The "Trout Crew" at Lack has discovered two alevin attached to one yolk sac. It is hard to say what will happen as the yolk sac is absorbed. Will there be enough nutritional value to allow both to survive to become fry? The students and staff at Lack are eager to know!
This week two alevin died leaving 291 in the tank. All of the trout eggs have hatched and are officially alevin with yolk sacs.Our mean water temperature is 49.8 degrees F. The ph has been consistent at 7.6. The students continue daily water changes through the school week.
Thoughts from the Tank Tenders:
11-17-09 Karrie Boone: Today only one died. The ph is 7.6 and the temperature is 50 degrees.
11-19-09 Connor Henry: The eggs have hatched and I clean the water every other day.
11-20-09 "The Trout Crew": The fish are getting a little bigger everyday. We have simiez twins with one yolk but two trout. They look real cool!
Monday, November 23, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
It is truly amazing how fast the eggs are hatching. We have about 125 alevin in the tank. Almost half of the eggs have hatched. Mr. Hart and the 5th grade students have been doing a wonderful job removing the egg casings to prevent any unwanted fungus/bacteria that could damage the unhatched eggs. The tank ph has been pretty consistent at 7.6 the past few days, which is within the safe range of (6.8-8.0)- 7.0 being ideal. A spike in ph is not unusual as the eggs hatch. We continue to perform the daily 5 gallon fresh water change with aged water lowered to 7.0. This week a total of 13 egg/alevin have died leaving our total egg/alevin count at 293 in the tank . The students are getting attached to the tiny alevin even naming them.
Thoughts from the Tank Tenders:
11-11-09 Lauren Vawn: The ph was 7.4 when we checked it. Mr. Hart was having trouble getting out all of the egg casings. Today there was only 1 dead one. I feel really bad for the 1 that died. Bobby and Fluffball are Gaige's favorites. Bobby is mine and Fluffball is Gaige's.
11-12-09 Karrie Boone: Today none of the trout died. Mrs. Winey is happy, and a lot have hatched already. I wasn't expecting for them to hatch so early. I love to take care of the trout every morning.
11-13-09 Lauren Vawn: Today 1 of the trout is dead. Gaige named 2 more of the trout. He named them Puffball and Floferlogan. I feel so bad for the one that died.
Thoughts from the Tank Tenders:
11-11-09 Lauren Vawn: The ph was 7.4 when we checked it. Mr. Hart was having trouble getting out all of the egg casings. Today there was only 1 dead one. I feel really bad for the 1 that died. Bobby and Fluffball are Gaige's favorites. Bobby is mine and Fluffball is Gaige's.
11-12-09 Karrie Boone: Today none of the trout died. Mrs. Winey is happy, and a lot have hatched already. I wasn't expecting for them to hatch so early. I love to take care of the trout every morning.
11-13-09 Lauren Vawn: Today 1 of the trout is dead. Gaige named 2 more of the trout. He named them Puffball and Floferlogan. I feel so bad for the one that died.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
There are more eggs hatching daily, a rough estimate shows approximately 40 alevin. We have removed 17 since the arrival leaving 295 in the tank. The students and staff remain excited!
Trout Journal
11-9-09 Shane Kint: Today we had to remove 8 dead trout.(sad face) Some have hatched, but they're still tiny.
11-10-09 Josie Rice: Three eggs died. I can't wait 'till they're bigger. I can't wait 'till they all hatch and they're swimming around.
11-10-09 Chase Brown: I can't help to think about the eggs that died. They'll never have a complete life.
Trout Journal
11-9-09 Shane Kint: Today we had to remove 8 dead trout.(sad face) Some have hatched, but they're still tiny.
11-10-09 Josie Rice: Three eggs died. I can't wait 'till they're bigger. I can't wait 'till they all hatch and they're swimming around.
11-10-09 Chase Brown: I can't help to think about the eggs that died. They'll never have a complete life.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Thoughts from the Tank Tenders...
Our 5th grade students are doing a great job tending the tank. Every day they need to remove any dead eggs/fry and record the numbers. They monitor the water temperature and water quality through a temperature recording and ph testing. I also have placed a journal to record their thoughts on the project. With their permission, I will post their thoughts on the project as the year progresses.
Thoughts from the Tank Tenders:
11/5/09
Jordan Berrier- I really like trout. I can't wait till they're bigger.
Megan Beason- The trout eggs are so small. I am so excited till they get really big!
Karrie Boone- Last night the trout came. 82 of them died.
Sydney Darr- The trout eggs came. But, I never seen them Big!
Connor Henry- I would like to help with the trout every day.
A few more have hatched so we have about 6 alevin. The students removed one that died.
leaving 311 in the tank at present.
Thoughts from the Tank Tenders:
11/5/09
Jordan Berrier- I really like trout. I can't wait till they're bigger.
