Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

A question I need to ask. Did anyone of you folks, ever grew burbot in your FT? I am asking, couse I really do like the taste of that fish, and I am not a very fish eating person. And it is quite difficult to get it, which means it is expensive.

G'day ryt

Never heard of them in Australia of course, but they look like they could be a contender. You main problem I think is, if noone else is farming them, you'll have to go with wild caught stock which is a lot harder to do.

If you do theat, everyone here will be very interested to follow your progress - good luck !!

I've never heard of them here in North America either, do you have any other info about them?

My internet is slow today. Seems they are a cold water cod like freshwater fish. Apparently quite ugly but good tasting.

Hello!

I work at a research facility at the University of Idaho culturing Burbot and I can tell you that this is not an ideal species for aquaponics. This fish has a very complex life history which includes a larval stage that his incredibly fragile and requires live feeds. Burbot require very cold water for spawning and often spawn sporadically (sometimes every year sometimes every 2-4 years). As mush as I love burbot I would recommend finding a different species of fish!

Good luck and feel free to ask more burbot related questions!

i had never heard of it either but read that it was "fairly common" in lake erie!?! i never caught anything like it..

I work at a research facility at the University of Idaho culturing Burbot and I can tell you that this is not an ideal species for aquaponics.

Do you say that, due to the fact, that it won't breed in quite warm waters of aquaponics (what temps can it take and grow steadily?), or are there any other reasons, from what I read they have a quite high water quality needs?

This fish has a very complex life history which includes a larval stage that his incredibly fragile and requires live feeds
I know at least two places where they sell, as I am not sure how to translate it... but "yearlings" which mean it is from 1-12 months old. They sell em by the kilo, and depending On the place and time, they are from just 30 up to 80% more expensive then the more common species such as carp, amur(grass carp) or European perch there are others, but those are the ones that came to my head at first thought. And the money they want is something I am quite OK with paying.

Burbot require very cold water for spawning and often spawn sporadically (sometimes every year sometimes every 2-4 years). As mush as I love burbot I would recommend finding a different species of fish!

About the spawning.. can you give me any numbers on their growth rate, or is it top secret for your research facility use only? I am asking, couse if the numbers will satisfy, I would most likely just restock every year. As it will be a community kinda thing, so the expenses would be divided up, And it is not as much about eating on the cheap, more about eating fresh and healthy.

Good luck and feel free to ask more burbot related questions!

Just to add to what eganj10208 said:

Burbot (also called cusk or ling) are the only freshwater cod species. They are fantastic eating. I usually make a chowder or fry it.

They are fished here in New Hampshire through the ice in winter. They can't tolerate warm water at all from what I understand. They live at the bottom of the lakes here in summer, usually at 150+ feet. In winter, they move to shallow water under the ice and spawn in water at 15-40 feet of depth. So they like cold, cold water. I just don't see how they could be bred other than in a research setting given how they like cold water.

They eat fish and crayfish.

Here are some pictures I've taken:







This guy was a monster, around 25"/62cm:



I don't remember if this is the same one: