Sperm/milt extender for rainbow trout.

With spring well under way, breeding will be on the top of your mind… or maybe just on the top of your fishes’ minds.

But what do you do if the males are ready to go, but the females are not quite ripe. Do you know that it is possible to store the milt from the male fish for use later? It’s exactly like the techniques used for artificial insemination in other animals and even in humans!

The abstract below may be relevant for your situation.

Journal of Applied Aquaculture
Volume 23, Number 4 (October 2011)
	Short-Term Storage of Semen of Rainbow Trout: Interactions of Time, Antibiotic, and Activator
	Authors:	Hamid Niksirat 1
	Author Affiliations:	1: Department of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Resources, University of Tehran
	Source:	Journal of Applied Aquaculture, Volume 23, Number 4 (October 2011)
	Page Numbers:	358 – 366
	Available Full Text:	Full Text: Subscription Required to view full text Format: PDF Size: unknown Location: Publisher’s Site Authentication: EBSCOhost EJS
	Abstract:	This study was designed to examine the main effects and interactions of time, presence of antibiotics, and type of sperm activators on the fertilization capacity (eyeing rate) of refrigerated semen of rainbow trout, Oncorhynchus mykiss. The semen samples were stored in the presence or absence of 250 IU ml-1penicillin and 250 µg ml-1streptomycin sulfate. Freshwater and a saline solution were used as sperm activators. The semen samples were stored at 2–3°C and fertilized after 0, 6, 8, 12, 19, and 25 days of storage. Fertilizing capacities of semen samples stored in the presence of antibiotics (63.8 ± 5.6%) were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than those stored in the absence of antibiotics (46.2 ± 6.7%). Also, the fertilizing capacities of stored semen samples activated using saline solution (70.7 ± 5.7%) had significantly (p < 0.05) higher values than those activated using freshwater (39.3 ± 5.9%). Semen samples stored in the absence of antibiotics completely lost fertilizing capacity within 19 days of storage. After 25 days of storage in the presence of antibiotics, induction of fertilization using freshwater and saline solution resulted in 0% and 79.8 ± 1.7% fertility, respectively.
	Citation:	Hamid Niksirat . Short-Term Storage of Semen of Rainbow Trout: Interactions of Time, Antibiotic, and Activator. Journal of Applied Aquaculture, Volume 23, Number 4 (October 2011), pp. 358-366,
	URL:	http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=4E5183DC4350DC322E76