Wetlab Facility:

 

Our wetlab facility is a 1,600 ft2 facility with concrete floor and floor drains located behind the Controlled Environmental Research Building on Farm Avenue (about 1 block from Ag Hall).  It has been configured with filtered water, electric, air, and chilled water lines suspended from the ceiling for maximum flexibility in tank layout.

 

Shoup wetlab facility

 

carbon-filtered water systems

 

 

 

 

14 GPM carbon-filtered water systems provides chlorine-free water for filling tanks and is use to create flow-through systems.  Water line spiggots are arranged every 5' along 3 lines to provide water throughout the wetlab room.

Blower aeration system

 

 

 

Air for tanks is produced by a 1 hp SweetWater S41 regenerative blower, capable of producing over 70 cfm of air flow.  This provides a high-volume, low-pressure air supply allowing ample aeration for all tanks even when they operate at different water depths/pressures.

Fish tank chillers

 

 

 

We use a heat exchanger connected to the university's chilled water line to provide the ability to cool tank temperatures with thermostatically controlled cooling coils.  With this systems we can drop the temperature of a 650-gallon tank about 15oF below the ambient temperature.  Heating tanks is accomplished with thermostatically-controlled submersible electric heaters.

wetlab power outlets

 

 

 

 

Waterproof ground-fault protected outlets are hanging overhead to provide safe electricity for heaters, pumps, filters, etc.


Tanks:

460 gallon aquaculture tanks

 

 

 

650 gallon blue polyethylene tanks (6.5' diameter x 34" deep; TP655).  These can be configured with or without standpipes through a side bulkhead.

 

 

200 gallon blue polyethylene tanks (4' diameter x 29" deep).  These tanks are configured with center standpipes.

10-gallon aquarium

 

 

 

 

Glass aquaria are also available in 10 and 20 gallon sizes for working with smaller fish or when being able to observe the fish from the side is important.

1,800 gallon fish tanks

 

 

 

2,500 gallon pools (12' diameter x 3' deep) are used when large numbers of big fish must be held.  These pools have a motorized filtration system that we have modified to allow a standpipe to be used, so they can be setup as a flow-through system or used as a closed recirculation system.


 

Meters and electronic equipment:

LaMotte 20203 turbidity meter Hach Model 18900 turbidity meter

 

LaMotte 2020e portable turbidity meter, has four ranges to cover turbidities from 0-4,000NTU.  Can run on AC current in lab or battery in the field. 

 

Hach Model 18900 ratio tubidimeter is use in the lab.

 

YSI 556 Multimeter with 20m cable.  Simultaneously measures dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity/salinity, temperature, and ORP and has a built in barometer to automatically adjust for atmospheric pressure.  Internal memory can store over 49,000 time & date stamped data sets.

 

YSI 610-D with 600 XLCE-25-O multi-parameter probe simultaneously measures dissolved oxygen, pH, conductivity/salinity, temperature, TDS, pH, ORP, and depth.  Internal processor can automatically record and store data for later download to PC.

 

 

 

Various meters and test strips are available to monitor water quality (pH, chlorine, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, etc.).

 

 

We have several scales/balances that cover different weights from 10 mg to 23 kg (up to 58 lb).  Larger scales are available through our partnership with the Oklahoma Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit.

 

 

Miscellaneous equipment:

fish tank filtration system wetlab small water pumps

 

 

A variety of different sizes of pumps (1-12 gpm) are used for recirculation/filtration systems with fiber media and/or zeolite ammonia remover.

wetlab high-flow water pumps

 

We have multiple high-capacity (20 - 85 gal/min) pumps to speed tank draining or moving water from one tank to another.

air stones

 

 

 

We also have a variety of sizes of dipnets, air stones, water hoses, air hoses, thermometers, and chemicals for fish disease treatment.

 

 

 

 

We have an upright freezer and a freezer-refrigerator unit used for storing samples.


Other lab resources are described on the Field Equipment and Dry Lab Facilities pages