TIC Refresher 2026-27

 TIC Refresher

Welcome to the 2026-27 Trout in the Classroom season! This post is going to be a general overview of what to anticipate in the first few months with your trout.

Maintenance

Water Quality

Keeping an online record of your chem test levels is incredibly important! This way, you can see if something isn’t resolving, or we at DCL can enact preventative measures to avoid a  harmful situation for your trout. If you don’t log this data, we can’t feel confident giving you more trout after a die-off! We want to be sure you and your students are testing the water and that the situation wasn’t avoidable. When we’re working with living organisms, we want to be sure we’re being thorough and thoughtful with their care.

Here’s a reminder of typical WQ levels for the start of the year:

• Ammonia- Less than 1 mg/l (ppm).

• Nitrite- Near zero (ppm), once bacteria are established in the filter system

• Nitrate- Below 40 ppm (mg/l)

• pH- the pH scale runs from 1 (acid) to 14 (basic). 7 is "neutral".  A pH of 7.4 – 8.4 is fine for our trout

Other common causes of high WQ levels:

• Dead trout that haven't been removed
• Can spread fungus and increase Nitrates
• If too much food is added (once this stage arrives- we aren't there yet!)
• You can use a gravel vacuum or turkey baster to remove extra food OR dead trout from the bottom

Equipment

FILTER

QUESTION: What do I do if the filter canister is making a loud/rattling noise or is hot to the touch?

This is an indication that water is not moving through the filter pump properly.

1. Locate the filter outflow nozzle just beneath the surface of the water in your tank. Check to see if water is flowing out by putting your finger in front of it.

If water is NOT flowing:    

1. Unplug your filter and let it cool down for 15 minutes.

2. Check to make sure that any screening over your outflow nozzle is clear of debris. Remove it and rinse off as needed. Check the water intake for the filter (at the end of the long plastic tube going to the bottom of your tank). If there is screening around the intake, make sure it is free of debris. Remove it, rinse off and replace. (All parts of the intake cage can be removed and replaced by hand. You won't break it!)

1. You can have students help with this! It’s good to have an extra set of hands holding the tube near the surface of the water, and swatting away fish that may get sucked in. 

3. After 15 minutes, restart your filter. First, locate the gray/red gently manual pump handle on the top of the filter canister. Pump it up and down several times. Water should flow out of the outflow nozzle when you pump. Plug in the filter, and evaluate. A few extra manual pump strokes may be necessary.

5. If the filter is still rattling, or not pumping water, you have a broken impeller or impeller shaft. Leave the filter unplugged. Call DCL, and we will come out to replace the piece.

CHILLER

QUESTION: My chiller isn’t functioning properly, what could be wrong?

For a variety of potential malfunctions, the first thing to do is to power down the unit (unplug or switch off) and wait 10 seconds before restarting.  This reset may do the trick; if not, call us.

QUESTION: My chiller is on, but water in the tank is not getting cold enough (52-55F), what could be happening?

The chiller's "Pre-filter" may be clogged. This is a black foam cylinder attached to the submersible pump in your aquarium. If it has a lot of debris stuck to it, or appears to be squeezed together, it needs cleaning.

1. Follow the black cord from the submersible pump to the power supply and unplug it OR keep it running and have someone hold it near the surface to swat away fish while you continue with the following steps.

2. Pull the whole unit toward the surface, slide the foam filter cylinder off its frame and rinse it out.  

3. Replace the clean foam filter, PLUG THE PUMP IN IF YOU TURNED IT OFF.

4. You should notice an immediate increase in water flow through the chiller system. Your aquarium should begin to cool over the next 15-20 minutes

If these solutions don’t fix your chiller problem, call DCL and we’ll come out to help find a solution.

AIR PUMP

QUESTION: How come my blue air pump is buzzing but there are no bubbles coming from the airstone at the bottom of the aquarium?

1. To address noise, shift the pump away from any other surfaces.  Also make sure that the rubber feet on the bottom of the pump are in place.  

