The Trout Cam is BACK!!!! Anyone can visit our trout and see how they are doing, at any time. Usually the lights are off on nights, so the best times to view the Trout are Mondays-Fridays 8 AM - 6 PM. Watch with us as the trout grow up!

Most of the trout have absorbed their sacs, and are well on their way to being "Swim-up Fry."  The curious thing is that they have not started to "swim up."  Our assertion is that because we have not regularly removed the top insulation, the swim-up fry are not well adjusted to the light.  As a result, they are laying low.  Of course, this is normal for Sac-fry.  Trout fry need to stay out of the way of bigger fish and strong currents in the wild.  They will hide in nooks and crannies, small feeder streams, or in the undercuts from waterfalls or drops.  We will be leaving the insulation off increasingly, so they should get more comfortable with the light.  They are definitely reacting to the food as most start moving vigorously a few seconds after the food is injected into their water.  

Last year we noted that many fry were not swimming up for food.  We devised a technique to help them jump-start their eating habits by bringing the food (which tends to float) to them.  We mixed a VERY small amount of the smallest food (size 0) to 20-30 mL of water from the tank in a small graduated cylinder.  We used a turkey baster to suck up and spit out the water until it was well mixed (until the food is suspended in the water), then we injected some of this mix into the lower half of the net breeder. We also added some food on the top, to mimic the floating food that most fry will want to "swim-up" for naturally. The key is to feed the trout as little as needed. They should eat all or most of the food that you ad.  You can feed them 2-3 times per day, but you do not want to overfeed them or else you will have water chemistry issues (high Ammonia/Nitrites/Nitrates) and dirty water.

Over the next few weeks, we will be monitoring the alevins to see when they are ready to eat.  As they become more comfortable with swimming up, we will begin to release them into the tank.  Last year we just lowered the net breeder so that the fry could swim up and out, exiting the top of the net breeder.  This worked great as many of the swim-up fry left.  We had a number of trout that swam out, but kept swimming back in.  They seemed to be more comfortable in their first home… awww… so cute!

Please visit our Wiki-site to see out trout cam and enjoy this wonderful experience with us. http://montgomeryschooltrout.wikispaces.com/

Say goodbye to the Sac... Fry!
~The Green Team