I read bout those pearlscales with really globlode body and short tails are actually called Malayan pearlscales or Tikus(mouse in Malay)? The article said traditional Chinese pearlscales have longer body. Those "ping pong" like pearlscales are actually bred by the fish farmers in Ipoh, Malaysia....with really round bodies and short tails?

CORRECT !

However ... world also need to change a bit mah. Tikus are commonly seen in red/white or rather sakura coloration. Other coloration comes from several countries.

Traditional pearl got longer tail, actually Fan-Tail. Simply, remove those crowns from the crown pearl and u got the traditional ones. Now also got broad tail.

haha ohh ok...i see.....thanks Matrix. Is it common in Singapore to find a black pearlscale? I think they are rare.....?

Black Tiku ? No way ! hahahaha. I only seen once and not even in Singapore.
Black crown, uncommonly seen in the market place. If I not wrong, there were 2 batches from China about 2 mths back.
Black traditional, I dun recall it's existence. If you can find 1, reserve for me.

Has anyone seen Ping Pong pearscales around lately? I have seen alot of pearlscales in our LFSs in Melbourne however most of them look like china breed ones. I have been trying to look for the really round pingpong types that they use to sell about 10-15 years ago, short tail and shaped like a pingpong ball (literally) when small, like a tennis ball when fully grown. Are they still available? Can't even seem to find a picture of them on the net these days.
If any of you guys are game enough to admit your age, I use to remember seeing them being sold at the old Yaohan (3rd floor Plaza Singapura) pet section. Use to cost around $80-$120 for a tennis ball size one.
Any idea how I can get my hands on some? Are they still available in Singapore or Malaysia? Considering I always thought the lineage was from Ipoh...

There was a discussion here in this topic. Localized name is tiku (mouse in malay). And yes you're right... Ipoh's the place.

Take a look at ET's hamtam bola



http://www.rafflesgold.com/forums/index.ph...indpost&p=39509

WAH SEH!
Shiok this pearlscale! Where to buy where to buy!? Pearlscale easy to find but a nice batch is hard to come by leh!
Anybody got lobang for tiku breeder? Please PM me! :

buy? i bought it small @ $2-3, then slowly grow until till that size.
think its somewhere in one of the ponds now

Here is my one and only tiku. Unfortunately during the competition, one of its scale dropped off. Will the missing scale ever grow back to its original condition?

hahahaha ... yes still growing ...

Thought you got two that won the recent competition

I think you have mistaken. I got the following:
1. Oranda Cat A - 1st
2. Oranda Cat A - 2nd
3. Pearlscale Cat A - 1st
4. Oranda Cat B - 3rd
5. Best of Junior.

I sent in 6 fish. One Orand each in Cat A and Cat B unplaced.

Thks, got confused since you won so many Thought the 2nd ping-pong pearlscale also belongs to you

Hi all, these are some of the tikus that I have bred for fun


The bigger ones are their parent fishes.

Wow your's no small tikus but one mighty mouse!!!!

Notice you use the orange as a yardstick with 3107 inscribed but not too sure its size(know not whether it is available in Singapore)..however they sure look hugh.How long dose it take to reach this size.Do you keep in green water?

3107.... remember to buy this Wednesday! If you win $, remember to give my fish an "Ang Pao"=Hikari Oranda Gold!
The length is about 16cm+. I bought it in 2004 Jan/Feb, by that time, the size was about 3cm. So far only let it tried green water for about a month, because I am new in using green water, so finally, let it back to blue!

Picture 1, 2, 3, 6 & 7 are picture of the fish I bought=parent;
Picture 4, 5 & 8 are the fish that I bred, one year old, about 12cm, the biggest.

Wah lau... 16 cm is really hugh! Even the offspring is at 12cm already!

xiaodan,
I am amazed by the size of tiku you could get with indoor keeping, not to mention the breeding Please share share some tips leh
I have 2 $1 tiku which are bought at 2cm size and grew up to 5 - 6cm and stop growing

Hi gohks,
My one also $3 fish!
I guess your problems maybe caused by:
1. The parent fish are smaller in size, so the kid will not grow too big;
2. You may miss the "growing period"; they do not have enough to eat during the early stage; when they are few months old, have to give them a lot of foods, especially live worms;
3. Space - bigger tank, some argue that if they swim more, they will be thinner ; I only have 4 fish in my 4ft tank;
4. Do you have bigger fish in the same tank, if yes, is that possible that the bigger fish eat most of the food?
This is only my personal opinion, mainly for experience sharing, please correct me if I am wrong!

yeah yeah I agree! Got secret must share (so no more secret)!
Pearlscale culture is not very well documented.

What to pick for when young? (all look the same in a tank fat fat!)
At what age what kind of features I should expect to know it is a potential winner!
How they grow? 1 inch from the shop is how old? 3 months?
What to feed?

Hi kencheng,
I agree with you : "Pearlscale culture is not very well documented."
Do you read Chinese? You may try this web, there are more about pearlscale,
http://ebas1.ebas.gov.tw/data/mywebpage/user/d613/index.htm

Not only not well documented but also not well appreciated. Can you imagine such beautiful goldfish can be purchase for between $1/- to $2/- each.

