All posts by Mr Pietri
All eggs hatched at Kirkwall Grammar!
Most of the eggs have now hatched at KGS, apart from a dozen or so. Froth is always an indicator that the hatching process is under way, but have a look at the picture, it’s as if somebody poured in half a bottle of Fairy liquid into the tank!
On the other picture, we can see the dark orange alevins sitting on the green mesh but the majority of the young trout are probably hiding underneath.
Well done to the KGS pupils and staff for successfully hatching about 95% of their eggs!
All Stronsay ova hatched!
- One of the alevins hatched yesterday at the Stronsay School (Click on picture to zoom in)
All the Stronsay alevins have hatched by now! This morning, only a few eggs were left on the mesh frame so it was decided to remove it altogether. Underneath, it was crawling with bright orange tadpole-like little alevins, similar to the one on the picture. They’re all very healthy and we will now keep an eye on their yolk-sacs. Another piece of good news: this morning, I found in my pigeon-hole the four Single Introduction Consents from Marine Scotland which allow us to release our alevins into the various lochs and burns!
First alevins on Stronsay and at Kirkwall Grammar!!!
BIG DAY TODAY!!! On the “Troot in the Shed 2012” Homepage, reports have been coming in this morning that the first ova have hatched on Stronsay and in KGS! From Stronsay, Keith and Craig reported about two dozen alevins first, and shortly after Mr. Ewing from KGS, reported a lot of froth in their tank and the first alevins!
Just wondering what’s happening on Sanday??? I’m sure it won’t be long before we hear from them… Breaktime at the Sanday School is in about an hour’s time at 11:00 and they may be in for a surprise when they check their tank! Let’s wait and see…
Mr. P
Update on the Stronsay ova
Eyes are now clearly visible on the ova at the Stronsay mini-hatchery. Even though the water temperature is on average 4 or 5ºC warmer than on Sanday or at KGS (due to 2 freezers in the shed!) it doesn’t seem to make a great difference. It’ll be interesting to see which ova hatch first! Who is going to report the first alevin?
(Don’t forget to click on the photos for full size)
Mr.P
The Sanday eggs are eyeing up!
That’s it ! The eyes are now clearly visible on the Sanday eggs! From now on, it should be really interesting to follow the growth of the embryos and in a couple of weeks, look for any sign of foam on the sides of the tank: a light foam is the result of enzymes breaking down the eggs as they hatch. By the time you’re back from your mid-term break next Monday, I’m sure we’ll notice a big difference with the ova.
Mr. P
KGS on track for a bumper hatch!
KGS are preparing themselves for a bumper hatch as they were issued with around 800 brown trout ova! They have done such a good job at removing the odd dead ovum and maintaining the water quality that there has been very few casualties and everything is looking promising! A couple of weeks to go before the alevins start coming out of their shells…
Well done to all those involved in the project!
Mr.Pietri
Ova “eyeing up” on Stronsay!
The Stronsay ova have made very good progress this week and we can clearly see the eyes developing (look at the egg in the middle!). The hatching conditions in the Stronsay shed are near ideal with a water temperature around 9ºC and total darkness. There has been very few losses so far and let’s hope it lasts!
Well done to all the pupils on the rota who check the tank every break-time.
Mr.P
First alevins hatched at the Dounby School!
Yesterday, January 30th, the first ova hatched at the Dounby School and today over 20 alevins were counted! There is no doubt that this is much earlier than in the other 3 schools running the same project. There is a significant difference in the mini-hatchery set-up at the Dounby School though: the tank has been placed in a cool cupboard inside the school and even though it is cooler than the rest of the school, the water temperature has been averaging 17°C (in comparison, the water temperature recorded at the Sanday mini-hatchery today was 4.7ºC). This much higher water temperature has had the effect of speeding up the hatching process. Last year, the first alevins appeared on Hoy on February 24th, nearly 4 weeks later! However, a high water temperature has a serious drawback as algae and fungus thrive much better in a warm environment. The figures, taken from http://trootinthecupboard.wordpress.com/ , show that so far about 100 ova have died and 21 have hatched successfully. Well done to the pupils and staff for hatching these ova in very challenging conditions!
Mr. P
Healthy eggs at the Stronsay School!
So far, “Troot in the Shed 2012” is running smoothly on the island of Stronsay! Apart from 5 casualties on the first day, probably caused by the transport on the plane in a thermos flask, there have only been 2 more casualties. The pupil rota is working well and every day, the tank is checked, dead eggs removed and water and air temperatures recorded. No long before we can see some of the ova “eyeing up”…
Mr. P
