A New Group

We run on a trimester system and began our third and final trimester of the year last week. This means I brought in a hand selected group of 7th graders to be our "experts" next year as 8th graders. (We are currently a 7-8th school but will be adding a 6th grade STEM program in the fall.) I am excited to bring in new students and they are all eager to learn so we shall see. Also, in preparation for the possibility of me not being employed at the school (currently part-time/temp) I have recruited a teacher to help me out and learn about caring for the system. She is a math teacher at the school and couldn't be more excited! She even wants to try and do something with aquaponics over the summer with her own kids.

So far I am surprised at how much the students aren't feeding the fish. I have a schedule up where any of the aquaponics students, teachers, or our special ed program can go, feed the fish, and write it down. They can be fed twice a day and if the box is full, you just don't feed them. So far only the aides are really taking students down to feed the fish. They love it and I'm VERY happy that the special ed program can also be a part of the system. I want to stress that this is a WHOLE school system, not just one group's.

For food we are feeding them fish food from a local farm supply store. I looked and looked for food that was a decent price, but also what they need for nutrients. TrophyFish Feed is what it is called. Is it perfect? I don't know, but they sure like it! It also is meant for sport fish so I assume it is alright to feed to fish meant for human consumption... The cheap stuff at the local pet supply chain store was not. But, the price I paid for 1.75 lbs of fish food at the pet store is more than the 25 lb bag of TrophyFish Feed. Sounds like a good price to me!

And, our fishies are growing rapidly! It is funny to watch them sometimes. They were raised in an aquarium where they could see students and know that people mean food so they come to say hi when you walk up to the tank even though our tank is not see-through. One is much paler than the others and keeps to itself in the bottom corner of the tank. When the others venture into it's territory it bullies them and chases them out. I wonder if this means we may have some baby fish soon? I did drop some extra pieces of 4" PVC (about a foot long) in the tank to give them some hiding spots in hopes that babies may show up soon.