I am beginning to enjoy pearlscale and oranda more than ranchu. They are so much cheaper and much easier to get quality fish at a low price.

Hi Ranchu Lover,
I agree with you too!
I think the problem with pearlscale is that they are not so cute when they are small/young, they looked better when get bigger.
The price maybe because this fish can be bred easily! For my case, the fish laid eggs every few days, May 2005 I kept ten batch of the eggs. The rest, at least 10 more batch, I just thrown away; too much to keep. Even the kid also started to breed at the age of seven or eight months old! I am so surprise, because normal goldfish will only breed at age of one year old.
I also enjoy this fish so much. Since I have 20+ fish now, need a lot of time for water changing and $ for food. Had been few times, I were thinking of taking the fish shop, even for free! But I always asked myself to think twice!
So maybe what we can do is to raise the fish as big as possible, to help them to have a brighter future! ;) One local experienced fish keeper told me, he had sold a pearlscale for RM800, the size is bigger than grapefruit!

You should raise more fries and cull them so that you keep only the best. I am going to buy "some""tikus" soon and will post them once they arrive.

har? got competition coming ah?

Next year got Aquarama.

xiaodan,
since you are into breeding and has plenty of broods to chose from, try looking for tiku with good quality as in the recent champion RL has (shown in attached pic). Short penducle with almost 90 degrees tail angle, small short head with almost rounded stomach. I have not been very successful in finding this sort of quality in LFS, plenty of $ 1 - 2 but hard to find this sort of good quality one

Item (3) is most likely the cause as is always true for common hobbyist with plenty of fishes and little space

so early prepare liao har. tot you in the group 1 type leh. wanna move to a different level har.



1 yr leh, so your tiku should be 15-20cm large leh ...

He he he! Still got some more "secret weapon".

wah, i also want le, can order for me also or not? $3 dollars per piece right?

To Ranchu Lover & gohks :
Another breeding? I will be happy enough if I can take good care for my existing fish! My fish is far below competition standard! So no matter how hard I try, is very unlikely to get a good one! Qin qin cai cai teo ho lah! Actually it is much cheaper to buy rather than to breed! Wish you guy good luck for the next competition! ;)

Here is a picture of my new pearlscales. Body size about a Singapore twenty cents coin.

so much algae, your house alot of sun ah?
orrh.. so your secret weapon is algae wall, not algae water ;)

Hi, RL. Nice pearls you have there The one in the corner (the red white one) is my favourite. Congrats!

Rgds,
William

Thanks. These are choosen from a batch of more than a thousand fish.

TIKU KING
everybody kow tao to the $2 tiku king!

A thousand??? Did you choose them by yourself? Wow! I can only imagine how long will it take.... No wonder you can get the best pieces for a very good price

RL,
A decoy or what? ;) Can't find any close to your champion quality. Using these for coming competition

choosing the fish is part of the fun. I'm sure many hobbyists wouldn't mind having a chance to choose PERSONALLY from a thousand, including myself

but $2 for small tikus is a very normal price, or maybe slightly on the higher side.

Now you know what I mean by "secret weapon". If I show you, then it no more becomes secret right? The trick is in the grooming. Patience my friend.


You mean the one you can only see the back side?


Both group also must enter.


The winning piece is purchase from the LFS, no special priviledge there. After the win, got some special priviledge, therefore got better chance to choose another champion. As I have said before, the bulk of the effort lies in the grooming.

Will post the same fish after some time again.

i am getting confused.
could one paraphase that:
this group is the best out of the 1000 chosen. these samples shown can be groom for future competition. they are now in algae ridden tank which is still blue water and presumingly will continue to flourish in that environment till their full potential.
and there are better Best of the best siblings termed as "secret weapons" still not shown. correct?

OK let me re-phrase.

Firstly I have to pick up 100 pieces out of more than a thousand. This round, it is too difficult to spot all the good ones. There may be some "champion" that may have been missed. I take home the 100 pieces and choose the best 5. From there I would be lucky to have been left with 2 pieces. Get it?

On the issue of the "secret weapon" is will still remain secret, otherwise it will not be called "secret weapon" right?

Yes, I agree with you.



Nope. This one:


Is this your secret weapon?

If I tell or show you, then it no more becomes a secret.

hello ... i think this is an open forum. if got secret thing, please dun even mention can ? maybe admin can delete all these secret postings.

date : 15 June 2006. Time: Afternoon.

got it. got it.
in that case, it is possible that there may be another 98 that u may cull eventually which is still the best out of the 1000; after u pick the 2 eventual most best out the best 100. and these will be the "secret weapons" - sw.

actually i did not ask what the 5 best sw are and how they look like; i am only just seeking my understanding but thanks for the clarifcation.
so secret can still remained secret.

it would be nice to see pictures of your 100 tikus swimming in your tanks, i think gohks would love to see it as well ;)

Left about 60 pcs now. Some given away. Some sold to a LFS near my house. Will try to take a picture of the fish and post.