The trout are now swimming free in the tank since they have learned to eat consistently for the past three weeks. I like to keep them in the hatching baskets until I am sure they are eating well because it is easier to remove any that die during the transition from alevin to swim-up fry. During the transition from sac fry to swim-up fry, we lost approximately 100 trout that simply did not learn to eat or swim. Some of them appeared to have Ich which had me concerned after last year so I conducted a static salt bath and changed out 5 gallons of water. It seemed to perk up the fish and I have not lost any in the last few days. Below is a picture of some of the trout with Ich. Thankfully, I learned about this disease first hand last year and at a training this summer so I believe we were able to prevent it from spreading to the rest of the trout...I hope!
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
Little Fry... Eat, Swim, Grow!
Thursday, November 21, 2013
Trout Need Cold, Clean Water!
These were the results we found... ph 7.4, nitrites 0 ppm, ammonia 0 ppm, and nitrates 0 ppm. Looks great so far! As the trout grow, we can expect to see some changes. The students love to see the colors change! They mostly learn that trout need clean water through this and that we can help to keep the water clean for them both in our tank and in the streams!
All the eggs have hatched and I have been
hesitant to post, but are doing well so far! We had 279 trout last week, but have lost a few over the week. Tuesday morning began with a bit of excitement! When I checked the tank in the morning, the temperature read 59.7 degrees which is outside of my comfortable parameters of 42-55 degrees. At first I thought my eyes were surely not seeing it correctly, but a touch of the water in the tank confirmed it was too warm. The chiller had been accumulating ice off and on since last year. I guess I was just hoping it would keep working...needless to say it did not. Thankfully, Larry Winey from Penns Creeks TU had a backup chiller which he brought to the school immediately. We switched the old chiller out and placed the new one in and began to slowly adjust the temperature as to not shock the trout! Yikes... yes, the students have learned through this that the trout need COLD water! Thankfully, we only lost three alevin through this event!
Below you can see the alevin also called sac fry because of the yolk sac that feeds them during this stage of their life cycle! At this point they appear almost dead, until we get too close. Then they scamper to hid under each other. They will remain in the yolk sac stage for approximately 2 weeks. Then the yolk sac will be absorbed which is called "buttoning-up". At that point they will start to swim looking for food. The students are eager for this stage...they are worried about them now. I assure them they are just fine- "fat and happy"- no need to move around when all you need is being provided!
To date we have 265 alevin and the chiller is keeping the tank just right...this experience is never the same! Each year there is a new challenge and a never ending learning experience. Before long we will begin our trout book project. The students are gaining valuable background knowledge and eager to write.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Eggcitement!
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
The Journey Begins!
I continue this process until all living eggs are placed peacefully in the hatching baskets we made.
I was concerned because a lot of the eggs had streaks of blood and began to die over the next few days. All the eggs hatched, but about half of the alevin also had streaks of blood and then died. We lost around 100 fish since their arrival which began to concern the students. After speaking with some of the other teachers at our in-service day, I soon learned we were not alone. Today, I received a call from our TIC coordinator who informed me we would be receiving another shipment of eggs. They had tried a new way of sorting the eggs this year using a machine to separate the dead eggs from the living eggs. She felt it stressed the trout causing them to die because the eggs that were sorted this way were the ones with the most deaths. It is a learning process for all. She hand picked us another batch of trout eggs due to arrive either tomorrow or Thursday! Check back to see how we make out!
Mrs. Winey! Are the trout here yet?
On Tuesday November 5, 2013 I answered this question over 200 times throughout the day. In an attempt to make the arrival of our trout eggs a teachable moment, I thought we would incorporate a lesson on how punctuation helps us understand how to read with expression. I intended to introduce the question mark and the exclamation mark and place a sign on the trout tank letting the whole school know that our trout eggs had indeed arrived. The students colored the words and the punctuation marks for the 
sign in groups. Then we place the words and punctuation marks in order to make the sentence and response,
Mrs. Winey! Are the trout here yet? Yes!
We discussed how the exclamation marks help the readers know we are excited and the question mark indicates asking a question. One of my students raised his hand and said he thought the question mark should go after my name because they are asking me and the exclamation point after are the trout here yet because they are excited and want to know now.
Because the students often call my name in an
asking tone, I decided to go with it even if it
is not completely grammatically correct and teach them that the punctuation marks can change the way a sentence is read. We practiced reading it both ways and the students decided they wanted the question mark after my name and the exclamation mark to show they were excited. It definitely was a better expression of how we wanted the sentence to be read. I did tell the students that to be grammatically correct we should use the question mark after are the trout here yet.
sign in groups. Then we place the words and punctuation marks in order to make the sentence and response,
Mrs. Winey! Are the trout here yet? Yes!
We discussed how the exclamation marks help the readers know we are excited and the question mark indicates asking a question. One of my students raised his hand and said he thought the question mark should go after my name because they are asking me and the exclamation point after are the trout here yet because they are excited and want to know now.
Because the students often call my name in an
asking tone, I decided to go with it even if it
is not completely grammatically correct and teach them that the punctuation marks can change the way a sentence is read. We practiced reading it both ways and the students decided they wanted the question mark after my name and the exclamation mark to show they were excited. It definitely was a better expression of how we wanted the sentence to be read. I did tell the students that to be grammatically correct we should use the question mark after are the trout here yet.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Another Successful Year- Thanks to All!!
