We have swimmers!!

If you look right beside the chiller tube, you can see the tail of one of our brookies. This is in the tank in my classroom that is being kept a few degrees warmer. They seem much more active, and there are many fry that are starting to swim to the top. We have stated putting small amounts of food in the tank to begin the training process.

The fry in the lab are still in the basket, and not anywhere near as active. They are being transferred into the gravel today.

Genetic Mutation

While cleaning out the tank in the science lab yesterday, we discovered our first mutant of the year. A siamese twin that hatched but quickly perished. The fry developed two heads, but was attached at a single tail right behind the dorsal.

He has now been preserved in alcohol for future use!!

Hatch is Done

Fry in the lab tank... It appears as if most of our fish have hatched from the eggs. They are moving around quite a bit right now, especially the fish in the gravel already.

Interesting note already - we have taken a lot more dead fry out of the hatch basket than out of the gravel. I don't know if this is because we can't see some of the dead ones in the gravel, or if there is a significant difference in mortality. We will have to follow this closely...

Look close...fry in the classroom tank...

The Hatch is On...

After coming back to school this morning, we found about 1/3 to 1/2 of our eggs had hatched over the weekend. Mortality was low - only 7 eggs between the two tanks.

Fun watching the eggs hatch, as well as the little guys bouncing around in the tank. The fish in the gravel seem to be finding a niche in the gravel, as they have moved around a lot after hatching.

Already worried about casualties - going to put the protective netting on tomorrow for the intakes.

Trout are Here!!

Our brookies showed up with the UPS man at about 315 yesterday afternoon. I came back into school to sort eggs and place them in the proper aquariums.

Good egg counts - Tank in 317 - 355 eggs, Tank in lab - 331 eggs.

This is the egg sorting table. The bowl in the middle holds all of the eggs received, and they are then sorted by good/bad eggs.

Latest News

Just wanted to give an update. The trout eggs were shipped on Tuesday, November 3rd, so they should be arriving today or tomorrow.
A question was asked about our experiment this year - it is believed that the fish in the room tank, due to the warmer water, should grow a little bit faster. Most of us are not sure about the effect of putting the eggs in the gravel versus in the breeder bag.
Our ESP class is working with Mr. Cochran's TV Production class to create a video of our year in the life of TIC. So be sure to check back for future updates on the status of our video production.