Size Difference

There was an article recently written in the Frederick News Post that might help explain the size difference among our trout. Student have measured the largest (5 cm) and the smallest trout (3cm). Read the article (on the "Links to Other Great Things" tab)and let us know what you think!

Feeding time!

Students have noticed the larger fish swimming near the surface during feeding time. Watch this clip to see why!

Trout Update

Students are becoming experts at monitoring tank water quality. They are measuring pH, ammonia, nitrates and nitrites daily, and we are averaging 5 gallons of water change daily. We use a siphon for water changes. The siphon helps to stir up the sediment in the gravel and is a very easy way to remove the water. We removed the bag from the outside of the filter, and are hoping that this will help to reduce the amount of sediment in the gravel. We are still losing 4-6 fish each day, and hope this changes soon. At last count, students estimated there were 89 trout.

113 Trout!

We've been learning about population sampling methods this week. Today, students used some of these methods to determine the number of trout in our tank. The results from our three classes were: 112, 113 and 105 trout. Students found the most reliable method to be direct observation, and the least reliable method to be random sampling.

Changes

This morning we found that 4 of the 7 fry in the hatching basket had died (including the big guy). 3 more were found dead in the gravel. Tank pH was high today, so we did an additional water change. Students are wondering why so many more fry have died this year than last year. Many questions have come up about the eggs...did they come from the same hatchery? What variables might be affecting the mortality this year?

Big Guy Back in the Basket

We removed the big guy (and a few others that weren't doing well) back into the breeder basket today. We are hoping that this may help them pull through the next few days. You can see the big guy swimming near the bottom in this video clip

What happened here?

After the first full day swimming free in the tank, students noticed one fish that clearly stood out. (Compare the "big guy" to the other more average bellied fish in the previous day's picture.) What happened here?