The sponge makes its home in the shells of oysters, boring into the shell by secreting chemicals that eat away at calcium carbonate. It reproduces asexually and sexually, separating by mitosis or releasing sperm to fertilize a female’s eggs. Once the correct volume of oysters is placed into the bag clip the bag onto the line then place the second bag directly opposite the first bag.The boring sponge is found in waters from the western Atlantic Ocean stretching to the Bahamas.
We highly recommend you do not over stock your bags as this will reduce your growth rates and increase your mortality rates. The densities of oysters in the bags is an extremely important part of growth rates and varies from one location to the other.
#Separating single oyster spat full size
Regrade the oyster and repeat this process until the oysters reach 2/1/2″ – 3″ then place 100 to 120 oyster into each bag to grow out to full size of 3 1/2″ to 4 1/2″ Do not over stock your oyster bags with in 12 weeks or less depending on location. Using the same volumes and processes we have recommended for the Tumblers 1.5 – 2.0 quarts per floating bag, grade the oysters when the bag volume reaches 6 quarts.
Once the oysters reach the required size of 3/4″ to 1″ inches in the tumblers we suggest removing the oysters from the tumbler into the floating bags. Its important to make sure the bags do not go under the water in high tide and do not sit on the ground in low tide.įirst grow out your oysters in Tumbler to 3/4″ to 1″or purchase 1/2″ and up spat from your local hatchery Make sure the line is set up so it is loose and can swing 4-6 feet from side to side on the in coming and out going tides This allows the sunlight to reach the bottom marine life and vegetation. Place two posts 16 to 20 feet apart, attach the line to the first post and then attach the other end off the line to the second post The process to transfer your oysters from Tumblers to Floating Bags is a simple one. Transferring oysters FromTumblers to Floating Bags to expand your Oyster garden Zapco Acquaculture can provide set up instructions to all customers purchasing products in the Zapco Aquaculture Grow Out System Please make sure you ask your local authorities to make sure the oysters will be safe to eat in your location.ĭon’t forget to keep an eye on the volume in each Tumbler to make sure they are not over stocked. Once they reach this size you can either donate them to a Local oyster reef Project or use them for your own consumption. Repeat this process until the oyster reaches 3 1/2″ to 4″ You can now add the graded oysters into your 5/16″ x 5/16″ Grow Out Tumblers using the same volume as the 1/8″ x 1/8″ Tumbler, that is, 1.5 to 2.0 quarts per tumbler. Note that the mortality rate can be around 30% to 50% from start to finish. Oysters can have a high mortality rate so you need to grade the oysters to remove any dead oysters and separate the oysters by size from small, medium and large each time the Tumbler reaches a Volume of 6 quarts. Once you have 6 quarts of spat in the Tumbler it is time to grade and reduce the oyster volume back to 1.5 -2.0 quarts. This doesn’t have to be exact but we highly recommend not to exceed this volume as it will over crowd your tumbler which will affect growth rates and increase mortality. Let the oysters grow until their volume reaches approximately 6 quarts in the tumbler. Place the oyster into the tumbler and clip on the line making sure there is a space of 18″ between each tumbler. This may not seem like many oysters but the estimated volume of oysters per quart is 2400 to 1800 depending on size 1/8″ or 5/16″. Place them in the 1/8″ tumbler to begin the growing process. The best way to work out required volumes of oyster is by starting with 1 to 1.5 quarts of 1/8″ to 5/16″ spat. The line has to be set up at mid tide level to allow the tumblers to rotate with incoming and out going tides. You must securely and tightly tie the Stormline between two posts or pier poles to ensure the tumblers do not float away. You can find a hatchery list here to purchase spat.Įach Kit also includes 33″ feet (10 meters) of Zapco’s Stormline and Storm Clips to attach the Tumblers to the line. When you purchase your spat – we suggest purchasing 1 to 1.5 quart of spat that is 1/8 inch to 5/16″ or bigger. The larger mesh pattern is for growing out oysters from 5/16′ out to fully mature oysters around 3 1/2″ to 4″. This tumbler is suitable for growing spat 1/8″ up to1″ or out to fully mature oystersģ x 5/16″ x 5/16″ Diamond shaped mesh pattern tumblers. Once you have selected a suitable location to grow, it is time to set up your Spat Grow-Out Tumbler kit in the water.Įach Spat Grow-Out Tumbler kit comes with 4 tumblers.ġ x 1/8″ x 1/8″ diamond shaped mesh pattern.