Student Update

By Alexis Burkhart and Bryanna Slater

In our school, North East Middle School, we have been raising Brook Trout from the PA Trout in the Classroom project, partially sponsored by the Erie chapter of Trout Unlimited.  We have been raising these trout from when they were eggs.  These incredible creatures have lived in our science room until we let them go into 20 Mile Creek.  We got the trout on November 5th, 2013.  They are expected to get four to six inches when they are full grown.  Before we got our fish eggs, we had to take a class on how to raise and feed the trout we were going to get.

            On the Hooked on Fishing not on Drugs trip to the Tom Ridge Environmental Center, we went everywhere in the building.  We went to different rooms where the workers were growing fish, turtles, and plants.  In the rooms, we learned about aquaponics, which is the practice of raising fish and other water organisms for food.  We saw how you can grow crops by using the dirty water that needs to be cleaned to feed the plants. All of the members of Hooked on Fishing toured the building and even the tower.  Up at the tower, you could see the Ravine Flyer III and Waldameer Park.   

We water, feed them the exact amount, and make sure they are healthy to live.  Also, we had to make sure the tank is clean all the time so they don't get sick. Three or four times a week, someone has to filter the water by putting a tube inside the power head and suck some of the water out. Then, once some of the water is drained, they have to put clean water back into the tank. After the water level is back to the top, the filter cleans the water that was just put in it.  We have an air stone, which gives the fish proper oxygen.  The tank also has a filter, an electronic temperature controller right outside the tank, a cooler, and even a power head. A power head is a tube that puts currents in the water so the trout feel like they are in a stream. The temperature controller has to be around 50 degrees for the trout so they don't get too warm and die. We have an automatic feeder to feed the fish overnight when nobody is at school.  The food we use was at zero, which is the first food we have to feed the trout.  The 14th of January was the last day that the trout were given zero food. The sixteenth of January was the first day the trout got fed a number 1 food. The food for the trout is just ground up shrimp. A couple weeks later we lost 2 more fish.

            Quasi, a trout that's back is messed up because his tale got stuck in his egg sack when he was still forming to be a fish, is our survivor trout. Quasi's back is getting straighter every day. We know that because everyone in eighth grade keeps an eye on him because he's so special. After a couple weeks Quasi’s back got straighter so it is harder to find him in the fish tank.

 

            A system of aquaculture in which the waste produced by farmed fish or other aquatic animals supplies nutrients for plants grown hydroponically, which in turn purify the water is called aquaponics. We started this process on February 4^th, 2014. The lettuce was just planted and after 10 days the lettuce was about 5 centimeters tall!!!!! J