Treatment Days 18 through 22

Day 18

• Checked ammonia concentrations in all tanks
  • T1: 1.0
  • T2: 0.25
  • T3: 8.0
  • T4: 1.0
  • T5: 0.25
  • T6: 8.0
• Cleaned all tanks, performed water change for all tanks, and added 1/2 tsp conditioner to T1, T3, T4, and T6
• T3: 1 crab on top; T6: 2 crabs on top
• 2 dead crabs in T6 (1 YG M, 1 YG F)
• Fed ambient and warm tanks 1/4 tsp, cold tanks 1/8 tsp
• Time-to-right for seven crabs in each tank
• Obtained HOBO data
  • yrv_4, yrv_10, yrv_13 low battery but still recording

Day 19

• Checked ammonia concentrations in all tanks
  • T1: 2.0
  • T2: 1.0
  • T3: 8.0
  • T4: 2.0
  • T5: 1.0
  • T6: 8.0
• Cleaned all tanks, performed water change for T3 and T6, and added 1/2 tsp conditioner to all tanks
• Fed ambient and warm tanks 1/4 tsp, cold tanks 1/8 tsp
• LED light didn’t turn by itself

Day 20

• Checked ammonia concentrations in all tanks
  • T1: 1.0
  • T2: 0.25
  • T3: 8.0
  • T4: 1.0
  • T5: 0.25
  • T6: 8.0
• Cleaned all tanks, performed water change for T3 and T6, and added 1/2 tsp conditioner to ambient and warm tanks
• Fed ambient and warm tanks 1/4 tsp initially, cold tanks 1/8 tsp. Fed an extra 1/4 tsp to ambient and warm tanks since there was no food left in the tanks when I went to clean
• T6: turbid and bad smell
  • 3 dead crabs: 2 Y/YO males, 1 O female (color on carapace fading after death)
• LED light didn’t turn by itself

Day 21

• Checked ammonia concentrations in all tanks
  • T1: 1.0
  • T2: 0.50
  • T3: 8.0
  • T4: 1.0
  • T5: 0.50
  • T6: 8.0
• Cleaned all tanks, performed water change for all tanks, and added 1/2 tsp conditioner to ambient and warm tanks
• All food eaten in ambient tanks, food still remaining in warm tanks
• T3: 1 orange male dead
• T6: Temperature got too low after cleaning tank (turned heaters off while cleaning to drain water without exposing heater). Turned heaters back on, temperature rising when leaving.

Day 22

• Protocol for today
  • Performed TTR for all crabs. Sexed, gauged color, measured, and weighed each sampled crab, then labelled each crab with a number. Based on weight (20-30 g), we selected crabs for respirometry.
  • Acclimated three selected crabs for one hour
  • Measured oxygen consumption. The goal was to measure consumption until the chambers reached 75-80% oxygen.
  • Removed crabs from the respirometry chambers. Resealed the chamber and measured background respiration for 20 minutes. Empty chambers and wipe down with 70% ethanol.
  • Use refractometer to get salinity measurement for acclimation tank
  • Obtained HOBO data
  • Notes
  • Usually set up acclimation for one tank while performing TTR for the next tank
  • Recalibrated probes before each respirometry run
  • T6: 1 F YO
  • T6 reading at 22ºC at the beginning of the day
    • Turned both heaters on and off, still reading too low.
    • Finished T3 tank first and then moved T6 crabs to T3 to measure last and retain at a warmer temperature
    • Temperature was too low for one whole day, meaning that the tank never reached the appropriate temperature after I left the day before. Oops.
• Tank order
  • T3
  • T2
  • T5
  • T1
  • T4
  • T6
• Salinity
  • T1/T4: 35
  • T2/T5: 34
  • T3/T6: 35
  • Checked ammonia concentrations in all tanks
    • T1: 1.0
    • T2: 0.25
    • T3: 8.0
    • T4: 1.0
    • T5: 0.25
    • T6: 8.0
• Took down the experimental set-up and cleaned everything!

Going forward

1. Update protocols
2. Organize project repository and datasheets
3. Update methods
4. Start analysis!