First Brook trout fatality 8 months old

boss

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We're fairly certain this is the only fish of 45 that was discolored like this. Very light colored compared to the rest, and has been for at least three months.

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When looking through the aquarium style window into our pond we see this one had white covering its eyes

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Both sides of the tails have this rash.

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Its head sure doesn't look healthy.

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38 centimeters
Weight is 685 grams and not one of the large fish in the tank.
What do you think this is?

skeggley

boss wrote:

What do you think this is?

Well I'm no fish expert by any means and I may be wrong, I frequently am, but I'm am fairly confident its dinner.

Every now and then a fish will die in my system for no apparent reason, just out of the blue. Occasionally, especially with trout I will get a deformed one which will struggle until harvest.
You have just added the towers and sometimes expansions can cause water parameters to sway but I don't think that is the issue.
Except for the eye and tail marks yours looks quite healthy however I would be inclined to salt if you are planning to carry the fish for a longer period.
Looks like your fish are close to harvest Boss, what are your water temps?

boss

haha you cheered me up

Deuem

Kinda looks like it got in a fight and lost. Fish will fight when we are not looking. The tail might just be a bruise. The white over the eye? Don't know. Is it the only one with white eye?

boss

I think we're fish some out and give each a once over twice before the frying pan

Deuem

Did any of the other fish have that white eye problem?

http://www.nationalfishpharm.com/fish_d ... /eyes.html

Is your Ph really low? Research told me that if it is below 6.4 on large fish they can get this cloudy eye problem. Too much acid in the water.

boss

Our well water to pond water pH is around 8.

Deuem

at 8 the water should be Ok and not acidic enough to cause this problem. So it is something else. Are all the other eyes OK?

boss

I've been cleaning our fish pond this morning. During this cleaning, one trout started swimming inverted and erratically. I netted it and inspected it. It looked really good, so we harvested it.

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All in all, it does look like a very good meal for two, which is what it'll be tonight.

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As I had stirred up a lot of gunk in the water, I assume it was probably stressed.
I did a water test. The nitrates look high, so we're doing a water change while stirring up more gunk off the bottom.

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Looks like the pH settled down to a 7.4

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Beautiful color of the Brook trout.

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BTW, for those whom need to know; 11 inches is ~28 centimeters and .505 Kgs is about a pound. Although I haven't used this digital scale for a year as it is part of my biodiesel setup; I think a big fat fish like this which fills a sink might weigh more than a pound. It feels more like a kilo to me. I'll let you know how it tasted tomorrow.

Bender

Great looking trout boss. Congratulations on your first harvest

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

nosliwmas

boss wrote:

I'll let you know how it tasted tomorrow.

So??? I'm guessing it was so good that you've been too busy fishing out the rest to give us the juicy details? ;-)

I think it probably gets too hot in the March - April period to keep trout happy where I am, but maybe with a little effort towards anti-heating the tank, and maybe? Maybe? I typically see annual temps between 17.5ºC and 31.5ºC, with probably no more than 10 days a year hotter than 30ºC (86ºF). Some of the mountain streams in Costa Rica were stocked with trout back in the 50's and to this day there are Trout Fly-fishing Excursions one can book that will take you to where they are. I'd be shocked to find a hatchery I could buy from though...

HatchMag, the magazine for sport fly fishermen, has this to say about trout and water temps:

Trout and Water Temperature: How Hot is Too Hot?

Hatch Magazine wrote:

The upper limits of the temperature range within which trout will feed, grow and remain unstressed by thermal conditions varies by species, however not all that significantly. These upper limits -- which may be as high as 80 degrees depending on the species -- can be misleading. These limits characterize thermal conditions under which trout that are otherwise unstressed will die should those conditions persist for a certain period of time (typically 24-48 hours). These limits can be misleading because they don't provide much information about how high water temperatures that haven't reached this lethal range can affect a fish that is about to be further stressed by being hooked and played by a fisherman.

Warmer water contains less oxygen than colder water. As temperature rises and dissolved oxygen decreases, fish begin to experience stress. These stresses begin to set in well before the water temperature reaches lethal limits. For example, rainbow trout are said to be able to survive in temperatures up to and exceeding 77°F (24°C), but stop growing at 73°F (23° C). It stands to reason that a fish, one which is already oxygen stressed while positioned carefully in current that minimizes its energy use, will be dramatically more stressed after being hooked and attempting to fight its way to freedom. In fact, in many cases, a fish otherwise properly handled and released under thermally stressful conditions may be likely to not survive.

So how do you know when the conditions remain comfortable enough to fish your target stream without creating a lethal situation for its residents? Unfortunately, studies vary and there doesn't seem to be any one set of accepted limits. That said, there is a considerable consensus that all three major trout species (brook, brown and rainbow) begin to experience some level of stress at around 68°F (20°C), with that stress increasing rapidly as the temperature rises further. For brook trout, these limits are generally accepted to be a few degrees lower (some sources suggest as low as 65°). For many fishermen, 70°F (21°C) has become a round figure that represents the "don't fish" limit.

Yeah, I'd like to try trout-keeping some day... :think:

--
Sam

boss

The fish tasted fantastic. One of the things we were shooting for of course was, large size and we got that. I must not be reading my digital scale correctly; it said a half a kilo, I think that fish was closer to one kilo. What I do know is it filled a good portion of two full size plates when filleted and halved. Meat was tender, bones came completely off, slightly pink in color, juicy sweet. We baked this one for 15 minutes in lemon and butter wrapped in tinfoil. We've been poaching salmon from the store and may try that on the next catch. I assume this fish was male because no roe inside, I don't know other than that.

Deuem

Maybe try to milk them just before you cull them. They just mix the eggs and milk together and stir the water and wait. The hard part seemed to be holding the eggs and milk for the future. It would be great if you could breed them yourself. I guess you could always keep a jar in the fridge till they turn to fry. Just don't drink that water. Do they sell the salmon live or dead where you are?

boss

Okay? Milk a fish? I may need further explanation.

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Another great thing about keeping fish, is it seems like I have found a hobby my wife enjoys as much as I do.

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I've got a second grow-bed leaking. We started removing plants from it yesterday. The other bed that leaked appears to be holding, so I'll repeat that technique on this one. Basically I ground down the rough fiberglass edges inside the tank with a side-grinder and sealed it with high grade silicone sealant.

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Anyway, our fish appear to be doing better. Happy fish make happy fish keepers.

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LazyK

boss wrote:

I think we're fish some out and give each a once over twice before the frying pan

Don't you mean the once or twice over IN the frying pan? :mrgreen:

Beautiful fish regardless. Thanks for the tasting update too.

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First Brook trout fatality 8 months old

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