Trout Release Day is always bittersweet! I am always amazed at how everything comes together! I am blessed with an abundance of community support for our program! I can't thank everyone enough! I'd like to give a special shout out to Central Juniata EMS for joining us on our release day this year to help put us at ease about taking 130 elementary students to Karl B. Guss Park where cell service is sketchy!
Here is Joe who drove the ambulance with a few of the students. I truly believe he had a great day along with everyone else involved! On a side note, Bunny Princess and Mater made it safely into East Licking Creek and the students who released them said they were happy! Although the little girl who released Bunny Princess asked me on Friday afternoon in school if we could go get Bunny Princess and bring her back to the tank! Sometimes it is hard to let go! Enjoy the video of the events of the day!
http://www.kizoa.com/slideshow/d4550470k3626026o1/lack-tuscarora-trout-release-2013
Here is Joe who drove the ambulance with a few of the students. I truly believe he had a great day along with everyone else involved! On a side note, Bunny Princess and Mater made it safely into East Licking Creek and the students who released them said they were happy! Although the little girl who released Bunny Princess asked me on Friday afternoon in school if we could go get Bunny Princess and bring her back to the tank! Sometimes it is hard to let go! Enjoy the video of the events of the day!
http://www.kizoa.com/slideshow/d4550470k3626026o1/lack-tuscarora-trout-release-2013
Monday, April 22, 2013
Bunny Princess meet Mater!
Good news, we have not lost any trout so far from this new batch. It is amazing how the trout are growing! All except one tiny one that never seems to get any food because he is chased away by the larger fingerlings. We noticed he was laying on the bottom not looking well last week so... We concluded that it was not getting enough to eat and the students begged me to put it in the basket with Bunny Princess to allow it a better chance to get some food during feeding. After about an hour of chasing him around the tank and enlisting Mrs. Hoover to assist me in capturing him, we placed him in the red basket with Bunny Princess
.
One of the students named him Mater! So we introduced Bunny Princess to Mater. They appear to be good room mates so far! Bunny Princess has grown and could more than likely hold her own in the big tank, but the students want to keep her separate so they know which one she is. She is larger than Mater. Hopefully, he will catch up before release day on May 16.
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Third Time Is A Charm!
We have placed a cover over half of the tank to provide the trout with some type of hiding place and provide less stress on the fish as the tank is in the lobby and the constant motion by the tank stresses the fish which in turn can create water quality issues. We are hopeful to keep this bunch alive until May 16. It thrilled my heart to hear the students talking in front of the tank saying which trout was "their" trout and sharing the names that they had chosen for their trout. Hopefully, the third time is the charm!
Thursday, March 7, 2013
Survival of the fittest!! ...Bunny Princess LIVES!
So much has happened since my last post...We have encountered another round of ich! I spent 4 hours Saturday at the school giving the remaining living trout a salt bath in an attempt to keep some alive. On Monday, the students were glad to see one survived the process and is holding her own. She has been named Bunny Princess by one of my first graders who announced Monday that the only fish living was her fish Bunny Princess!
I contacted JHS's Ag. teacher Mrs. Morgan to find out how their fish were since we do our release together. At that point she had 80 fish. Sad to say she also has encountered ich and has lost most of her fish. I stopped at the high school to discuss what I had learned about bathing the fish in salt. She now has 5 fish surviving.
We contacted the PFBC and found out the fish at the hatchery have ich as well and it is a systemic problem throughout TIC this year. They agreed to send more fish, but they will also have ich. It appears this year, we will be learning about the diseases fish get and how to treat them...Hopefully, we will have a few to release in May...It truly is a learning process!! Stay tuned!
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Fish Tales!
The students were so excited today to become |
Published Authors and Illustrators in 2013 |
Fish Tales! |
Friday, February 1, 2013
Water Chemistry
Testing Water Quality... |
The students enjoyed checking the water quality parameters to help make sure our water is perfect for our trout. Today's test results: 7.8 pH; 0 Ammonia; 0 Nitrates; and 0 Nitrites with water temperature 51.9 degrees. We have lost a few fish here and there. Currently we have 44 healthy fry.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Trout Training!
Couldn't resist checking in on our new little ones! I was worried about our new trout making a smooth transition and really afraid not to check in on them. Hopefully, my mind will ease. Thankfully, I found them eagerly awaiting some food. It did not take them long to figure out where the food gathers in the tank. It tends to collect in the back right corner and look where the majority tend to hang out waiting for their next meal! Two days in and they are trained already! Amazing!
Day one in the tank... feeding time... |
Couldn't resist checking in on our new little ones! I was worried about our new trout making a smooth transition and really afraid not to check in on them. Hopefully, my mind will ease. Thankfully, I found them eagerly awaiting some food. It did not take them long to figure out where the food gathers in the tank. It tends to collect in the back right corner and look where the majority tend to hang out waiting for their next meal! Two days in and they are trained already! Amazing!
Friday, January 18, 2013
If at first you don't succeed....fry, fry again!
Trout arrive as students dismiss! |
Thank You PFBC for putting the smiles back! |
Happily swimming in their new home! |
So far, so good...stay tuned! |
Sunday, January 6, 2013
Trout Trouble :(
Patiently waiting to feed fry. |
October making egg baskets... getting ready for eggs! |
Sac Fry in egg baskets!! |
On a brighter note, the students have been working hard on our book project. I can't wait to submit the final draft later this month. Below is the cover page for the book...
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