Megan Beason- The trout eggs are so small. I am so excited till they get really big!
Karrie Boone- Last night the trout came. 82 of them died.
Sydney Darr- The trout eggs came. But, I never seen them Big!
Connor Henry- I would like to help with the trout every day.
A few more have hatched so we have about 6 alevin. The students removed one that died.
leaving 311 in the tank at present.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Eggcitement at Lack!
The day was a buzz with... are the eggs here yet...are the eggs here yet? All the students were eagerly awaiting the arrival of our brook trout eggs. The students in my back row who could see the front door announced a false alarm when the Federal Express man arrived. I assured them that our eggs were arriving by UPS. At 2:30 p.m. the UPS man arrived and was mobbed by Mr. Hart and the 5th grade students with Mrs. Winey close behind.
We prepared the lobby by removing the light bulbs from the lights above the tank because 15 minutes of exposure to even natural light will kill the trout. Mr. Hart and his 5th grade class joined Mrs. Winey's 1st grade class for KidWriting. We paired the older students up with the younger students to proof read letters written by the first graders thanking the Penns Creek's TU for sponsoring our program. Meanwhile, Mr. Hart and Mrs. Winey recorded the temperature of the eggs upon arrival as 52 degrees F. We turned off the lights in the classroom and pulled the blinds. Then we called the students back to quickly take a peek at the eggs before Mr. Hart placed the bag of eggs in our tank for 1 hour to acclimate the water temperatures.
We were so glad that the eggs came before the students left for the day!
After dismissing the students, Mr. Hart and Mrs. Winey separated the live eggs from the dead eggs. We placed 312 viable eggs in the tank and recorded 82 dead on arrival. Of the 312, there were 4 that have already hatched. We received a visit from our TU sponsor, Larry Winey who was permitted to take a picture of the eggs in the tank without the flash. He enjoyed reading the letters the students wrote, especially one from a boy who wrote that he would like to join their club.
The students will begin fresh water changes and gathering data on the number of eggs that are removed from the tank as many will naturally die. An adult brook trout will lay 500-1000 eggs while only 10-20 survive to spawning age. If we have another successful year, we can expect approximately 250 of the eggs/fry to die before the release on May 15, 2010. The harsh reality of why we should appreciate a native 12" brook trout. We are hopeful to beat the odds. Check back soon the see how things progress.
We prepared the lobby by removing the light bulbs from the lights above the tank because 15 minutes of exposure to even natural light will kill the trout. Mr. Hart and his 5th grade class joined Mrs. Winey's 1st grade class for KidWriting. We paired the older students up with the younger students to proof read letters written by the first graders thanking the Penns Creek's TU for sponsoring our program. Meanwhile, Mr. Hart and Mrs. Winey recorded the temperature of the eggs upon arrival as 52 degrees F. We turned off the lights in the classroom and pulled the blinds. Then we called the students back to quickly take a peek at the eggs before Mr. Hart placed the bag of eggs in our tank for 1 hour to acclimate the water temperatures.
We were so glad that the eggs came before the students left for the day!
After dismissing the students, Mr. Hart and Mrs. Winey separated the live eggs from the dead eggs. We placed 312 viable eggs in the tank and recorded 82 dead on arrival. Of the 312, there were 4 that have already hatched. We received a visit from our TU sponsor, Larry Winey who was permitted to take a picture of the eggs in the tank without the flash. He enjoyed reading the letters the students wrote, especially one from a boy who wrote that he would like to join their club.
The students will begin fresh water changes and gathering data on the number of eggs that are removed from the tank as many will naturally die. An adult brook trout will lay 500-1000 eggs while only 10-20 survive to spawning age. If we have another successful year, we can expect approximately 250 of the eggs/fry to die before the release on May 15, 2010. The harsh reality of why we should appreciate a native 12" brook trout. We are hopeful to beat the odds. Check back soon the see how things progress.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Eggs Arriving This Week!
In preparation for the egg arrival, we turned on the chiller and set the temperature to 51 degrees F. We checked the ph to find it running 7.8 so we vacuum-siphoned 16 gallons of water from the tank. Then bought 6 gallons of spring water and mixed acid buffer solution to lower the ph for 10 gallons of water from the tap. We added the spring water and the water with the acid buffer solution to the tank and retested to find the ph lowered to 7.0 . Yeah! It is important to start out with water in the tank that is as close to 7.0 as possible because once the fish hatch and begin to put waste and debris in the tank the ph will naturally rise. We found out last year that a daily fresh water change while siphon-vacuuming the tank was the best way to keep the ph constant along with reducing the ph of the water before adding it to the tank. We are looking forward to another successful year. The students are eager and ready to care for our eggs. Stay tuned to find out the statistics of our egg arrival which we expect to be sometime during the day on November 4, 2009.
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