 1/2", and the little blue (who's starting to look a little slurry sealed *L*) is 6"--not bad growth for being in an indoor aquarium. They'll stay in the 150 for another month or two as I'm seasoning a new pond outside just for them--want it all balanced before they go in. Here they are in their new digs with their SJKoi tankmates:




Sumi keeps shifting up and down still, but getting stronger as they grow. Mikado's mask is still hanging in there, as is the tancho on Gentle. Guess the silkworm pupae and earthworms are doing them good....

[Meg]

she is still so very beautiful!

[Sangreaal]

Quote: Originally Posted by Meg she is still so very beautiful!

Thankie you, Meg.

[Sangreaal]

Time for some update pics

If my eye is catching it right as she swims along the yardstick, Mikado is 9".



Gentle is about 8 1/2"



(darker background pics taken without flash)







Little Blue races the SJKoi babies:


And poses with Toby, who is also pushing the 9" mark:






As soon as the weather stabilizes outside, all the youngins will be launched into their pond. I'm getting too good a growth inside to stress them with the weird up and down temperatures the others outside are going through. It won't hurt to wait a little more.....

[Sangreaal]

Comparing Mikado to some of the other growouts, it seems like she's stretching out instead of bulking up, or just being a boy compared to those fish that seem to be putting on girth as well as length. I've been feeding some pretty high protein stuff over the last month--along with the earthworms, they're all getting silkworm pupae, and these rolled in bentonite and a dusting of spirulina. Water temp in the tank is 77 degrees, so they're all real frisky AND ravenous eaters.

Next week I'll bowl the kids, bench and measure, and take a ton of topside pictures so we can see what they look like from above. They give me some good dives to take pics of from the side, but it just isn't the same thing....

[PapaBear]

Good shots (as expected).
Mikado's face has a lot of character, and the growth is really nice for living indoors. We're getting anxious to make the big move outside too, but our weather patterns have also been pretty unstable up to this point. Since we're coming up on the June picture/measurement updates for the contest anyway we're just gonna wait till we move 51 outside for the photo's, etc...
I'm wondering if girth development won't improve once moved to deeper water. Deep diving ought to provide some great "buff up" exercise...