Burbot!

[jjohnwm]

Came downstairs this morning, and found that I had forgotten to deprogram the light timer so the tank lights were on for their morning 3-hour rotation. The burbot was sinuously travelling around the well-lit and sparsely furnished tank, poking into every nook and cranny...and 2 mudminnows have vanished.

Sadly, I took one step to centre myself in front of the tank, pulled out my phone...and this disturbance caused him to return to what is becoming his favourite lair under a piece of wood. This was intended to be a full-tank shot with the fish on display, front and centre; oh, well...

His vision seems excellent, far superior to most catfish species. As a bonus, he is not as bottom-oriented as I expected. He rests on the bottom, but when in motion he is at all levels, and has been observed moving along the glass right at the surface, exploring the limits of the tank. His overall behaviour so far is very reminiscent of an Ornate Polypterus I had years ago. I'm sure that in nature, he is sticking close to the bottom...in the deep water the adults inhabit. In an 18-inch deep tank, he is...so far, at least...everywhere. This tank cover is remaining on.

I'm carefully watching the corner of his mouth, where he was hooked. We use only barbless hooks in Manitoba, so removal was quick and easy. I have brought home many fish caught on hooks (even barbed hooks, back in Ontario) and have never had any problems develop at the hooksite as long as it is near the mouth opening, so I expect none here, but the warnings about susceptibility to fungus have me on guard.

 

[jjohnwm]

Quick update; it's been just over a week since the burbot came home with me from the lake. The fish started out as a fairly light-coloured greenish-brown, and has settled into the somewhat darker mottled brownish colouration that I typically see in adults, becoming slightly lighter in shade at night (when it is most active). Tank temperature hovers around 52F currently; yesterday I did a 75% water change and achieved the desired temperature in the new water by filling one of my storage vats with cold well water and then simply waiting for it to rise to the desired temperature before use. The fish's breathing is unlaboured and unremarkable; it is shy but not flighty, and retreats under the driftwood when it spots me moving about in the fishroom. During the water change I also took the opportunity to wipe down the front glass of the tank, inside and out, and the fish remained in hiding, head exposed, cautious but not panicked.

The fish ate two of the 10 mudminnows that I introduced originally when I set up the tank a week back, but has not touched any since then. Yesterday morning I offered a dead and semi-crushed smelt, perhaps 4 inches in length, which disappeared within a few hours. Since it has demonstrated that it will eat non-living items, I removed 6 of the remaining 8 mudminnows; will likely grab the last two when they put themselves into a position for capture. Mudminnows in general are very interesting little fish, and are almost cichlid-like in their ability to intelligently avoid netting; a stark contrast to relative morons like many other small fish. I'm happy not to feed all of them, and to avoid live food in general. I think that the original two that were eaten were, at the time, still confused and frightened in an unfamiliar tank, and thus easier for the burbot to catch. The survivors are now much more clued-in to their surroundings and their predicament and would likely survive a long time before eventually being caught; no need to leave them in there.

The burbot's mouth is healing rapidly, and it looks as though it will continue to do so without the use of salt or any other special attention.

The fish spends half of its daylight time resting beneath the driftwood, and the other half cruising about inquisitively. It is still exploring all levels of the tank; the frozen/thawed smelt was floating when it was taken. At night, the fishroom has constant low-level nightlighting, and every time I poke my head down there after dark...which still happens a lot since the fish came home...it is actively swimming.

I'll update again after a few more months...unless something bad happens in the meanwhile. I'm kinda sorta relaxing into the idea that this fish will survive long-term; it's going to take at least 6 months of watching its ability to handle the ambient temps in my basement before I can be completely at ease about the idea. Fingers remain crossed, but hope is building.

 

[jjohnwm]

The Burbot had settled in nicely since being brought home. Temperatures in its tank have never risen above 62F, might go up another 3 or so degrees later in summer. It's pretty easy to estimate its size as the tank bottom is "paved" with 12-inch ceramic tiles; he has grown at least an inch since I brought him home and is now almost exactly 14 inches in length.

Appetite has been excellent, but has been limited to fish; he has shown no interest in F/T krill or shrimp, or even in live earthworms (which are almost irresistible to most predators). Dead fish are taken readily...but in the months since getting him I have only actually seen him eat one time! Once settled in to his surroundings, he became quite shy and retiring; he is still very active after dark, but during daylight he spends most of his time hidden in one concrete pipe or another with just his snout with its single feeler poking out. He has gotten fin-level water changes once weekly the entire time; fin-level in this case means down to less than 2 inches of water, so likely about 90% or more. Honestly not as interesting a display as I had hoped for, or as my small ones many years ago had been. I think, however, that they were more active simply because they were less comfortable and more nervous; this fish had larger quarters, better cover and a generally more comfortable environment.

Sadly, this is my last update about this fish. He was still doing terrifically well yesterday morning, but I have come to learn that my current province is extremely strict about keeping locally-caught natives...i.e. you can't! No fish are legally allowed to be moved from the water where caught; anglers are actually required to kill their catch before leaving the water to travel home. Even bait minnows, when purchased, are accompanied by an official certificate indicating how many were purchased and the date of purchase; this is good for 3 days, after which any surviving minnows are now contraband.

