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| Lets say you have a large aquarium that would keep a 40"+ musky comfortable, which has heating/cooling system so you have the precise temperature settings you wanted. You place a 40" fish in there and gradually lower the temperature until its post-turnover, fall temperature, where the fish would start eating for winter. This fish has all the food it wants, suckers, bullheads, etc. Would the fish continue eating for winter if you kept the water at this temp? Just curious,
MJB | |
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| Do you mean, would the fish keep getting fatter and fatter and perhaps grow faster due to the mass quantity of food it is eating? I think it would continue to eat, but not mass quantities. I know pike feed pretty heavily under ice and that more than a few muskies are CPR'd through the ice. They must be on the hunt under the ice.
-ost | |
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| That is exactly what I'm asking, will the fish keep eating in extreme quanities for winter (getting fatter and fatter; growing faster), but winter would never come, because the temps would stay the same (post-turnover, fall temps).
Thanks,
MJB | |
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| I think daylight length (phototropism) has a much larger impact than temps. Just my opinion, no scientific knowledge. | |
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| I'm thinking along the same lines as Ghoti. | |
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| Just to be a stickler guys, actually it would be 'photoperiod' yall are referring to- day length. 'Phototropism' is what plants demonstarte when they grow towards the light! But I agree that fishes' seasonal behavior is dictated by more than just the temperature. A great example is this spring when fish were forced into prespawn movements when water temperatures were barely 40! But that's some great thinking by somebody who obviously wants to catch the world record from his living room couch- and even though I'm saying their feeding behavior is impacted by more than just the temperature, that doesn't mean it wouldn't work necessarily in my opinion. | |
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| Phototropism is most likely the main reason for changes in muskie behavior.
If I had an aquarium that could comfortably hold an adult muskie, and I wanted to fatten her up; I would take a very different approach:
I would cycle the temperature. However, I would shrink the "seasons" down to a few weeks, instead of 3 months. I would love to test this theory with muskies or norther pike. I wonder how large of an aquarium that would require.... not to mention, do you need permission from the DNR to run an experiment like that? | |
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| Have done the muskie/aquarium experiment before, only with smaller muskies. Spent many, many hours observing their feeding behavior in the tank too (my wife will attest to that!!). My observations showed that there was more than one factor determining the feeding habits of the fish. They had a constant supply of forage, but yet ate very selectively, and sometimes would go days without a meal, even though it was readily available. Water temp is only part of the puzzle for sure. | |
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That is a great question...
I think in a controlled setting they would "Go with the flow",that is if they have been raised in a setting like you suggest. Having been raised in that environment I don't think they would respond in that manner, because they wouldn't know any better. If taken from a natural setting and placed in that environmet, I think they would eventually be conditioned by their environment if they survive the shock of being captured. I do believe there is a natural instinct to "beef-up" when the weather turns. They are more adapt to cooler temps and as we all know they are seemingly more aggressive in early spring(pre-spawn)warm-up and in the fall(turn-over). They are creatures of habit and predators for sure and that instinct to survive will guide them.
My experience in southern waters suggests they will still react to the difference in temperaturs as slight as they seem to us "Up North". Even though the waters don't typically freeze like they do to the north, because of the "natural" environment and conditions in which they are accustomed to they respond to their biological clocks that tell them it's time to spawn,feed,ect.
Just my opinion....
Karen | |
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Experiment