Fighting Fish

Many things have happend in the last week with the trout.  We got the tank pretty well cleaned by changing 60 gallons of water last week.  If you think about it, we only have a 55-gallon tank, so that's a LOT of water!  Our pH level, ammonia level, nitrites and nitrates are all right on par.

Most of the fish are a really pretty silver color, but three were very, very dark, and also very small.  Rainbow Trout turn dark like that when they are distressed, so we had three very sick fish.  I caught two of them in the net so that they would be enclosed for a minute while I put some food in the net to try to get them to eat, but to no avail.  Those three were also floating like they had no control and would swim sideways.  We thought one had passed last Wednesday, but when I caught it in the net it started flapping so we kept it in the tank.  Then on Friday, one had died.  I also just fished out one of the other small fish.  The last dark fish is getting just a little bit bigger, but I don't hold out much hope.  It's the survival of the fittest being observed right in our own classroom.  While sad, it's still very interesting.  The kids love making predictions about the fish!

We are starting to see very pretty fish.  The pattern on the sides are starting to show, and every once in a while it looks like you can see the lateral line that is pink.  Maybe we're just looking too hard.  We did a lesson on trout anatomy last week and the kids learned that the lateral line is the trout's way of hearing others through vibrations.  Since fish don't have ears, they feel the vibrations with their side, while humans feel them with their eardrums that signal a nerve to tell the brain that something was heard.  The kids think that is so cool!  We also learned about the function of all the fins and other structures of the trout.

The Kentucky Enquirer is sending a reporter to the classroom tomorrow to watch Ms. Leffler's fifth grade class learn a lesson about trout survival.  We are very thankful for this opportunity and can't wait to see the article!