2. If no bubbles are rising from the airstone, follow the clear airline from the airstone to the blue air pump.  Make sure all connections are in place. Occasionally, they can be pulled apart, and can be easily reconnected by hand.

3. If neither of these options helps, unplug the airpump and call DCL. Your fish will be fine for several days.

Other Common Issues

1. If your intake/outflow cages don’t have netting on them, fish can get sucked in! While your trout are still small, make sure there is some type of filter preventing this

2. Ensure all intake and outflow tubes are secured! Sometimes, these can be bumped out of place and cause a leak.

3. If your fish are in a warm tank or being removed to fix a problem, you can tape/add a bag of ice to their temporary location to keep the temperature low!

Main Takeaways

1. If your filter is ratting and you can’t find a solution, unplug it

2. If your chiller isn’t cooling properly and cleaning/resetting it doesn’t work, call DCL

3. If your bubbler isn’t producing bubbles, check all connections are in place

A longer version of this review is in our Tech Support Tab in this blog post. It’s great to be able to troubleshoot, but if you’re worried about the health of your tank send an email to education@discovercayugalake.org AND bill@discovercayugalake.org 

Vote For The Boat!

 It's time to vote on a name for the new boat- help us decide!

Gather your students, pick one one of the twelve names, then have a teacher use this link to vote.

Do you teach middle/high school? No problem! You can share the link with your students, and they can vote individually!

How Do Trout Breathe?

After the live food experiment earlier this year, many students noticed the fish breathing (not an indicator that it ate daphnia!) We know they don’t breathe quite like us, so how do they do it?

Breathing

Check out this video from South Seneca a couple years ago, showing a trout breathing. Make some observations:

• How many breaths did it take?

• Which part of its body is moving?

• What kind of water is the fish sitting in?

• Warm, cold, oxygenated?

How It Works

Our trout breathe using a special organ called gills, which helps them remove oxygen from water. Fish take in water through their mouth (something you and your students may have observed already) and it passes through their gills when they exhale. When it does this, the oxygen is diffused into the bloodstream and through the body.

What Effects Breathing?

Just like how the amount of oxygen in the air changes how much we breathe (ex: on top of a mountain vs at the bottom), the amount of oxygen in the water will impact how much our fish breathe. Remember how we talk about our fish liking cold water? That’s because cold water holds more oxygen than warm water! In our aquarium, we also see something called the bubbler, which mimics oxygen entering the water as it tumbles over rocks in nature. Trout like highly oxygenated water. If warm water has less oxygen in it, do you think our trout would breathe more or less in warm water? When we release our trout at the end of the year, do you think their body will be under less stress in May (cooler water) or June (warmer water)?

Test It Yourself

Here is a copy of an experiment you can run with your students about trout respiration!

Ithaca Fishing & Conservation Day March 28th!

 Join us on March 28th from 10-3 at Boynton Middle School for Ithaca Fishing & Conservation Day! Learn more about our program and talk with people selling fish gear, sharing knowledge, and building community.

How Can An Algal Bloom Be Harmful?

We’re in the middle of our Watershed Pollution Prevention class, and the term “Harmful Algal Bloom” has come up a few times. HAB’s don’t get their own lesson, so let’s talk a bit about what they are!

What’s an HAB?

HAB’s are classified when the bloom contains visible areas of blue-green algae, or cyanobacteria. That being said, cyanobacteria can vary in color, ranging from bright green, blue/green, and brown.

Small amounts of cyanobacteria exist is healthy waterways, but can grow out of control under these conditions:

• Excess nutrients

• Warm temperatures

• Low winds

• Lots of sunlight

You might notice it has streaks or looks like spilled paint.

Is all algae bad?

Not all algae is harmful. Like we learned in the Live Food lesson, algae is an important part of the food chain (Department of Environmental Conservation). Green algae might float, bubble, look silky, or form thick rafts, but they don’t produce cyanobacteria.

How can HABs harm humans?

HABs can harm people when they come in contact with it by touching it or ingesting it. You may notice fever-like symptoms, nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, or rashes (EPA).

How can HABs harm pets and wildlife?

