No more Auggie?

Do you remember Auggie Jr.?  He is the deformed fish.
We have a suspicion about him.
Once upon a time on March 13, 2017, one innocent, deformed,
salmon turned black and died.
The salmon caretakers were suprised, confused and scared.
They contacted a teacher immediately.

I recently interviewed caretaker Zach Ruffer about this fish.
Our suspicion has been confirmed!
Auggie Jr. was the unfortunate fish who has been flushed.

What does anadromous mean?

The word anadromous means migrating up fresh water rivers from the sea, to breed. Salmon are anadromous. Anadromous fish born in fish water spends most of its life in the sea returns to freshwater to spawn. Smolt, shad, striped bass and sturgeon are common examples. Castration's fish dose the opposite - lives in fresh water and enters salt water to spawn.  Most of the eels are catanadromous.

Who Lives Who Dies Who Tells Your Story

We got the fish from the Wolf Lake Fish Hatchery in October. We brought the little pea sized eggs on the bus from the fish hatchery to our science lab and put the eggs in the tank immediately. Lots of classes have been taking care of the fish and we call those people the care takers. Since we got the fish they have been growing and now they are 2 inches long! And Only 22 fish died I know that sounds like a lot but there were like 150 fish. We will have to let the fish go soon and they will start their own story.

Auggie Junior

Deformations are caused by birth defects. Birth defects are when the fish are still in their eggs and a part of them doesn't' form right

 

We got the name Auggie Junior from last years bloggers.  They had a fish with a deformation, Auggie.  We named the fish Auggie junior because he has a deformation. A deformation means they have something wrong with him. Here is a picture of him.

One of are bloggers spotted him and said ''Hey, he looks deformed!'' "I think you are right," said the rest of the bloggers. Update: 3/22/17. Two weeks ago aggie junior was spotted but we learned that one fish then turned black and died. We are afraid that fish was Auggie.     

LEVEL UP!

Our little Chinook salmon have graduated to food size 2!

They are growing up!

Aren't you proud?

WE sure are.

This is the label:

-----------------------------------------------------

Food Size = #2

Fish Length = 1.5 - 2.0 inches

Duration on Food = 2 weeks

Week 1 = 3/4 tsp

Week 2 = 1 tsp

Amount of food is spread over several feedings

---------------------------------------------------------  

Is The Water OK?

You might have heard of a "pH level" in water,

but do you even really know what that means?

If not, I'm here to tell you what it is and how to test it.

pH is pretty much just the acidity level in the water, 

But it has to be tested.

That is critical to the salmons' survival.

The caretakers also test the nitrate, nitrite, hardness,

chlorine, and alkalinity of the water. (see "The Helpful Maintenance Chart")  
This is the diagram for the water:

Before & After

    

Can you tell how good the condition of the water is in the after photo?

(answer in comments)

                                         

Growing Fish

When we got the eggs, they were way less than a 1/2 an inch. Now they are about an inch long! They are swimming and it looks like they are playing with each other. They no longer have their yolk sacs. They eat the fish food that we feed them. They get fed three times a day.
Here's how big they are today:

The problem

OH NO! The problem was the top of the tank shattered on the ground. It happened this morning. A 4th grader broke it on accident, and Mrs. Miller is going to buy a new one. She says it´s not cheap.




Without a lid, lots of problems could be created, such as:

• The water could evaporate! Here's a picture of how much water has evaporated so far:

• The salmon could jump out and they could die.
• Kids can get too tempted to touch the water. This is bad for the fish!
• The temperature is 55 and that's bad, too. The lid helps the tank stay at the temperature that you want. 

• They might die out before we release them!

Hopefully, we get a new lid soon.

By Adrianne and Gibson

The Helpful Maintenance Chart

Yeah I know, BORING Maintenance Chart but I'm gonna spice it up a little bit. The maintenance chart is how we keep track of everything that goes on in the tank. The caretakers are in charge of the chart. Their job is to take care of the salmon and write down their growth, water percentages, deaths and when to feed the fish.
Here are some of the things they keep track of:

• From the 16th of November to December 5th there have been 12 deaths and the pH average is 6.8. 
• The nitrate average was 20 and the nitrite average was 10  
• The Alkalinity average was 120 
• The chlorine was 0 as you probably guessed and the average hardness was 150. 
• Finally the thing you've all been waiting for, the deaths. There was 12 deaths. 

P.S That was the most bloody month : )

The caretakers of the salmon do lots of stuff, like cleaning out old water and putting in new water. They are the ones who take care of the maintenance chart too. They have to turn off everything when they do tests on the water and it takes about 10 minutes each day. 

FAQ About Salmon

1.  What kinds of salmon are there?

      Chinook, chum, pink, sockeye, coho, masu.

2. What is the largest type of salmon?
     Chinook/King salmon

3.  Do all salmon survive from hatching?
     No

4.  Do salmon have bones?
     Yes

5.  Why are there so few salmon left?
     There are many reasons such as logging, dams, fishing, and weather.

6.   What is the smallest salmon?
       Pink salmon

7.    are salmon cold blooded
        Yes