I had a couple Burbot back in the 1980's; I caught them as youngsters in the 4-5 inch size range while wading in the shallows of a northern Ontario lake after dark, ostensibly searching for crayfish to use as fishing bait the next day. They were close to shore in water only a foot or so in depth every night. I know you are an avid fisherman,
wednesday13
...if you ever venture into northern Ontario for a fishing trip, try searching for them that way in mid-summer. I had always read and thought that they were deep-water fish, but perhaps they spawn in the shallows and then the young spend their early lives there?
Those fish were tough as nails, survived a week in a bucket in the cabin, a 12-our drive home, and then lasted for several years in a coolish basement tank. They were eventually moved into a small outdoor tank/pond, where they sadly fell prey to some nocturnal predator, perhaps a raccoon. They were easy keepers; predatory but not aggressive, never bothered anything they couldn't swallow, a cool display fish. I was reminded of them when I eventually got my one and only bichir, an ornate, years later; very similar behaviour. Usually on display, active but not hyper.
Grass Pickerel are super cool fish for a one-fish tank, it you don't mind a fish that rarely moves except when feeding. They are such lightning-quick and voracious predators that I could never even manage to keep two together for long; one would always eat the other, or worse yet, choke to death trying. Either their teeth didn't allow them to release a too-large fish, or they were just too stupid and stubborn to realize they were in trouble; either way, it never worked out long term. They were common and easily-caught in my area of Ontario, and I tried many times to get a small group to cohabitate in a single tank; just got tired of failure and gave up. I feel bad about how many I condemned to death by trying to keep them together; easily 20 or more over the years. With the exception of one jumper, all of them died either in the mouths of their brethren, or with one of their buddies in their mouths; on one occasion, it was both simultaneously, a three-fish pile-up that resulted in the death of all three, and cemented my resolve to give up trying to keep them.
Of the two, burbot are much more entertaining and attractive...but I really want to try something different.
Viktor, you're right, it's not set in stone. But I have had a couple species of fish recently that I had long wanted to keep, and after a couple years pretty much lost interest in having and moved down the road. I'd really like a stable, long-term tank set-up with fish that become permanent long-term partners, not just brief flings.
Gymnogeophagus balzanii and Ameca splendens both went from "must-haves" to "why did I want these again?" in a couple years' time; don't want to do that this time, but you never know...
I'm gonna buck the trend here. I think he should cater for his wifes tastes a bit more and turn his fish cave into a sewing room with floral wallpaper, with loads of nice cupboard space for hats, bags and shoes!
Shush, you!
