Here's a photo Bob Wible sent me on Wednesday of a two-headed embryo in the breeder basket at Charlotte Central. Exciting, huh? (By the way, most likely this embryo will hatch and live for a short time, perhaps even several weeks. I've never known such a genetic mutation to survive to adulthood, however.) Fabulous close-up video footage Danielle Levine, of Schoolhouse Learning Center, sent me this wonderful YouTube video. The images are terrific, but I particularly love the enthusiasm and excitement of Danielle's young students. What a great way to introduce kids to the wonders of nature! Danielle also sent several still images of parts of the alevin anatomy. Here they are. (If you come up with some cool photos and videos, send them along.) Red Fox School Here are some pictures Sarah Dube, at the Red Fox School, sent me. Ludlow journal entry Ludlow Elementary School 4th grade teacher Lisa Marks sent me this photo of one of her student's journal entries. It's great! Prepare for emergencies! As we anticipate what for much of Vermont could be a bigger winter storm than we've seen in a while, it might be a good to review steps that you can take to ensure the emergency doesn't have disastrous consequences for your fish. (Here's Friday's forecast weather map.) So what are the risks to your trout of a big winter storm? A power outage could be a big problem, especially if your appliances are plugged into a GFCI receptacle. (More on that later.) First, an important point: make sure your school maintenance staff know to notify you in the case of a school power outage. Give them your contact information and explain why it's critical that they let you know as soon as they become aware of an emergency. That might include even a very brief power interruption. (See GFCI section below.) If your school were to lose power, your filter, aerator, and, especially, your chiller would stop working. The biggest risk would be if your chiller were off for a long time, causing the temperature of your tank to rise excessively. Trout can handle temperatures into the mid-60s or even a bit higher (but not as high as 70 degrees). And the warmer the water gets, the less oxygen-carrying capacity it has. If your aerator is also not functioning, that's a double-whammy. So, (a) do everything you can to make sure you get notified if your school's power goes out and (b) take steps to address the problem. What does that mean? If the power is going to be out for an extended period of time, you or someone else will need to get to the school to:
GFCI receptacle Many schools are using what are called "ground-fault circuit interrupter" receptacles or outlets. They look like this. This type of receptacle is considered safer than the conventional receptacle, but it has one decided disadvantage: when, after you've had a power outage, the electricity comes back on, the GFCI has to be manually reset. None of your appliances will have power until the receptacle is reset. So, you could have a very brief power interruption late on a Friday afternoon; and if your appliances are plugged into a GFCI, your chiller, filter, and aerator could be off for the entire weekend unless someone goes in to reset the outlet. Here's a video that shows you how to reset a GFCI receptacle. Even if the power remains on, a big snowstorm might mean the cancelation of school for several days. That could be a problem too. In the early stages of the TIC cycle, you could have a mold outbreak, and if that were to go unaddressed for too long, you could lose all your eggs or alevin. Later in the season, an undetected water chemistry crisis could wipe out your fish. So, if at all possible, someone should be checking the tank every two or, at worst, three days. That doesn't have to be you, especially if you live far away. In that case, try to recruit either one of your school maintenance staff/custodians or a colleague who lives near the school. Whoever is going to be doing the checking needs access permission, that is, a key. They also need some training. See Appendix 12, page 54, of the current Manual for some suggestions on emergency preparedness. SUMMARY To be ready for a winter weather emergency:
In a future post, I'll address some of the other things that can go wrong with a TIC set-up. Good luck!
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Joe Mark is Lead Facilitator of Vermont's Trout in the Classroom program.In June 2012, I retired after 40 years in higher education, having spent the last 32 years of my career as dean at Castleton. One of the first things I volunteered to do in retirement was to work with a parent-friend to help the Dorset School, where his kids and my Vermont grandkids attend, start a TIC program. Gradually that commitment grew into my current role, which is both demanding and highly rewarding. Archives
December 2019
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