Feeding Time

Today Bill came to Groton with a great activity to test feeding behavior in our young trout. At this point our trout have only seen the supplied fish food which we've sprinkled on top. We were testing whether or not the fish would instinctively recognize live daphnia as prey or not.

update from South Hill

Our approx. 20 fish are getting quite big...some more than an inch...very active and feisty. They love the larger size of food! pH remains 8, ammonia 1, nitrate 0, nitrite 1. We are adding Stress Zyme weekly still (almost out...!) and nitrate's don't seem to be coming along.

In class we're doing bacteria investigations around the classroom and one group wanted to see if a deceased trout carried anything....and here you have it. It wasn't as bad as some of my counter-tops. Ewww.

Time for Some Fresh Food!


Exciting activities are in store for the coming months- first up is our living food experiment. Colleen Kearns from Cornell's Lab of Evolutionary Biology & Ecology is ready to bring in zooplankton samples for trout feeding experiments. (Daphnia pulex is pictured to the right. Click on the image for a video link!) Will our trout recognize living food? What will affect their feeding rate? We need to schedule classes anytime after January 25 and before the winter break, so please contact me.


We'll have a chance to study the plankton, themselves, and get up-close and personal with the foodweb. It a great opportunity for projects that your students might want to share at upcoming events, such as Ithaca Fishing Day, in late March, or Earthday. There is even talk of creating a marching aquatic foodweb for the Earthday and Ithaca Festival parades!


Finally, we're seeing some high mortality rat a couple of schools. From what I've read, this is not unusual- and the benefit of having a network of schools is that we can help each other out. So, if any class feels they can spare a few trout fry, I will be available to facilitate the re-adoption process. Let's share the wealth!


-Bill

Enfield Update

Hey All,

 We meant to write an update last week but most of us have been devastated by the loss of fish during break.  Everything in the tank was running properly and the water readings were great.  I came in the day before xmas eve to feed the fish only to find a major fish loss.  The filter stopped working which caused the ammonia levels to soar off the charts.  It took several days to get the ammonia levels down and get the filter operating.  We would gladly accept any other donations of fish from schools who might think they will have too many for the size of the tank 

We completed some sketching, colorization and trout identification in the U.S. with Mr.  Brooks and Mr. Andrews twice before break.  Currently, we have about 10 fish left.  They are well over an inch (we measured them through the glass during math).  Their spots are darker and more defined.  We have noticed that some of the fish still have a small bump on their stomach. 

Mr. Brooks' third grade class

update from South Hill

WE have @34 fish at last count. We lost 6 over the 2 week break. The ones we have look BIG (easily an inch). Current readings are pH 8.0, ammonia .50, nitrate 0, nitrite 0. Should we do anything to raise nitrate, and lower ammonia? Thanks!

Close Call

I came in tonight to check on the tank and feed the classroom pets. After running the tests I found the pH had jumped to 8.8 and my ammonia was 2.0-3.0 ppm. I quickly reduced the pH and added the stress-zyme. When I first came in and turned on the lights they were all on the bottom...very still. After I reduced the pH and added the stress-zyme they became more active. I'm not sure if it was because of the pH reducer or the fish getting used to light but they looked a lot better than when I got here.

Groton Update

Here's a quick update on our trout. Here are 2 pictures at 6 weeks of development. All yolk sacs have pretty much been absorbed into the fish and most are now actively feeding on fish food from the top. The above picture is of our lone deformity. We had 5 fish die since the beginning but this one had a mutation where (from what we can decipher) the yolk sac was enclosed within the fishes belly. This skin did not recede as the yolk sac did, leaving this bubble. The bottom represents a typical healthy Brown Trout. Anyone else experience any developmental deformities?

Hello Trout Teams!
During November, I polled each of our classes on how many trout fry they thought would survive to be released in May. Remember how you voted? Well, I've added up the results for 170 STUDENTS WHO RESPONDED, and out of about 100 eggs, delivered on October 30, here's how many you think will survive! -Bill F.

Monday December 1, 2008

Well, it has been some time since we lasted posted anything. There continues to be lots of activity in the tank. The water levels, PH, and ammonia levels have been looking fine for some time. Last week, Mr. Brooks dropped the breeding net to the bottom so the remaining fish could freely move in the tank. Many alevin had escaped. We found one dead fish and Mr. Brooks put it under a microscope for us to look at. We have also begun to feed them the fish food too.

We have made these observations:

-The fish are freely swimming in the tank chasing food and eating food off the surface.
-Some fish like to float in the bubbler and move up and down in the bubbles/facing current.
-The fish have developed fins.
-They have lost the egg sac
-There is spots and bars on the sides of the fish now.
-There is a yellowish, fuzzy build up on the intake pipe of the filter system...thats all for now.
Trout Team III