Last advice on tank setup The usual advice is to get Trout in the Classroom tanks set up by Thanksgiving. Will you make that target this year? If not, you've got just a few days to pull your tank together. Getting your tank set up before the end of November has become more important because most of our regional TIC coordinators are hoping their schools will pre-cycle their tank starting if at all possible on Monday, December 2nd. (more about this below) If you're a first-time TIC teacher, remember to put foam under your tank before you fill it with water. Other tips on where to locate your tank include the following:
In a power outage or even a brief interruption, all appliances plugged into a GFI receptacle will turn off. Unfortunately, once power is restored, none of those appliances will turn back on unless someone resets the outlet. That means that you or your school's custodian needs to get into your classroom as soon as power is restored to reset the GFI switch. If you're required to use that kind of receptacle, talk to your custodian or your school's maintenance person and explain what's at stake.
Pre-cycling As mentioned above, one of our coordinators, Bob Wible, of CVTU, is not recommending that his teachers pre-cycle their tanks this year. The rest of us are. We believe pre-cycling will greatly reduce water chemistry problems. We're fast approaching the time to start the pre-cycling process. By now, I hope that you have received all your equipment and either have set it up or are just about to because we're just a few days away from December 2nd, when you'll want to start the pre-cycling process. The supplies you've received should include a small bottle of Tim's ammonium chloride, which is critical to the pre-cycling process as we practice it. Instructions for pre-cycling are presented in Chapter 4, on pages 19 to 21 of the current VTTIC Manual. It's very important that you read those carefully, understand them fully, and follow them exactly. If you want to review how to do this, you may also want to watch a video of Robb Cramer's presentation at last year's TIC workshop (below). Robb's whole presentation is valuable, but he begins to talk about pre-cycling at the 23rd minute. (We are grateful to our Trout Unlimited friend, Ian Sweet, who recorded portions of last year's workshop and has made them available to us.) If you have questions about pre-cycling, reach out to your regional TIC coordinator or to Robb Cramer.
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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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