On Friday afternoon, Mr. Mike Gilbert and Mr. Michael Gras delivered close to 200 trout eggs to the White Oak Smithsonian, or the intermediate science lab. On hand to assist with the placement of the eggs into the aquarium tank were a few adults and three of our intermediate students, Christian, Tyler, and Joe. We would like to share that experience with you.
Watch for our collaborative efforts with Casis Elementary School of Austin, Texas. They have the only other Trout Egg Project in Texas, and Mrs. Shelley Carrington will be meeting with their educators in a few weeks to arrange the details.
Well done, guys. Thanks for showing up on a Friday night to get the eggs in place. I look forward to watching them hatch over the next few weeks.
My children. They are all beautiful.
We have eggs! (from Karen) Jan 27, 2011
I took some quick pictures for all you crazy trout egg people so your anxiety levels subside!
We have 2000 Eggs ( http://www.flickr.com/photos/58770883@N08/sets/72157625961579584/show/ )
I have found a curved spatula does well in getting the eggs out of the containers. I will bring one to get the eggs from my container to yours.
I have examined the eggs and there is only one out of the 2000 that is a bad-opaque- egg. YAHOO!
Eggs Picked up in Austin Thanks to Karen and Michael Gilbert Jan 28th
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikegras/sets/72157625925228594/show/
The kids test the tank before the eggs are introduced and this message is sent out.
Karen, Thank you so much for the delivery. It seems all is going well
with the trout eggs so far (but still crossing fingers). When we got
to the aquarium the temperature of the eggs was 51°F.. But you can
see that for yourself at
http://smithsonian.wonecks.net/2011/01/30/first-class-delivery/
Thanks again,
Karen you are the BEST!
Phil Dopson said… Jan 30th
Congratulations! Take good care of them. See you guys at Troutfest.
Thanks,
Michael Gras said
We have shaky hands but are doing our best. See you there.
Mina Marsden said
Roosevelt High School, San Antonio,TX is also participating in the program. When we came back on Monday, we only had one bad egg (keeping our fingers crossed), but the temperature had increased over the week-end. Still trying to figure out why.
Mina Marsden
Aquatic Science
Roosevelt HS, NEISD
Michael asked, Jan 31
Only about 30% of our eggs have “eyes.” Is that normal or are they
doomed?…
Karen
My best guess is that they are ready to hatch. All the eggs do not hatch on
the same day. Some eggs are older than others. I have seen dead eggs with
eyes. I checked the web cam but it is really hard to tell. We have never
had eggs just die. When our tanks have blown out in the past it has been
once there are fry swimming around making ammonia levels go up. Hang in
there and “don’t borrow worry”!
Michael
If there is a particular time during the day you would like to look
them over just dial me up and I’ll go pull the cover
off or turn the white lights on
Karen Feb 1
Michael, I just checked the web cam and I see lots of eyes. We have never
had a web cam before and I am wondering about the light needed for the
camera. If those eggs are truly dead (and I am not convinced of that
because sometimes as the egg moves-and there is movement- the eye becomes
harder to see) then perhaps it is the light. Just a thought. No one else
has said anything about dying eggs. And you all are so specific I know your
water quality is the best! You might want to turn the light out-your call.
Or put some of the eggs in another breeding basket in another tank-great
learning situation.
Michael
Yesterday the number of “eyes” was up to about 1/2 of the eggs. We
did move one egg to a Vibret box that a student said look “fuzzy”
maybe a fungus. If I knew what was happening in other tanks I would
be in a better position to decide about the light. The lights are
blue and quite dim. I’m surprised the camera can pick them up at all.
Anyway we have a decent following on the cameras so my vote is to
continue the risk. We want to work this out as we have been
considering ways to to directly observe and record the goings on in a
Vibret box in the river. I think this would be an important
contribution to the project.
Karen
Sometimes fuzzy can be hatching. The fry have a jelly like substance as they hatch and continue to be connected to the egg sac. I will bet on them hatching vs light issues. All other tanks show no problems. Either way this is a “learning” program not a stocking program and whatever happens we all need to share your valuable info. Go for it WO! Thanks for keeping us updated.
Michael
Thanks. I feel the same way. Ccing others so they can see your
response. I’m thinking maybe we should have/continue our discussion
on the blog so that others could participate. How would you feel
about me pasting our discussion over there and continuing our
conversation/observations in public?
Karen
That is fine. It will spur others on who can actually see the hatching. My base comes from previous classrooms as I have not seen the hatching with my eyes. The before and after but not the hatching. Did you all freeze any eggs?
Michael
I froze 18 under 2 different conditions. From what I have read I can
expect none to survive. We’ll need a special equipment (might be able
to talk a dairy farmer into helping out..) to do the job. I only did
it because we did have many more than the 100 eggs you recommended.
I’ll do the setup and send you the link.