Don't let your bowfin gorge on borderline rotten fish...

[PYRU]

Thank you. And how big is yours? ... The tank temps vary seasonally from low 70-ies in winter to upper 80-ies in summer.

I don't have one yet but I've been looking into getting one. As usual everyone says they don't do well above 75, but of course the people actually keeping them are above 75. The more I look the more unsure I am of them being a good fit for a 300-350g though.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

I don't have one yet but I've been looking into getting one. As usual everyone says they don't do well above 75, but of course the people actually keeping them are above 75. The more I look the more unsure I am of them being a good fit for a 300-350g though.

I used the play of words to dig into you a bit. I understood you ain't got one yet.

I am rather bowfin-ignorant. IDK why people say that. I mean, yeah, they are a temperate-to-cold water northern fish but they are not like a burbot (another one I'd love to have but can't) in that they are, for instance, all over Everglades here in FL too, which gets mighty hot for 8 months out of a year and they are known to persist quite well in hot, poor-DO waters, including swamp waters - shallow and well warmed all throughout - and supplement with air breathing.

Anyhow, I've not noted mine to suffer. The reasons I lost the prior two I, at present, think are unrelated to the temp - one to a rotten fish it ate and the other looks like it got infected with a serious bacterial illness. Both have been vibrant and fed with vigor right up to their quick demise.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

I don't have one yet but I've been looking into getting one. As usual everyone says they don't do well above 75, but of course the people actually keeping them are above 75. The more I look the more unsure I am of them being a good fit for a 300-350g though.

This species does fine in hot waters that would stress many other fish, toleratesboth cold and hot temps

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Yearly update. Our only bowfin continues to do well. Looks to be a bit under 2', maybe 22". Still in the same 4500 gal. Still very toothy and gives me some worry when I see bad wounds on tank mates, especially the vaillantii catfish.

There are two Peru piraibas in the tank now too but I've not noted bowfin chasing them like it did with the Suriname piraiba before.

Loves thawed fish, takes pellets too just as before.

Underwater 9:30 to 11:10 minutes:

 

[krichardson]

Look at Victor showing off his eight pack abs!

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Doing well. Probably just under 2 feet. 5:50-6:30 min:

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Lost the second bowfin. From 15" in Apr 2017 to 21" in May 2021. Final measure.

Females appear to live the longest (30 years) and grow the biggest 100-110 cm / 3.5 feet.

I assume our little guy at 8-10 yo could have been a male.

Cause of death uncertain. Slowed and stopped feeding for a few months before perishing overnight. IDK, could be natural but the life span seems like may be too short for it.

 

[FJB]

Sorry for your loss. Beautiful BIG fish!
It may have been the natural end of its life, as per your descriptions it has been happy for years.

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

Just a few photos of the post-mortem:

 

[thebiggerthebetter]

From YouTube comments by Rembrandt Shadows: "as a teenager in Ft Lauderdale, I can attest to bowfins being tough buggers. They would absolutely crush wooden bass plugs and chew the paint off plastic ones. Males' fins turn green when they are ready to breed."