last updated 5/04/2009

Trout in the Classroom Updates

Funding for this project was provided by PA Trout Unlimited and the Evans H & SA.  We are also sponsored by the Mingo Creek Watershed Association. The purpose of the Trout in the Classroom project is to teach students how important it is to take care of local watersheds in their community.  Trout are cold water fish, if local streams take in too much run off from black topped roads and parking lots, the water will be too warm to support a trout habitat.  Students will watch the fish hatch from eggs, feed and care for the fish, maintain the tank and test water quality.  In the spring, any surviving trout will be released into a local approved stream. 

visit the website: Trout in the Classroom

link to Mrs. Angstadt's homepage

email me: Adria Angstadt

The Pottstown Mercury- an article featuring our trout project

Ram Country- watch a video about the Evans Elementary wetland project.  Stay tuned for next month's video of Mrs. Angstadt's class releasing the trout!

Check back often for new updates on our trout:

10/9/08

Mrs. DeAngelis and I have begun to assemble the tank.  Currently the tank is sitting on the table, but we feel that we really need an aquarium stand for it.

10/10/ 08

My sister and I drove to Lancaster today to That Fish Place to buy the aquarium stand.  It looks great!

10/17/2008

The tank is filled with water.  Mrs. D. and I have been hooking up the different filters.  A couple of the students helped pour some of the chemicals in the other day to start balancing the Ph levels.  Our eggs will arrive November 4th!

10/21/08

Great news... the chiller is working and the water is at a chilly 49.2°F.  Everything is hooked up and we're waiting for our eggs.

11/07/08

Our eggs arrived two days ago.  We had a total of 364 eggs arrive, about 250 of them were viable.  The class had an opportunity to check out the dead eggs.  We had a few trout that had hatched, so the students were able to see how tiny the trout will be when they first hatch.  We were all amazed at their diminutive size!  Our eggs are scheduled to hatch between November 10-14.  Our water has been a steady 49°-50°F which is perfect for trout.  Our eggs are enjoying their dark, chilly home.
    We are trying to regulate the Ph level to get it between 6 and 7.  This has proved to be a challenge as Ph rebound has been happening.  A group of students had an opportunity to test the Ph levels under Mrs. DeAngelis' direction.  After the eggs hatch, the students will begin feeding and changing the water.  20% of the water has to be changed a week or 2 gallons a day.

11/12/08

On Monday morning we had about 1/2 dozen trout hatching.  When they first hatch they are called alevin.  The egg sac remains attached to the alevin for the first few days providing nourishment. As of today, there are too many trout hatching to count.  Our Ph level is still between 7.4-7.6.  I have done several partial water changes using distilled water.  The tap water at the school is "hard water" and has a lot of minerals in it, which is raising the ph level.  Although distilled water is relatively inexpensive, we will be going through it rapidly, especially once the trout begin eating food and making waste.  We will gladly accept any donations of gallon jugs of distilled water!

Two new pictures:  the first one shows the back view of the tank.  You will see it is quite a complicated system. The large black box is the chiller which keeps the water cool.  In the rubbermaid container is the water filter.  The second picture is showing the tank completely covered in insulation.  Trout eggs have to be shielded from bright lights, especially fluorescent lighting.  After the eggs finish hatching, we will remove the insulation on the top and front.

11/19/08 This picture shows the fryin the hatching basket.  The clear bubble
like things are empty egg sacs.  The alevin still have their egg sacs attached to the underside.  Some
of the other teachers throughout PA have found two headed trout and twins (two alevin sharing an egg sac). 
I have not noticed any abnormalities at this point.  We have been adding in some trout food as well. 
We found one fry that must have fallen out of the hatching basket and is living with the rocks on the bottom
of the tank.  He is doing very well. 

12/5/08  new pictures...

                     
large view of trout hatchery        Close up of sac fry.         Close up of sac fry.

