Incubator Set Up (video/photos)
This video is generously supplied by Mary Kaercher at Deep Cove Elementary.
How to Set your Chiller Thermostat (video)
What are ATU’s?
A salmonid’s rate of development is primarily determined by water temperature. Warmer water causes more rapid development. The ideal range is 5°C to 9°C.
You can predict when the eggs will hatch and when the fry will emerge or “swim up” by recording Accumulated Thermal Units (ATU’s) on a chart.
An ATU is defined as the exposure of an organism to one Celsius degree of heat over 24 hours. Example: 100 ATU’s are the equivalent of 10 days of exposure at 10°C, or 20 days at 5°C.
To calculate and record ATU’s:
a) Starting Point – When your eggs arrive, record the date and your eggs’ ATU value (provided by your Coordinator).
b) Twenty-four hours later, take your incubator water temperature. Record the date and temperature as
°C, then add this number to the previous day’s ATU value to get today’s ATU value. One
Celsius degree of temperature is equal to one thermal unit.
c) Add today’s temperature to yesterday’s ATU value to get today’s ATU value.
– Excerpt from Classroom Incubation Program Manual, Don Lowen
