Summer's Blog

     This week, the trout are still fingerlings.  There are 159 trout still alive in the tank.  Their Parr Marks are making it even more easy to tell them apart.  They also got a lot bigger than they were.  Their fins have grown so much.  They’re also getting fat.  They have been eating some fishy flakes.  The trout have grown so much over the time that I have visited.

Look at all the trout!

         The trout are now called fingerlings.  Fingerlings are trout that are bigger than 1 inch in length.  They are growing a lot.  They have fins, that you can now see more clearly.  Rays hold the fins onto the trout.

          They are also developing Parr Marks.  Parr Marks are used to tell them apart, and they help them use camouflage to blend in.  All the trout are unique.

           Some trout are getting aggressive because they want all the food that they can get.  The most aggressive trout may bite off some of the other trouts’ fins or tails just to get to the food that they want.

Can you see the trout?

Almost all of the trout are swimming up.  There is one trout that they call a Bubble Rider.  He goes over to the bubbles in the tank and rides up repeatedly.  The little fry are very active.  Fry are trout that are 1 inch or smaller in length.

See the bubbles? See the riders?

They have completely lost their yolk sacs.  Since they don’t have their yolk sacs anymore, some have eaten so much that their stomachs have absorbed, and look like Santa Claus’s.

In order for the trout to survive, the tank temperature has to be in a range of 52 degrees fahrenheit to 55 degrees fahrenheit.

I have listened to the second graders’ Trout Fact books.  They have written a lot of useful information.  This is what they look like:

Madison

Anderson

Jasmine

What is your favorite type of fish?

     The trout are now called Fry.  A fish can be called a Fry if it is less than 1 inch in length.  They are growing mouths and their fins are full grown.  They are also starting to swim up and down because of the fins.

These are some Brook Trout Fry.

     The trout have also developed something called slime.  The slime acts like a full-body band-aid.  To predators it tastes gross.  So it protects them in many ways.  It also benefits because it makes the trout swim faster.

     They also are developing scales.  The scales give them double protection.  The scales are like thin plates on their body.

     We think that there are 185 trout still alive in the tank.  They are being fed Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Fish Flakes.  There were 186 trout, but that 186th one died.  

     The trout have many things, and hopefully even more next time!

Second grade is currently learning about Brook Trout.  They have gotten them in a box through the mail in the end of October with food, and ice packs.  They had to sort the eggs out and throw out the ones that were dead.  There were 186 live eggs, but they got 200 eggs in all.  The trout also have yolk sacs that keep them alive.

This is how they sorted out the Brook Trout eggs.

Right now the trout are called Alevin.  That means that they are growing tails, they are starting to grow fins, and they don’t have a mouth yet.  They stay Alevin for about 2 to 3 weeks.  Then their yolk sacs grow smaller because they now have mouths.  And they start to swim up.  The second graders are going to name the first one to swim up.  That is the Fry Stage.

Can you find the tree brook trout?  ?

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