Guidelines

Guidelines on Zebrafish Care and Veterinary Oversight

Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine
Jan 10, 2025 12:00 am
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This document defines the minimum standards of care for zebrafish. It also outlines the veterinary oversight of aquatic species at the University of Michigan. Laboratories may exceed these minimum standards of care but cannot do less than what is described unless the deviations are described in their IACUC-approved protocol(s).

  • Glossary Definitions

  • Procedures

    1. Required Documentation

    1. Caretakers: Maintain logs in the animal housing room with the following parameters. Always include the date and initials or name of the person(s) conducting the assessment on the room log. Record actual values where applicable. Check marks or an “x” can be used when a range of normal is available for reference. While ULAM Room Log templates are preferred, laboratory personnel can use other versions as long as the following information is included:
      1. Animal health status
      2. Deaths
      3. Feeding
      4. Temperature of system/tank water
      5. Water quality parameters (ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, conductivity, pH)
      6. Water change if applicable (for static systems)
      7. Tank change/cleaning
      8. Equipment cleaning/sanitization
      9. Floor mopping/sanitization
      10. Room parameters (temperature, humidity, pressure)

    2. Details for Required Documentation

    1. Health Checks
      1. Record at least once per day.
      2. Include a visual inspection of each tank to identify sick or dead fish.
      3. Typically conducted concurrently with feeding times.
      4. Report health concerns to veterinary staff as detailed below (see Procedures section 5).
    2. Death Logs
      1. Record daily.
      2. Include animals found dead or euthanized due to health concerns, but do not include animals that were euthanized for experimental purposes or excess progeny not needed for studies. Record the following information:
        1. The system and tank location of animal(s)
        2. The animal condition or clinical signs (if applicable)
        3. The number affected if multiple in a tank or system
        4. The date of assessment and initials of responsible party
      3. Report deaths or morbidity exceeding 5% of the system or colony within 1 month to veterinary staff as detailed below.
    3. Feeding
      1. Feed fish a minimum of once daily, unless otherwise stated in the approved animal use protocol.
      2. Record the date, time, and initials of the responsible person on the room log.
    4. Temperature and Water Quality
      1. Record water temperature for each system. Acceptable temperature range is 80-84°F.
      2. Record pH, ammonia, nitrites, nitrates, and conductivity at least weekly. This is done according to laboratory-specific SOPs.
      3. Report any parameters that are outside laboratory-specified normal ranges for more than 24 hours to veterinary staff as detailed below.
      4. Perform water change, if applicable (e.g. for static systems) at least weekly and record.
    5. Tank and Equipment Cleaning/Sanitization/Changing
      1. Change and clean/sanitize tanks housing fish as often as necessary to allow for visualization of all fish housed in the tank. Record changes, cleaning and sanitizing on the room sheets when the lab utilizes a tracking system for regular interval tank changing.
      2. Algae growth is acceptable providing it does not prevent visualization of the fish for health assessment.
      3. Steps for cleaning/sanitizing tank components
        1. Ensure that all cleaning supplies (e.g., scrub pads) are in good working order.  If they are not, discontinue use and replace with new.
        2. Ensure that all caging and equipment are in good working order.  If they are not, discontinue use and replace with new.
        3. Remove gross debris from tanks.
        4. Choose a sanitizing method from the table below.
             Sanitizing Method a        Description       Contact Time   
             1:8 Bleach Solution       Soak in bleach solution and   
             scrub with sponge if needed             		    24-hours with bleach solution, then soak in   
             deionized (DI) water for at least one hour b   
             Mechanical washer       Exposure to hot water only       Length of washing cycle
          a If these sanitizing solutions are incompatible with your research or you already use another sanitizing method, contact ULAM so that the method can be evaluated.
          b Use freshly prepared bleach solution and fresh DI water each time
        5. Rinse and air dry items that are sanitized with bleach.
        6. Mechanical washers
          1. Rinse and dry as part of the wash cycle.
          2. Validate function and temperature at least once a week and maintain results in an easily accessible location within the facility.
      4. Follow validation of sanitization practices as stated in the Guidelines for Validation of Mechanical and Manual Sanitization of Caging and Equipment.
      5. Follow expiration dates of sanitizing chemicals being used.
        1. If chemical solutions are prepared in a separate container, label the container with:
          1. Chemical name
          2. Concentration
          3. All occupational hazards (e.g., respiratory irritant, skin irritant, corrosive)
          4. Expiration date
            1. If there is no expiration date for the chemical, label the container with the date the solution was prepared.  Date on the container must clearly state whether it is a made date or an expiration date.
      6. Perform cleaning, sanitizing, or changing of other equipment and system components (e.g. filters, UV bulbs) according to specific laboratory SOPs and record on the room sheets.
    6. Floor Mopping/Sanitization
      1. Mop room floors with a suitable disinfectant at least every 2 weeks.
      2. Record mopping on the room log.
    7. Room Conditions
      1. Record room temperature.
      2. Where fish are housed in static tanks for more than 24-hours, report room temperature values outside 78-86°F for more than 24 hours to the Plant Operations Call Center at (734) 647-2059.
        1. For Brehm and Kellogg Eye Center, call hospital maintenance at (734) 936-5054.
      3. Maintain rooms in a tidy and organized manner without excessive clutter.

    3. Environmental Enrichment

    1. All vertebrate animals, including fish, receive environmental enrichment to ensure their health and well being. Details regarding acceptable forms of enrichment for fish are described in the Environmental Enrichment for Animals SOP. Group housing is not considered environmental enrichment. 
      1. Provide each tank of fish at least 1 form of enrichment daily. 
      2. Provide singly housed fish 2 forms of enrichment daily.

    4. Singly-housed Fish

    1. Identify fish that are singly housed with a blue Post-It flag or sticker and label with the appropriate exemption code as described in Identifying Single Housed Animals SOP.

    5. Emergency Reporting and Veterinary Oversight

    1. Veterinary staff visits every fish housing facility in accordance with Guidelines on Veterinary Oversight of Animal Facilities  This visit serves to assess the overall health status of the colony and review death logs, feeding logs, water quality parameters, and other room sheets.
    2. The veterinary staff encourages communication regarding any health concerns at any time. However, laboratories must contact the veterinary staff immediately (within 24 hrs from time of identification), for significant colony health concerns and prior to implementation of laboratory managed treatments not approved in the IACUC protocol. This communication is by email, phone, the electronic health reporting system, submitting an ATR (Animal Treatment Report), or an in-person conversation.
    3. Examples of situations requiring immediate reporting include:
      1. An acute mortality or morbidity event affecting greater than 5% of the total colony animals.
      2. An acute mortality or morbidity event affecting greater than 5% of the animals in a single system.
      3. Prior to the implementation of any laboratory-managed treatment not explicitly outlined in the approved animal use protocol .
      4. Any water quality parameter that is outside normal range for more than 24 hours.
    4. For any animal health report, include the name of person reporting the concern, building and room number, Principal Investigator (PI) name, protocol number, species, and a brief description of the issue or concern. Submit a separate colony health report submitted for each aquatic room and for each species. However, multiple PIs and animals on different protocols can be combined into one report if all are using a shared housing system.
Species: Fish, Amphibians, and Reptiles
Questions?

Questions or concerns about the content of this document should be directed to the Unit for Laboratory Animal Medicine (ULAM) at (734) 764-0277 or [email protected].

Related Documents

Animal Enrichment DatabaseEnvironmental Enrichment for Animals SOPIdentifying Single Housed Animals SOP