"Trout in the Classroom" A Hatching and Restoration Project for Local Waters |
 South Lewis is currently "running" two systems in Mr. Comet's Living Environment classroom, each constructed of: 55 gallon aquarium, undergravel filter, Tidepool filter, SOS Skimmer, Aqua Chill Chiller, Cyclone Protein Skimmer, Penguin Powerhead, Net Breeder baskets, etc... |
A History of our TIC Adventures 2009-2010 September and October 2009 - Systems set up with student assistance. Filled and gaining some anticipation of what and when they will arrive. October 15, 2009 - Mr. Comet takes a trip to SUNY Morrisville where he will participate in the Stripping of hens and the milting of males to obtain eggs. An elementary class frm Rome CSD is there as well and Dr. Trotta and Mr. Diehl and their hatchery students and managers put on a great day for everyone to enjoy. Mr. Comet put about 400 eggs into the system at the end of the day. October 28 - The eggs that Mr. Comet brought back from Morrisville have turned white but did "eye" before doing so. Mr. Comet contacted SUNY Morrisville and it is agreed that those eggs most likely were transported tto quickly. A former student will bring us more. December 19, 2009 - New Eggs! - most of which are eyed out already. January 2, 2010 - The eggs have hatched. We only lost approximately 20 total. January 9, 2010 - We lost perhaps another 20, but things are looking GREAT! February 12, 2010 - Release day. We allowed the hatching baskets to sink to the bottom and they couldn't get out of there fast enough. One fish has been nicknamed "Norm" becuase he is quite different than the others. While the others are well marked, dark, beautiful fish, Norm has a very light (in fact almost white) tone to his body and is very easy to pick out. The "Fish Mama" (Christine) has officially named him and watches out for him daily. March 2, 2010 - A friend of Mr. Comet's has donated a tank setup that she is no longer using and is not in need of. It is a beautiful setup with a custom made stand, lights, pumps and filters,structure, and feeders. It has found a place of distinction and we have started to transfer 4 or 5 fish to the system. Norm will be added once we are confident that the system is functioning well. March 10, 2010 - Interesting day here. A new local upstart newspaper has expressed interest in having a story about our TIC efforts and the photographer came to take pictures today. He took some great shots both of the trout (including "Norm") and students working with the systems. It should be published in the next few weeks. March 11, 2009 - Norm will be moving to his new home in the display tank today. Our "Fish Mama" will do the transfer this afternoon. Norm is too special to be in the general population.
2008-2009 November 8, 2008 - Received eggs through SUNY Morrisville December 20, 2008 - Massive "hatch" overnight. Tank has a foam on the top typical of what you would see upon hatching. Scrubs off easily and also removed a few that appear malformed or "stuck" in the shell of the eggs. Januar 18, 2009 - Hatching baskets have been removed and fish are finding their way into the substructure of the tank and starting to "rise" for crumbles on top of the water. have only lost 3 fish in the last month, so staying positive. February 19, 2009 - Incredible growth in the last month or so. Fish are feeding heavily and it is interesting to see themafter feeding as they are still transparent enough to see the food in their digestive system March 8, 2009 - They will NOT stop eating. I did lose two to jumping, which was sad. I have changed the configuration of my insulation board and it now fits a bit more tightly, so they should not be able to jump any longer. Length is somewhere in the 1.5 to 2.5 inch range. April 19, 2009 - Most of the fish have reached at least 2.5 inches, so I am splitting the tank. Half od the fish will go into the "backup tank" so that we can allow more room and access to food. I have turned off the chillers and salted the water to assure a good slime coat starts to develop. May 23, 2009 - All of the fish are nearly 3-4 inches, so with the temperature of our release water almost the same as the tanks without chillers they are going to be released. With the cooperation of the NYSDEC we have obtained a permit and they will be released today into Otter Creek with access to the water obtained through a friend that lives with land bordering it. Stay tuned as we continue our new adventures in 2009-2010! 2006-2007 November 2006 - Ordered supplies and equipment, started to receive orders and build system. December 25, 2006 - Christmas Day, what a day to be "born". Eggs started to hatch today and wriggling little fry started to move quite a bit. Water remains in "good shape". January 4, 2007 - Have removed the "dead" or white eggs, including all fragments. Water remains in good shape. Even within a week they have started to come up a bit higher into the hatching basket and are much more active. January 20, 2007 - Fish have started to rise for food, but I am apprehensive to offer any large quantity so as to maintain water conditions. They are in the neighborhood of 1cm in length now and appear to be growing more each day. January 30, 2007 - Fish have consistently started to "rise" to a small sprinkly of food (just enough to fit on the end of a toothpick) and appear to be eating well. Have nearly doubled in length to almost an 2cm on average. February 7, 2007 - Arrived this morning to very active fry and decided to submerge the basket and allow for their release into the "big pond". Immediately gathered into a cluster and moved as a unit - something I did not expect. By the end of the day they had dispersed rather well throughout the tank. Feeding is still a bit of an issue and I have fears about overfeeding as result. Altered the size of the filter emptying area so that fish were not sucked into the filter by accident. February 9, 2007 - Serious reservations this morning as approximately 20 of the fry were found dead in the bottom of the tank in one corner. All water quality parameters are within normal to excellent range. No gross morphological reason for their death (injury, crushing, etc...) but I did notice many were encased in a translucent white "fuzz" that I am assuming is fungus. Am investigating all possible avenues to ascertain why they are deceased. February 14, 2007 - Water quality has remained the same and have only lost a few fish in the last 5 days. Perhaps the "fungal" problem we encountered has rectified itself. February 21, 2007 - Went to work (mid-winter break) today on my birthday to arrive to many more dead fish. Same manner of death it appears that killed the fish previously. Have eliminated any sources of infection that I can find and water quality remains good. Will be calling on a few "fish friends" to see what is going on. Popular concensus is a fungal issue. It was suggested that perhaps I very lightly "salt" the water to increase salinity and inhibit fungus/increase slime coat. February 26, 2007 - Arrived to find the water in horrible quality and most fish dead. Did an almost toal water exchange in hopes of making the last few survive but to no avail. System will be "crashed out" and sanitized and if eggs are available I will start over. March 1, 2007 - Eggs are, for the most part, unavailable until the fall of 2007 and I will restart the project at that time. In the interim I have secured eight fingerlings from our agriculture teacher that he has recently purchased. I will try to "run" these fish to a successful stocking size to determine any further problems.
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From the Trout In the Classroom" webpage... "What is Trout in the Classroom? Trout in the Classroom is a relatively simple program. Teachers set up an aquarium and incubate trout eggs in their classroom, under the guidance of a Trout in the Classroom coordinator (often a TU member). Together, they ensure that all of the equipment has been purchased and is assembled by September. While the program varies from state to state, in general the teacher and students are responsible for daily maintenance and observation of the eggs, while the coordinator is responsible for obtaining permits and locating a certified egg source.
The final result is an aquarium full of trout fry that is released into a state-approved body of water during a class field trip. Trout in the Classroom is an extremely rewarding program for students, teachers, and mentors. The program can be set up in one school, or, as some chapters of Trout Unlimited have done, as a collaboration with many different schools. " |