New: water tanks for marine organisms at the Marine Station Ostend

© Maaike Vercauteren

The infrastructure for sea water installed at the Marine Station Ostend is established after a call for proposals to invest in the marine research infrastructure of  VLIZ. The specific request for the new facility came from the Morphology department of the Veterinary faculty of Ghent University, but it can be used by any other research group.
 
The lab exists out of three water tanks, each with a volume of 4.3 m³ with a diameter of 2.2m. Temperature in the cold store can be set between 5° and 20°C.  Each water tank is an independent unit meaning that the water circulation and the filtration systems are fully separated from the other two. The filtrations system exists out of a biological filter combined with mechanical filters. An ozone generator kills the majority of the viruses and the bacteria. A protein skimmer and a drum filter are installed to get rid of excess foam and flakes. The water tanks contain both a temperature sensor and a redox sensor. In the cold store a day/night regime can be simulated.  
 
The water tanks can be used as a quarantine area for living marine organisms. But they can serve as well for experimental research on fishes and marine invertebrates. The installation is officially recognized by Animal Welfare and a VLIZ colleague is certified for keeping laboratory animals.
 
As it applies for all equipment and research infrastructure of VLIZ, the new water tanks are at the disposal of the Flemish and international community of marine researchers. For more information, please contact andre.cattrijsse@vliz.be.

The installation of the water tanks was financed by VLIZ and EMBRC (European Marine Biological Resource Centre).


Read more about it in the technical information sheet: www.vliz.be/en/watertank-en