Fry are going to drive me insane LOL.

[j.w]

It sure does look like a lot of work and must take up a lot of time sorting, feeding and fixing the water so it's just right. I favor the little shubbies and I'd love to have a pond w/ just shubbies in it.

 

[capewind]

Other than I hate "seeing" fish swimming like they have a cigar hanging out of their mouths (smaller babies), they really are not that much work at all. The tiny ones seem to be growing pretty evenly now (think I got all the chompers), so not sorting much now It seems like once they reach a certain point, they arent interested in eating each other anymore. With all the overfeeding, watching the water well, but water changes dont take long to do (replacement water is coming from the outside pond). Starting to see some colors developing, so that makes it more fun

 

[j.w]

You'll have to post the pix of them as they grow and change colors as it is fun to watch them change. Glad you got the chompers under control :razz:

 

[capewind]

After realizing how much food we are going through, decided to let nature take its course for the majority. AKA with the exception of about 180 - 200, dumped the rest into the pond. Either they will find some good hiding places, or they will become food. Still going to keep my eyes open for shubunkin fry (only caught 8-10) but have PLENTY of koi babies, I was expecting a massive die off, which looks like it just isnt going to happen since the smallest are just a day or two from being a month old now...

 

[j.w]

Wow that's pretty good w/ having all those babies make it like that. Will be interesting to see how many of them survive in the big pond w/ the big koi. You might end up w/ a ton living in there also!

 

[capewind]

well, have a couple more skinny girls and havent found much, so time will tell LOL

 

[addy1]

I have not seen any fry, but I am sure something must have made it, sure spawned enough. I don't do anything to help them make it, totally up to survival of the fittest.

 

[capewind]

I really REALLY want more BLUE shubunkins, but no place to bring the FAT girl in to spawn... have 2 kiddie pools and an aquarium going with babies, and the QT pond still has fish in it that we dont want to move yet... Shubunkin babies dont last long out there (too dumb and get eaten fast)...

 

[addy1]

Please post a picture of a blue shubbie, i have ones that have a blue tone to them, wonder if that is what you mean. Pictures on line look like a blue tone with a lot of black coloring

 

[capewind]

Getting dark now, so will try tomorrow. You may have to wait until after she spawns (if we dont find a place for her to spawn inside) as she isnt coming up to the surface much (she is HUGE with eggs). When everyone comes over to eat, she comes, but is staying low except to grab a couple of bites and goes back down. When I say BLUE, I really mean as in sky blue or baby blue... Not a white with a blue tone, or a grey colored fish that some may call blue.. I mean it when I say sky/baby blue. Her whole body is evenly colored light blue, with the exception of a countable number of black "freckles" (small dots). We have a few blues, but most of them are covered in black blotches (one is metallic too and is really pretty) but this girl stands out as a BLUE colored fish (better quality blue than is on my profile pic). I'll take more blue any way I can get it, but I would really love to have more like her, just dont know where I can put her with a couple of the boys...

 

[capewind]

ok... frustrated... just went through four pages of google search, and even looked on ebay... cant find any similar to just show you an idea of what I am describing for now. Will try tomorrow if I can get her to stay at the surface long enough. I have no clue what the standards are for shubunkins... she is probably the worst quality fish in the world, but I sooo love her color, right or wrong LOL.

 

[addy1]

Well thanks, don't drive yourself crazy over this but I would enjoy seeing it. If you like it who cares if it the worst or best quality fish!

 

[capewind]

I thought I would simply take a short cut to show you an example until she is feeling more photogenic, and couldnt believe I couldnt find one even remotely similar LOL. I'll get her eventually, even if I have to net her the next time we sweep the pond (aka sweep = run a 15' net the whole length of pond trying to get someone else LOL). When I tried running a search on blue shubunkins, they either had a LOT of black, or had what looked like red and silver as well as the black and blue... I doubt she is all that "rare"... Rightly or wrongly colored, I dont care, I want more like her LOL.

 

[addy1]

All that matters is you like the fish! Don't stress it out trying to catch for a photo. Try snapping one when it is feeding.

 

[capewind]

I wouldnt corner her fat, but running the net wouldnt normally stress her. The fish are all friendly/hand fed. I got some pics, but they are really bad. Overcast:-(

It was a one shot deal to get her... she is blurry, but you can see how limited her black markings are. It also does not show her blue well at all. For comparision, the fish under her is WHITE ... The second pic, shows our blue koi, with some of the other blue-ish shubunkins... She is a brighter blue than the koi (the koi's color is pretty close in the pic).