Wildfish – Stepping up the Trout in the Classroom aquarium

Seventeen elementary schools in Utah, like this one at Promontory Charter School in Perry, participate in Trout Unlimited's Trout in the Classroom prorgam. Photo by Paul Holden

By Paul Burnett

There is nothing like watching fish hatch and grow before releasing them in the wild to foster a connection with nature.

Trout Unlimited’s Trout in the Classroom allows young students to observe the life cycle of trout and salmon daily, and up close, before the fish are set free of the aquarium.

Schools in 35 states participate in Trout in the Classroom. A project in northern Utah is giving older students a chance to make the experience even better for elementary students and volunteers.

Seniors in the Engineering Technology Department at Weber State University in northern Utah spent the fall semester designing a prototype Trout in the Classroom aquarium. 

The students recently presented their initial design to their professors and Trout Unlimited staffers.  This project was uniquely named Weber Wildfish, a play on the mascot of Weber State University - the Wildcats. 

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Students at Weber State University present the Weber Wildfish project to professors and TU staff.

TU volunteer members and staff developed the general concept of an ideal Trout in the Classroom aquarium through collective experiences while working with local schools. 

The group studied variations of the Trout in the Classroom aquaria implemented throughout the United States.

The group hoped to take collective lessons learned from the past and tie them into a cohesive design that could be repeatable, and hopefully customizable, for future Trout in the Classroom projects. 

The program has played an important role for Trout Unlimited in northern Utah by providing a great platform for TU members and staff to share the values of local coldwater rivers to our local economies and quality of life with the younger members of our communities. 

True to the spirit of the Trout in the Classroom program, which engages children and fosters a conservation ethic among our primary education students, the group wanted to engage a local university to develop the aquarium.

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A prototype of the Weber Wildfish Trout in the Classroom aquarium set.

The design of Weber Wildfish was based on the following needs:

• Accessibility for the Students - We wanted to provide a better platform than the out-of-the-box 55-gallon aquarium.  We wanted the height of the aquarium to be accessible to a wide range of students, so they could see the fish more effectively and reach the top of the aquarium for dead egg removal and to net the fish.  Beyond that, we wanted to reduce the “black boxes” and display the aquarium components so students can more effectively understand the mechanics of an aquarium setup, but also get a better understanding of filtration and water quality parameters. So all of the filtration, pumps and chiller are located in a stand below the main tank with clear, polycarbonate doors.  In this way, the students can follow the path of the water through the plumbing and talk about specific components.
• Filtration Efficiency - One of the main challenges we have experienced with Trout in the Classroom projects is a spike in toxic ammonia when the fry start eating, and then a steady decline in water quality as the fry get larger.  The typical filtration system for the hobby aquarium is generally insufficient for our needs.  Our approach with this project is to handle the filtration through a sump tank with a substance known as bioballs. These plastic balls have an enormous surface area to volume ratio, which is really effective for keeping the water quality of the aquarium up, particularly as the biological load increases as the fish grow.  We also hope to utilize a high flow rate of water (at least 600 gallons per hour) through the filtration system to improve water quality.
• Energy Efficiency - Our plan is to use an acrylic aquarium with thick walls.  This offers superior insulation over glass and ensures maintaining the needed water temperatures. It also allows us to utilize a smaller chiller, which should save energy. 
• Mobility - A key objectives of this project was to improve the mobility of the aquarium, so it could be easily moved from one classroom to another in the event the school or teacher needs change.  Providing a rigid metal frame on casters and leveling feet provides an opportunity to move the aquarium without disassembly - although water will need to be drained. 
• Fish Protection - In several of our aquaria, we have experienced challenges with fish being entrained into the filtration and pumping system, which has led to mortality of large numbers of larval fish.  We have attempted to improve this by either using under-gravel filtration or socks placed over the pump intakes. Our solution with this design by Weber State University has been to provide a physical barrier, basically a fish screen, to keep the larval fish and fry out of the filtration system.  Again using flow calculations, the engineering students have developed a screen that will allow six times the amount of water being pumped to flow through a plate with more than 1,000 5/32” holes. This physical barrier will protect fish and also allow for adequate flow. This physical barrier also partially meets NOAA criteria for fish screens to prevent entrainment into irrigation diversions, so it allows us to talk about conservation strategies in natural systems.

The current design for this aquarium is based on a 100-gallon acrylic aquarium, which should provide the necessary space and filtration to support the growing trout during the school year.  The estimated expenses for this aquarium are $3,500. The spring semester will bring us the fabrication season and I am excited to see this concept play out into a real aquarium that will be put into a local school next fall. 

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Releasing the trout is the reward for students participating in Trout in the Classroom.

Paul Burnett is the director of the Utah Water Project for Trout Unlimited. He is based out of Ogden.