Mossy chiton R.I.P. :(

              Mossy Chiton Died :(

Everybody, we regret to inform you that the mossy chiton has perished. We need to take a moment of silence............................................................................................. Thank you. We did not see it happen but we did see the empty shell lying on the bottom of the seaquarium. We think one of the crabs ate the body. It was ether one of the hermit crabs or the kelp crab,we can't be sure. We hope this won't happen to the other chitons. That's all for now. GOODBYE.

New Bloggers are finally here

          HELLO we are your new bloggers! :)

                                                  (Elyse: left    Rowan: Right) 

 We will be doing some posts from now on. My name is Rowman ( aka Rowan )! And my 

name is Elyse! We just want to say that taking care of the seaquarium is the awesomest job in the UNIVERSE!!! :) My favourite  animals in the seaquarium are the california sea cucumber and the sailfin sculpin. My favourite animals are the california sea cucumber and the hermit crab. That's all for today GOOODBYE!!!!!!!!!:)

producers:Rowan and Elyse

                                           

Getting the Tank Ready

The Seaquaria Team were in the school on Monday, November 10, to begin setting up our sea tank for the year.  They put in the gravel bottom, water, some algae (seaweeds) and started all of the systems.  They put some animals in as well - plumose anemones, tiny sea snails and barnacles.  We checked on the systems today, and everything was fine except our hydrometer seems to be broken and we will need a new one.  If all of the systems look good by the end of the week, the team will put in the rest of our critters.  Our beautiful sail fine sculpin from last year will be coming back!!!

Advice for the 2014-2015 Marine Teams

This is some advice from last year's marine teams to keep the sea critters in the tank healthy.

1.  Feed the critters frozen krill twice a week.  The frozen krill should be about the size of a 1 cm square cube.  The frozen krill is kept in the staff room freezer.

2.  Keep the glass clean using the magnetic cleaner.  Put one side inside the tank and one side outside the tank move it around the glass.  Be careful not to bump into any of the creatures clinging to the glass.  WARNING:  Do not get your fingers caught between the two magnets.  Leave some algae on the glass for the algae eaters.

3.  Don't tap on the glass because it disturbs and scares the animals especially if they are new and just getting used to the tank.

4.  Ten degrees celsius is the best temperature but anywhere between 9 to 14 degrees is okay.

5.  Use the hydrometer to find out the salinity of the water.  That means how much salt is dissolved in the water.  It should be around 27 or 28 parts per thousand.  When you empty the hydrometer, make sure the water lands back in the tank.  Rinse the hydrometer with plain water - NO SOAP.  The hydrometer is in the cupboard underneath the tank.

6.  Make sure that bubbles are coming from the oxygen flow pipe, and that the water flow is going.  You will know the water flow is going because some of the plants will be moving.

7.  Make sure the light comes on during the day and turns off at night.

8.  Complete the daily check list of jobs and make sure to record good observations every day.

8.  If you have any problems or questions contact Iain at World Fisheries trust.  He helped us to find our that our nudibranch had spawned last year.

Welcome to a new school year!

School is back in session!  Soon our Seaquarium will be filled with critters and plants found in our surrounding Salish Sea.  Stay tuned for details!

New Critters

Some of the new critters.

Giant Sea Anemone and large star fish. 

Stressed sea cucumber with ejected innards. 

The new animals are finally here! We have three small sea cucumbers. One of them has dropped his internal organs. We must e-mail to find out what to do. We have a giant sea anemone that is about 30 cm tall.  We have a big, orangish-red starfish and a small purply-blue starfish. We also have a tide pool shrimp.  It swam up when we fed the animals.  We also have a very cute, plump little fish.  It has feathery orange fins, and an orange and black striped butt.  Q-T-Pie!!  by Johnny, Linden and Ms. Sea.

Where are the critters?

      This is a very important message for all of you

Seaquarium fans out there! The big sea cucumber died from too much warm water in the tank but did not have a funeralL. But the baby sea cucumber made it and the sea cucumber evolution will still be aliveJ. But we got the fish outta there! Let’s start on Christmas Eve. The teacher found out that the temperature was above 18 degrees (ideal 10, max 14). But later on Boxing Day the teacher called Y.C. to get the sea animals out of the tank and now the sea animals are safeJ

By Pierce and Johnny