1. Butte County Aquaculture Program & Supplemental Study
By Chris Ocegueda
Vector Ecologist & Fish Biologist

2. Background Butte Co. has 6 ponds on site
Fully loaded with Gambusia affinis
Each pond gets ten random fish pulled and tested for health and disease once a month or as deemed necessary
2 outdoor holding tanks for Technician field use
The only location for technicians to get fish for field use
Stocked with fish from the either ponds or the holding tanks from aquaculture center

3. Aquaculture Center Currently running from Gambusia Solutions…
2 breeding tanks on one filtration system
Breeding boxes purchased from Gambusia Solutions
Additional Study being preformed: breeding harborage optimization.

4. Fry Tank One Tank exclusively for fry Independent filtration system
4 divided sections
Each holding three weeks worth of fry before starting the next unit
Not many can get their manager to dress down and do your work …

5. Quarantine/holding tank
One quarantine/holding tank
Independent filtration system
Holds new/incoming fish for observation, skin scrapes, and distribution to outdoor technician tanks

6. Aquaculture Standards at a Glance…
Stocking density: 15 lbs. in each tank (approximately 800 gallons of water)
Water Temperature: 80˚-82˚F
Lighting: ATI SunPower dimmable (On 15 hours)
Feed: Fish meal for fry up to two weeks of age & Zeigler #1 thereafter
Salinity: 2ppm-3ppm
Tanks are tested & cleaned daily & kept clean with minimal algae

7. Let There Be Light ATI DImmable SunPower High-Output T5 Fixture
Superior Lighting Control
10 set points for specific amount of lighting
Allows for a sunrise and sunset ramping of light intensity
Energy Efficient
Produces up to 50% more light than most other equally sized T5 fixtures, without using more energy.
Plug & Play
built-in controller there is nothing more to buy.

8. Fish Feeders Pentair AES Vibratory Feeders Holds up 3 liters of feed
No more worry about weekends or vacations
Program unit can link up to 13 feeders
We currently utilize 7 feeders without issue
Program multiple feeding events a day
Currently scheduled for 4 feeding events a day

9. Study 5 tanks were used in this study Hydor heaters in each
Individual filters
Feeding by use of “Fish Mate F14” fish feeders
Once a month a 50% water change was done using water from breeding tanks
Water quality tests were done weekly

10. Study parameters…
10 gravid females were isolated and fry collected (keeping genetics as equal as possible).
100 fry were collected from them and randomly placed in 5 study tanks.
Fish were acclimated for one week fed with Ziegler mash.
After acclimation period the fish were fed for……days.
At the termination of the feeding trial, the fry were individually weighed 24 h after the last feeding.
A challenge test was afterwards carried out where 10 fish from each aquarium were exposed to infected fish and tested for resistance after 7 days.

11. Supplementary Feed Study
5 test groups of varying supplements
Group 1
94% Zeigler #1, 3% Organic Spirulina & 3% Chlorella
Group 2
96% Zeigler #1, 2% Organic Spirulina & 2% Chlorella
Group 3
98% Zeigler #1, 2% Organic Spirulina
Group 4
94% Zeigler #1, 1% Organic Spirulina & 1% Chlorella
Group 5 (control)
100% Zeigler #1

12. To be added after study completion