One of our sac fry is rather unusual.  Inside of his egg sac that is providing nutrients is an unhatched egg.  Unfortunately this alevin did not live.  It looked like there was some blood inside his nutrient sac and he seemed to be struggling.  I tried to zoom in as much as possible to show him.

        
     large view of anomaly                          close up of anomaly, can faintly see
                                                             the blood inside nutrient sac

12/8/08 Over the weekend, some of our sac fry used up the nutrients in their sacs and have started swimming to the top to look for food.  they are now considered "swim up fry."  They measure about 1 inch in length. 

swim up fry

12/23/08

New pics of fry.  Our fry have proven themselves to be robust little fellows and are doing very well.  We estimate that we have between 150-180 trout in the tank.  They have all been released from the hatchery basket and are free to swim around the tank.  We continue to monitor the ammonia level and are siphoning more often now that the fish are eating food and making waste.
 

1/08/09

Our fish are growing!  We lost about 15 fry over the winter break, but the remaining ones seem hardy.  I observed one large fry eating a smaller fry- survival of the fittest prevails, even in a tank. New pictures!!  We estimate that there are still 125-150 fish still in the tank.

2/12/09

New pics!  Our fish are rapidly growing.  Some are now approaching 2 inches in length.  We have made it past the fry stage and our trout are now fingerlings.  we have been doing well with our ammonia and ph levels, which means we are doing an excellent job of keeping the tank clean.  We still have about 100 fish.

  
3/17/09

If you checked out our chart at the top, you would have noticed two things: we have not lost any fingerlings for quite some time and our nutrient cycle has been running very well for the past month.  We have not had a nitrite, nitrate, or ammonia reading for the past month!  This is exactly what you want to happen in a well established tank.  Our fish continue to grow.  They are quite hungry, but we keep them fed well enough that they have not resorted to eating one another.  Our turbidity (cloudiness) has also improved dramatically.  It seems the less I do, the better the tank is.  I think I was overdoing it with the water changes! Check out the new pics... some of our fish are well into the two inch range.

4/06/09

We had a close call the other day.  I came into school on Tuesday to find that the filter was not working.  The water was very cloudy.  I was able to get the filter running again and removed the stocking from the filter.  Within the hour, the water began to look clearer.  I did find one fish inside the filter, although I'm not really sure how he got there.  We still have a large number of fingerlings (around 80-90) with some in the 2 1/2 inch range.  They have very hearty appetites! 

4/24/09

In one week we will be releasing our fingerlings into French Creek at Warwick Park.  The students are really looking forward to this day.  Rain or shine we will be there.  We still have 80-100 fish, which is a great success rate. 

4/30/09
Tomorrow is our trout release.  These tiny fish have been a large part of my life for the greater part of the school year.  I am the "Fishy Mama."  Although the class and I are very excited about releasing the trout, it's also bittersweet.  I will miss watching the fish grow and having them suck on my hands and arms when I'm cleaning the tank or testing the water.  I think they know me...they get vert active as soon as I walk up to the tank.  Check out the new pics! I'm including some new close up shots and one of feeding time!  check back soon for the details on our big release party!

Feeding Time....

5/01/09  Trout Release Day

Before we left for Warwick Park, we had to fill three five-gallon buckets with tank water, fill up ziploc baggies with ice and transfer fish into the buckets. The water temperature in the buckets had to be as close to the tank temperature so as not to shock the fish and cause them distress. Battery powered aerators were hooked onto the buckets to keep the oxygen circulating.   Once we arrived at the park, the students took a temperature reading of French Creek to see how much we would have to acclimate our trout.  Our buckets were about 12°C and French Creek was about 15°C.  We added a little creek water into the buckets to even out the temperature change.  Each student was initially given 2 fish to release, mainly so that the fish could be counted.  In the end, we released 114 brook trout.  Only 1 fish did not survive the trip.  We also tested the Ph level and found that French Creek had a Ph of between 7-8 which was perfect since our tank had a Ph of 7.4.    

Left: Preparing our fish for the bus ride. Middle: Fish in transit to the park! Right: Trout in the bucket

Left: Testing the water temp.  Middle: Releasing the trout.  Right: Mrs. Angstadt releasing a trout.