Modular, Easy-to-Assemble, Low-Cost Zebrafish Facility

Abstract

We have constructed a standalone, modular, low-cost water recirculation zebrafish facility in our laboratory. This is easy to maintain and will take only approximately $500 and a half a day to build an 80-tank module. The system described here will be useful to even investigators who are new to zebrafish aquaculture.

Low dose exposure to Bisphenol A alters development of gonadotropin-releasing hormone 3 neurons and larval locomotor behavior in Japanese Medaka

“…Generation of this transgenic line and gene construction has been described previously (Okubo et al, 2002;Wayne et al, 2005). Adult medaka were maintained in a house-built tank system with flow-through filtered fish water (Kim et al, 2009) under 10/14 h dark/light cycle, and fed live brine shrimp and flake food (Tetramin, USA) twice a day. Eggs/embryos were kept in standard petri-dishes filled with embryo medium (EM), and placed in an incubator maintained at 28 8C.…”

SideRack: A Cost-Effective Addition to Commercial Zebrafish Housing Systems

“…To cost-effectively expand facilities without multirack systems, a recently described standalone module would be more appropriate. 12 Notably, the SideRack system can be easily modified (more shelves, smaller tanks) to meet the needs of a specific laboratory. Furthermore, it may be possible to install a SideRack in a temperature-controlled room adjacent to the main fish facility, either to expand the facility or to have fish on an alternative light-dark cycle.…”

A Low Cost, Stand-Alone, Cold Water Aquatic Animal Research Housing System

“…The pump (FP170AS) should be placed in a box with water that is separate from the recirculating system. This is to reduce the amount of heat introduced into the system and is why a sump pump is not used as seen in other low cost standalone systems [1]. Cut a piece of ¾" I.D., vinyl reinforced clear tubing (TVR90) to connect the outlet of the pump to the inlet of the UV sterilizer.…”

“…While a flowthrough system continuously introduces new water into the aquatic housing system, demanding high water costs and diligent water quality monitoring. Most aquatic housing system constructions out in publication are for warm water animal research, but for a more tailored system, commercial vendors are able to supple all the bells and whistles (Aquaneering; Pentair Aquatic Eco-Systems, Aquatic Enterprises, Inc.) [1,2]. The cost of such systems and the dependency to purchase maintenance parts made specifically for that system from the vendor could be expensive for smaller institutes and start-up laboratories ( Figure S3).…”