I believe in obeying the rules and regulations pertaining to fish and game scrupulously...even the ones that Nick Fury would call the stupid-ass ones...and I don't need any hassles in this regard. So, regretfully...yesterday afternoon I released the fish back into the lake at the catch site...out of a boat, obviously, rather than through ice, but still in the same spot. I felt comfortable doing this since the fish had been isolated from all other fish while in my care; no shared water systems, no contact with anything other than fish caught from the same lake and frozen for food.

It was an interesting challenge, one that went very well IMHO. I was sorry to see him go. Now, the tank that was slated for him long-term is in a state of limbo...still thinking about goldfish...

 

[latapy10]

The Burbot had settled in nicely since being brought home. Temperatures in its tank have never risen above 62F, might go up another 3 or so degrees later in summer. It's pretty easy to estimate its size as the tank bottom is "paved" with 12-inch ceramic tiles; he has grown at least an inch since I brought him home and is now almost exactly 14 inches in length.

Appetite has been excellent, but has been limited to fish; he has shown no interest in F/T krill or shrimp, or even in live earthworms (which are almost irresistible to most predators). Dead fish are taken readily...but in the months since getting him I have only actually seen him eat one time! Once settled in to his surroundings, he became quite shy and retiring; he is still very active after dark, but during daylight he spends most of his time hidden in one concrete pipe or another with just his snout with its single feeler poking out. He has gotten fin-level water changes once weekly the entire time; fin-level in this case means down to less than 2 inches of water, so likely about 90% or more. Honestly not as interesting a display as I had hoped for, or as my small ones many years ago had been. I think, however, that they were more active simply because they were less comfortable and more nervous; this fish had larger quarters, better cover and a generally more comfortable environment.

Sadly, this is my last update about this fish. He was still doing terrifically well yesterday morning, but I have come to learn that my current province is extremely strict about keeping locally-caught natives...i.e. you can't! No fish are legally allowed to be moved from the water where caught; anglers are actually required to kill their catch before leaving the water to travel home. Even bait minnows, when purchased, are accompanied by an official certificate indicating how many were purchased and the date of purchase; this is good for 3 days, after which any surviving minnows are now contraband.

I believe in obeying the rules and regulations pertaining to fish and game scrupulously...even the ones that Nick Fury would call the stupid-ass ones...and I don't need any hassles in this regard. So, regretfully...yesterday afternoon I released the fish back into the lake at the catch site...out of a boat, obviously, rather than through ice, but still in the same spot. I felt comfortable doing this since the fish had been isolated from all other fish while in my care; no shared water systems, no contact with anything other than fish caught from the same lake and frozen for food.

It was an interesting challenge, one that went very well IMHO. I was sorry to see him go. Now, the tank that was slated for him long-term is in a state of limbo...still thinking about goldfish...

Maybe it is best period for having burbot in the tank only during autumn and winter...

There is a high demand for cold water.
I have simmilar problem with sculpin.During autumn,winter everything is ok..But during the May my sculpins stop feeding and then die...

 

[jjohnwm]

Maybe it is best period for having burbot in the tank only during autumn and winter...

There is a high demand for cold water.
I have simmilar problem with sculpin.During autumn,winter everything is ok..But during the May my sculpins stop feeding and then die.

I think that would depend largely upon the temperatures you can provide. At 62F this fish looked terrific, ate well, behaved in what seemed like a "normal" fashion. Did not appear stressed in any way. Based on previous years, the temperature in my unheated basement would only rise up possibly a couple more degrees for very short periods; in fact, with the tank against the bare concrete wall and an insulated "ring" of foam running all the way around the rear perimeter, essentially acting as a simple cooling system, I doubt that it will even do that going forward, and will remaing at 60F or lower almost all year.

My feeling is that it would have begun to show signs of stress and a decrease in appetite already if it were going to, but there were no signs of this. A general de-conditioning caused by temperatures might also have contributed to stress and infections, and I watched it closely for signs of fungus, especially around the superficial mouth wound sustained during the initial catch; nothing showed up, and the fish was never medicated. I would have de-wormed it eventually simply as a matter of course.

I had worried about the stress to the fish resulting from being brought home from ice-cold water and then acclimated to much-warmer...but that, although a tedious and time-consuming process, seemed to be pretty easy on the fish. In hindsight, I wonder if perhaps stressing it like that during higher summer temperatures might have caused more obvious problems?

The fish was doing and looking well; concerns about its well-being played no part in my terminating this experiment. I had begun toying with the idea of a reversed day/night cycle for it; lighting the tank brightly all night, and then keeping it red-illuminated during the day in an otherwise darkened room for easy observation. I think that might have been a terrific display, still might try that with some other nocturnal catfish or other predator.

Long story short: Burbot do not seem to be the delicate flowers that they are often made out to be. This guy did well, ate well, grew noticeably and looked great, living in a tank run with the simplest possible equipment: a giant sponge filter, powered by air, with lots of big water changes. Would that have continued for years? Would there be cumulative long-term ill effects if it remained in those conditions long-term? I don't think so; I wish I could find out.