Harmful cells from HABs can stick to animal fur and can be ingested when the animal cleans itself. Give your pet a bath with clean water and seek veterinarian advice if your pet shows signs of distress after a potential exposure (DEC). Symptoms of HABs exposure for dogs include:

• Excessive salivation or drooling

• Disorientation or inactivity

• Elevated heart rate and difficulty breathing

HABs can also impact entire ecosystems! Think about our trout for instance. HABs deplete oxygen (which we know our trout need!) and can kill crustaceans (like our daphnia) and small fish (like our trout). What happens to our predators, like birds or larger fish, if the bottom of the food chain collapses?

How can we prevent HABs?

The general public, especially those who live on the water, can do their part to reduce the likelihood of algae blooms by reducing the addition of nutrients (phosphorus and nitrogen) to waterbodies. The amount of nutrients can be decreased by:

• Limiting lawn fertilization

• Scoop the (dog) poop

• Maintaining septic tanks

• Installing and maintaining shoreline buffers

Water Quality and Nitrogen Cycle

By now, you and your students have run tens of water quality tests. Let’s take a moment to slow down and look at what’s going on and why.

Nitrogen Cycle

Your aquarium is producing “waste”, including fish poop, uneaten food, and dead fish. The Nitrogen Cycle is the biological process that converts toxic compounds into beneficial bacteria colonies:

Waste → Ammonia (toxic) → Nitrite (toxic) → Nitrate (okay)

In the beginning, we added a weekly dose of biological enhancer (MicrobeLift Special Blend) to help these beneficial bacteria colonies form in our coldwater ecosystem.

(If we had plants in the aquarium, they would absorb these nitrates and use them as nutrients, completing the cycle. Since we don't, we can do partial water changes regularly.)

The video here might be familiar to some of you. This example by Aquarium Co-op explains the Nitrogen cycle using m&m’s. You can use this video with your students, or another one that you may prefer more. 

How To Run A Full Water Quality Test

This video features our very own Phil Koon, showing the entire process of running a full water quality test. Ideally, we’re doing this every other day to have an accurate reading of our water trends.

Recording Water Quality Data

Not only do we want to be testing our data, but we want to be recording it as well. This helps us keep an accurate record, and can show the students these biological processes in real time. You can print out and keep this Trout Care Daily/Weekly Checklist nearby your aquarium for the students to help fill out. As the teacher, you will also be uploading this information into the 2025-26 Aquarium Monitoring Data Sheet, so the DCL team has access to this information and can help you troubleshoot any issues that may occur.

Recommended Water Testing Levels:

• Ammonia- Less than 1 mg/l (ppm).

• Nitrite- Near zero (ppm), once bacteria are established in the filter system

• Nitrate- Below 40 ppm (mg/l)

• pH- The pH scale runs from 1 (acid) to 14 (basic).  7 is “neutral”.  A pH of 7.4 – 8.4 is fine for our trout

Ammonia and Nitrite at high levels are toxic to your fish. Nitrate is not, it would take up to 200 ppm for nitrate to be toxic.

What To Do if Levels are Consistently High (Over Extended Testing):

• If ammonia or nitrite levels rise above 1 ppm for an extended period, contact us.  Reducing or temporarily pausing your feeding schedule is a good first step that you can take right away.  Depending on the conditions in your aquarium, additional filter media or aquarium cleaning/gravel vacuuming can also quickly reduce these waste products.

• Nitrate levels will steadily rise during the year.  Without the presence of plants in our aquarium, the nitrogen cycle is incomplete, and there is no place for nitrate to go.  This is not a threat to your trout, but high levels will encourage algae growth, odor, etc. The only way to reduce nitrate is with partial water changes.

More Troubleshooting:

Depending on where you are consistently seeing concerningly high levels in your aquarium, you may need to troubleshoot further as to what could be the cause. A really great resource for troubleshooting is this Pennsylvania Trout in the Classroom document. It provides a great overview of the Nitrogen Cycle, and if you skip over to pages 56-58, you can find causes and remedies for high Ammonia and Nitrite levels that may help target and fix your exact issue!