Bad Couple Days

We have been having a bad couple days with the lab tank.  Today, we took out 8 dead ones and found at least 5 more spinners that are probably going to perish soon.  Trying to figure out what is the matter.  One fatality was examined under the microscope and large abcess-like growth was found on it's head.  On a good note, the fish that were transferred to the room tank are feeding well and seem to have adjusted well.

Free at last

Well, we just couldn't wait any longer.  We let the fish loose on Thursday, December 9th from the net breeder and they quickly adjusted to "free" life in the tank with the other set of fry.  Many fish are actively feeding at the top of the tank, and fry are getting fed small amounts several times a day.  From all accounts, we still should have about 600 fry between the two sets, even though we have allowed all of the misformed fry to continue until they perish on their own.  One of our two headed fish is still living, and it is a daily routine to look and see if he is still ok. 

Today, December 13th our chiller arrived back from Tradewinds, even though school was cancelled for the third time in the last 8 days.  We just can't seem to get away from the lake effect snow showers here in Butler County!  Chiller is plugged in and running, and it is hoped to transfer fish over to the room tank early this week.  It just seems a lot emptier in the room without the trout in there!

Swim-up Fry

Our brookies seem to be doing well, if not a little behind schedule from previous years.  By this time last year, all fish were actively feeding at the top.  This year, about 25% of the fish are actively swimming up and feeding.  I have altered the water temp up a little bit to see if that has any effect. 

We are also still waiting for the chiller to be returned from Tradewinds so that we can move those fish back to the classroom.  They are ready to be out of the net breeder, so I hope the chiller comes soon.