Caring for your salmon during the holidays
No matter what stage of development your
salmon are at, you will need to check in on them over the holidays.
How do you
know if your salmon are ready to feed?
When approximately 2/3 of your salmon fry have absorbed their yolk sac and are
actively swimming in the water column then they are ready to begin feeding.
Some may still have what looks like a slit or opening on their underside after
absorbing their yolk sac. When you see
this it means that they have not necessarily completed the buttoning up process
but if the yolk sac has been absorbed, then they are ready to feed. See “Salmon
Feeding Tips and Tricks” article below for more details.
“My salmon are not ready to feed when I
leave for break.” Check
in on your salmon at least 1x week. You
will want to check on their development to see if they are ready to begin
feeding and you want to make sure that all equipment is working properly.
“My salmon will be feeding over the break.” You
have two choices: automatic feeders or manual feeding.
-
Automatic Feeder: Set the feeder
per manufacturers instructions to feed based on the information provided in the
SIC Fish Feeding Guide. The guide was
given to you with your fish food and is also available in the SIC Curriculum
Manual online at www.michigan.gov/sic
-
Manual Feeding: This will need
to be done daily. As with the school year, you can probably take
a weekend (or any two consecutive days over the course of a week) off from
feeding your salmon but remember to feed late on the last day of feeding and
first thing on the day you resume feeding.
Salmon feeding tips and tricks
After hatching, young fry
will feed off their yolk sac for approximately 1 month. Once they have absorbed most of their sac
they will swim up in the water column and begin searching for food. Don’t be alarmed if all don’t swim up at the
same time—some will take longer than others.
Once approximately 80% are off the bottom and swimming, you should begin
feeding.
Remember:
- It’s always better to under feed than to over
feed.
-
Once your fish have begun feeding, adjust water
temperature to 52 degrees Fahrenheit. The warmer water will promote feeding, encourage
growth and increase chances of survival!
-
Distribute daily amount over several feedings, 5
– 6 times per day. It is not uncommon that early in rearing, fish
may not eat their entire ration but once fish are feeding well they
should. If fish are not eating
their entire ration you may need to increase the number of feedings and
decrease the ration amount to accommodate what the fish need.
Feed last thing on a
Friday afternoon and first thing on a Monday morning.
We want to hear from YOU!
Did you develop a new lesson plan for
your salmon? Share it with us and other SIC teachers!
Have a live salmon cam or great webpage
with information about your salmon at your school?
We’d love to put a link up on our SIC webpage. Send it to us!
Fewer Chinook salmon will be stocked in Lake Michigan
Did you know Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin partner to stock 3.3 million Chinook salmon annually in Lake Michigan? It's true! Starting in 2013, that number will be reduced to 1.7 million. Doing so will help maintain the ecosystem balance. Read the press release to learn all about it.
Got ammonia? You shouldn’t!
In a healthy tank, ammonia
levels should always be ZERO. The
presence of ammonia is an indication that something is out of balance. Therefore any ammonia in a tank should
warrant corrective measures. If you have
ammonia present in your aquarium, it is important that you adhere to the
following guidelines to bring levels back down to an acceptable level:
- Stop feeding your fish
- Clean your tank. This includes siphoning out any
uneaten food or fish waste, performing water exchanges and following all other
guidelines provided on the SIC program website and in your program manual.
- Closely monitor ammonia levels
- When levels are acceptable, resume feeding your fish.
Fish health: early mortality syndrome (EMS)
EMS is a pathology caused
by a vitamin B12 (thiamine) deficiency in adult salmon. Salmon feed predominately on alewives, which
have a naturally high level of an enzyme that breaks down thiamine. EMS is not
contagious. The syndrome is passed on to
the offspring from the parent. Some fry
may suffer mortality as a result but it is a small portion, typically less than
20%. Once the fry begin feeding they
will get the thiamine they need from their food.
-
What to Watch For: Swimming in circles or lying on their
side on the bottom. They may act
this way for the first couple of weeks after they swim up.
-
What to do if your fish have EMS:
It is unlikely the fish will survive long enough to begin feeding
to get the thiamine they need and recover.
You can choose to keep the fish in the tank until they perish or
remove them immediately after determining they have the deficiency.
Maintaining water quality
As your fish begin to feed
they will begin to produce waste and any uneaten food can foul up your
water. Regular cleaning and water
quality testing are a must. Failure to
adhere to the following standards will put your salmon at risk for mortality.
-
Test
Water Quality: 1 – 2x
week. Record results on Tank
Maintenace Chart.
-
Perform
Water Exchange: 1 – 2x week,
removing ¼ - 1/3 of water during each exchange.
-
Siphon
Waste: 1x week, minimum or daily as needed.
-
Remove
dead Eggs/Fry/Fish: Immediately.
More details on these and other ways to keep your
tank clean and your fish healthy can be found online at www.michigan.gov/sic
Where to go for help...
Troubleshooting guidelines for a myriad of problems are available on page
20 – 22 of your SIC Curriculum Manual.
Whether you’ve got high pH, low pH, deformed fish or some other issue,
we’ve got you covered!
Contact us
Natalie Elkins
Program or admittance questions
elkinsn@michigan.gov
517-373-6919
Shana Ramsey
Fish, tank or release questions--Southern Michigan
ramseys2@michigan.gov
Wolf Lake State Fish Hatchery
269-668-2876
Craig Kasmer
Fish, tank or release questions – Northern Michigan
kasmerc@michigan.gov
Hartwick Pines State Park
989-348-6178 |
