Although aquaculture systems are relatively self-sufficient once they are up and running, they do require daily oversight, regular maintenance, and troubleshooting along the way. The level of maintenance depends on the size and type of your overall system(s) – and also the level of technology, innovation, and automation you integrate and incorporate into your system, which is largely correlated with cost (and creativity). Preventative maintenance can include normal, routine tasks in addition to emergency protocols relating to possible disruptions that could occur. Regardless of how basic or advanced your Zebrafish room or facility is, properly managing your life support systems is important to the long-term health of your fish and of your operating system.
A program entails employing safeguards to help prevent your system(s) from failing. All systems have a “life expectancy” and will have to be replaced at some point but effective actions, precautions, and care can increase longevity. Minor regular maintenance can go a long way in decreasing the need for major/critical replacements and repairs over tie. Implementation of maintenance programs will depend on factors such as the size and type of facility. General tasks relating to preventative maintenance includes a list of many verbs including cleaning, checking, calibrating, verifying, testing, measuring, observing, monitoring, recording, and a bunch more that we will delve deeper into. It may sound like a lot but once you gain a basic understanding of how your system operates and what it needs to stay “fit”.
Routine monitoring of your life support system can help prolong its life and also identify any potential arising problems prior to that component failing all together, which can save the cost and time to buy and install a new part. After all, it’s much better to replace a component rather than have it fail and stop working, at probably a less than ideal time – although it’s never a good time. When considering what needs to be a part of your maintenance program, you want to include all components and equipment that can or will fail over time.
Maintenance categories may include carpentry, plumbing, electrical, mechanical, biological, and digital. Having reference guides and SOPs on hand corresponding with each category may be wise to have in your facility. It’s important to have documents and records in place in addition to at least one person(s) that has the understanding and know-how to service your system in all of these ways. In addition to having someone in-house, depending on experience level, it’s also wise to have an external service team that has advanced technical experience in servicing and maintaining Zebrafish systems.
At Danio Lab, through our Danio Care department, we offer specialized service care plans for preventative maintenance at various levels depending on the needs of your facility or lab operation. We offer weekly, monthly, and yearly plans that includes maintenance, service visits, emergency visits, in-person and remote technical support, and access to our cloud based zebrafish app database which is a software designed to digitize and manage all your data in one place.
Contact us today if you’re interested in learning more about our Zebrafish System Preventative Maintenance Plan Options.