...Was the water in the resuscitation tank approximately the same temperature as the lake water - and the recuperation effect was due to high O2 only?
Or was the water a little cooler, to hold more dissolved O2 and cool down an overheated large fish a little? If cooler, I would be afraid of temperature shocking a trophy fish...
No, George didn't use ice. George did use medical O2 tanks like Theo mentioned, and if I remember correctly, he used one of the flow meters used for nasal cannulas. Scott, he used the blue aquarium stones. I remember that because he had a meltdown when he found out I bought Point Four stones. He was a bit tight with $$.
Ice? Cooling the water? It's just me, and I may be wrong, but if you alter the recovery tank temp for HSB, then do you alter it back to the pond temp when you release him? We've been told for years that we need to acclimate the water temp before we put bought fish into a pond, which I agree with. But if you make the tank water cooler, then you will be shocking the fish if you drop it back into warmer water. "If" i was going to lower the tank water temp, I'd gradually lower the temp, let the fish recover with cooler water and O2, then slowly raise the temp back to the pond water temp.
Frank, I showed this before, but this is my recovery tank. It's a 150 qt cooler with a vent to let carbon dioxide escape. I keep a 34" ruler in the cooler, and I can measure fish without taking them out of the water. In it, I tote a pink bucket for adding water( nobody steals a pink bucket or cigarette lighter), and in it I carry my O2 rig, clove oil to calm the fish, and sea salt to help with the fish's slime. I use a Premier Industries regulator which is a little more pricey than a standard medical or welding flow meter, but there are no dials or options to mess with. Their flowmeter is preset for O2 stones. I've literally hauled hundreds of fish in this rig, and haven't lost a fish yet.
Since everything's in the cooler, I just throw it in the back of my UTV when I head out.
