Category Archives: St.Andrews Primary

Alevins, Dounby Primary, North Walls, Papdale Halls, Sanday, St.Andrews Primary, Stromness Primary, Stronsay

Troot in the Shed 2014 update

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Hi everybody,

Just a quick update on Troot in the Shed 2014 so far:

  • Stromness Primary: The alevins were successfuly released in the Mill Burn last week.
  • Sanday School:  The alevins are very healthy and have suffered virtually no loss. The release date in Bea Loch is for 17/03.
  • Stronsay School:  Same situation as on Sanday with a release in the Meikle Water planned for 12/03.
  • St. Andrews Primary:  There isn’t much left of the alevins’ yolk-sacs and they should be swimming freely in the Burn of Quoykea by 13/03…
  • Papdale Halls of Residence: I’ve just received an update from Mr. Cuddihy and their alevins are doing very well but still have a substantial yolk sac, so the release into the Wideford Burn is probably still a couple of weeks away.
  • North Walls School: The alevins are healthy and well looked after – Thanks, Olivia, for letting us know!;-)
  • Dounby Primary: The release in the Burn of Hourston is scheduled for week starting 13/03.

All these dates, subject to the whims of the Orcadian weather of course…

We’ll keep you posted on the future developments…

Mr P.

Alevins, St.Andrews Primary

Rescue operation at St.Andrews!

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Mrs. Reid emailed us a couple of days ago and sounded rather worried about the fate of the alevins at the St.Andrews tank…  The water was murky, it was very difficult to see what was going on inside the tank and we couldn’t help thinking about last year’s disaster, when all the alevins died… Conrad, the janitor, had cleaned the pump which revealed a few eggs trapped in the impeller, had fitted a very ingenious filter and did a partial water change. Everything had been done by the book, so what could possibly go wrong?

A quick visit at the school yesterday afternoon revealed a tank full of very murky  and smelly water… Hardly any alevin could be seen over the mesh grid and the water quality was obviously going down quickly. So, today, drastic measures were needed! First, most of the water was siphoned out, the mesh was removed and we discovered hundreds of healthy alevins underneath but also a lot of debris like small chunks of eggs and dead alevins which had probably fallen victim of the impeller pump… All the alevins were then transferred into a bucket full of clean rain water, the tank was cleaned, the pump was fitted with a bottle type filter and the alevins were poured back into the half-full tank, making sure the pump outlet produced plenty of water movement and air bubbles. The battle might not be won yet as the rain water we used was 4ºC colder (6.5º) than the water in the tank and some fish may have been affected by the thermal shock. This is what the tank looks like now:

Clean water again!
Alevins, St.Andrews Primary, Trout life cycle

St.Andrews fry released in the Burn of Quoykea

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Click on the photo for full size

On Tuesday 19th March, the time came to let the small trout go into the Burn of Quoykea, situated within walking distance of the school. Led by Mr. McIntosh, their teacher and Sandy Kerr from the Orkney Trout Fishing Association, who very kindly supervised the project, the Primary 7 pupils were very enthusiastic and knowledgeable, as Sandy’s presentation back in January was still very fresh in their minds. The little burn, in spite of its diminutive size,  remains a crucial watercourse for the reproduction of Orkney sea-trout in the East-Mainland and bringing young people by the burn raises awareness about the importance of its role in the local biodiversity.

Actually, the pupils may well be back in the summer, as Sandy offered to give an electro-fishing demonstration in order to monitor the health and growth of the alevins.

In the meantime, let’s hope the weather improves and that the warmer water brings our fry plenty of food!

Thank you to everybody who helped to make the project happen.

Mr. P

Alevins, Kirkwall Grammar School, St.Andrews Primary

Project still running at St.Andrews!

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Mr.Ewing and Mr.McIntosh releasing the new batch of alevins.

After the very sad news we received last week from St. Andrews Primary, where all the alevins died over the week-end, the Troot in the Shed team and the Orkney Trout Fishing Association were on the case right away! Sourcing some alevins was the a priority as  so much work had already been put in by the pupils, their teacher Mr. McIntosh (see the posters below) and Conrad the janitor. Mr. Ewing came up with the quickest solution and arranged to transfer some of the Kirkwall Grammar alevins to the St.Andrews tank in order to keep the project going and provide the children with the experience of seeing the alevins slowly turn into miniature trout and eventually releasing them into the nearby Burn of Quoykea.

Over 100 alevins made the trip from KGS to St.Andrews and after measures were taken to prevent alevins from being sucked up by the pump, the tank was buzzing with life again!

Mr.P

Click on picture for full screen view!

Alevins, General info, ova / eggs, St.Andrews Primary

WARM WEATHER WARNING

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After the St. Andrews incident which wiped out all the alevins, and some concerns from other schools regarding the rise in water temperature caused by a few warm sunny days, Mr. Erskine, who has been overseeing the project on Hoy, has come up with a few simple steps to cool down the tank and prevent water quality from deteriorating; here they are:

KEEPING THE TANK WATER TEMPERATURE LOW

Ideally, the tank temperature should be less than 7C and never allowed to exceed 10C.

On sunny days, the shed temperature will be higher than the outside air temperature, due to heat transfer from the walls and roof. Opening the shed door and windows will keep the tank temperature down. Wetting the shed floor and the sides of the tank will also help. Windows which are not facing North should be kept shaded from the sun.

If the temperature is very high, ice made from bottled or burn water could be added to the tank, keeping it as far away from the ova or alevins as possible. The pump should be kept running to avoid water much colder near the ice.

To calculate the amount of ice needed:

Measure the length and breadth of the tank and the depth of water in centimetres.

Multiply length X breadth X depth to obtain the volume of water in cubic centimetres.

Then, assuming that the ice is at freezer temperature of -18C:

Divide the volume by 98 to calculate the weight of ice in grams needed to lower the water temperature by 1C.

For example:

V = L x B x D

= 60 x 40 x 20

= 48000 cubic centimetres

48000 / 98 = 490

Add 490 grams of ice to lower the temperature by 1C.

Once all the ice has melted, another batch could be added. Try to lower the temperature in 1C stages to avoid thermal shock.

ova / eggs, St.Andrews Primary

Eggs delivered safely at St.Andrews Primary

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Very tidy set-up at St.Andrews Primary!

St. Andrews Primary received their trout eggs today! A big thank you to Sandy Kerr who delivered the eggs and who had to drive all the way from Stromness, with a detours through Orphir and the Kirbister hatchery in very wintry conditions! He was met there by James Harcus who helped selecting the ova. Once at the school, Sandy was welcomed by Mr. McIntosh’s class who were eager to get the project started! Staff and pupils were delighted with Sandy’s presentation about the trout life cycle and some only realised then, that their school is trategically located between two very important sea-trout spawning burns. The eggs were transferred safely into their new location for the next couple of months: Conrad, the school’s janitor, had carefully set up the tank and the place looked like it had just been polished! A great attention to details has gone into the preparation and even the Holm gravel which covers the bottom of the tank has been sterilised with Milton! All the conditions seem to indicate that the project at St. Andrews should be a great success! A big thank you again to Sandy who was glad to share his expertise.

Hope to hear from you shortly.

Mr. Pietri