After a LONG day of bagging on Monday, today went surprisingly easy as reports trickled in from the high bidders on the round 3 fish.  As I type this now at 11 PM, all recipients have reported in that the fish arrived alive and in great shape.  Several compliments on the packing came in as well (I’m packing these fish per direct instructions from Mark Martin at Blue Zoo, and the packaging design seems to be very effective for such precious cargo).
Last night I moved all the remaining fish out of the grow-out system and into the individual cubes; at some point this week I hope to take the updated photos and determine which fish go in the next round.  I’m guessing a round of 5-6 fish.  I’ve told some people this already, but I’ll put it out there in the usual spirit of transparency associated with The Lightning Project.  My aim is to hold back the best last two fish; these will be the final auction IF it comes to that.  Blue Zoo and I have of course stood behind these fish arriving alive, and part of that guarantee has been that if there was a problem with a fish, we would invite the winning bidder to select another fish from the inventory of comparable quality -or- simply refund the money; buyers choice.  As we draw to a close, it’s tough to make that same offer, so any losses seen with this next group will need to have a fish that I feel is as good, if not superior to, any of the fish in the round….thus, I will be saving the best for last.  Presuming all fish from the next round make it well, it will leave 2 fish left for a last final round, 1 White Stripe and 1 Lightning, to which I will not have any replacements to offer.
Once those auctions are done, it will not be until winter/spring of 2014 before we can even hope to see more lightnings ready for market.  Spawn #12 is going well so far, eating me out rotifers, and as of today, 9-24-2013, Spawn #13 was thrown down!