by: Team Acult: Lea Luniewicz, Nate Smith-Ide, Gian Paul Graziosi, Catharine Pirie and Augi Cummings

Aquaculture is a research program involving the rearing and farming of fish. This semester we will be researching how to breed gobies most effectively in order to use them as parasite cleaners on the population of Cobia. Later in the semester we will receive our order of cobia eggs and eventually rear them until they can live in the aquaculture cage out at sea. Today we received our order of rotifers, food that will feed the cobia hatchlings.

The first day on the job went swimmingly. We set up our breeding tanks for the gobies. There are six outdoor and four indoor tanks for goby breeding. The construction of the tanks was as easy as shooting fish in a barrel. When we got to the lab, we worked on the goby holding tank. Augie took salinity readings, Nate checked the temperature and dissolved oxygen, Lea measured ammonia, Catharine recorded the data, and GianPaul fed the artemia, which are food for the gobies. Afterwards, we fed sardines to the three four-foot long adult cobias. Today was a truly exciting day and we can’t wait for the research ahead.