Open Tank

The Fish Novel Tank test, or Open Tank test, provides an important behavioral analysis tool for the investigation of anxiety and stress response. The Novel Tank test exploits the stress response in fish and allows investigations in to anxiety induced behavior when compared with control groups. Fish display a defensive stress diving response to threat. This response can be evaluated by placing the Fish in a novel tank which can be divided into horizontal sections. Initially, the fish will dive to the bottom of the tank, and remain there in preference to spending time in the higher levels of the tank. As the fish acclimates to the new environment, it will spend progressively less time at the bottom while it gradually explores the top of the tank.

Fish response behavior is highly sensitive to different stressors, including pharmacological treatments which can elicit higher levels of anxiety displayed as increased frequency of erratic movements, reduced exploratory behaviour, thigmotaxis and geotaxis. Conversely, treatment with anxiolytic drugs is associated with comparatively increased Fish exploration and less erratic behaviors. The Fish Novel Tank diving test is a quick, simple and effective method for performing toxicology studies, drug screening and identifying disease biomarkers. Parameters that are frequently monitored during the Novel Tank diving test include total distance travelled, velocity, distance travelled in marked sections of the tank (top, middle and bottom), transitions between zones and swim pattern (turning angle).

Analysing Novel Tank fish experiments using Actual products is easy, and ActualTrack: Fish Edition is designed specifically for analysing fish locomotion and anxiety-related behavior. A fish in the Novel Tank set-up is monitored with a video camera mounted above (for general locomotor behaviour), or to the side (for anxiety related behaviour) of the experimental tank and is connected to a computer to record a video file. ActualTrack: Fish Edition software analyses the video file and utilises three-point fish tracking (head, centre of mass, and end of tail) to identify the fish within the tank and determine its position. Using ActualTrack: Fish Edition you can define regions for the different tank levels and accurately and automatically monitor entry of the fish to regions based on the location of its head, centre of mass, and tail end (or any combination thereof). With ActualTrack: Fish Edition, locomotor activity within the Novel Tank fish experiments is also easily assessed and quantified in any user-defined region within the tank.

What you need to perform Fish Novel Tank experiments using ActualTrack: Fish Edition:

- Digital Camera: from standard digital video camera to professional digital High Definition cameras (to enhance resolution of very small fish or large tanks) ActualTrack: Fish Edition can work with almost any common video format. See our recommended camera list for the most appropriate camera for your set-up.

- ActualCapture Software (optional) - enables easy direct recording of your experiment to a digital video file. This is recommended when you do not already have a camera and recording software. If you would like us to arrange and supply recording set-up, please contact us.

- Lighting: diffuse lighting from directly above or below,or infrared (IR) lighting for recording during the dark.

- Adult fish and Tank

- A computer with a web browser and web access (see requirements for details).

- ActualTrack: Fish Edition software

Our tracking, scoring and video capture software can be easily optimised to a broad range of hardware and experimental set-ups to ensure the best possible conditions for your video analysis. If required, please contact us for recommendations and a list of preferred suppliers of hardware.

What you can analyse in a Fish Novel Tank using ActualTrack: Fish Edition:

- Locomotor results: Distance travelled (cm), Average Speed (cm / s), Locomotor results for each zone defined for the fish tank (top, middle, bottom), Angular velocity and fish swim path

- Zone results based on fish location within the tank: Time spent in each zone [s], Time spent in each zone [%], Latency to each first zone entry [s], Number of visits to each zone [n], Number of visits to each zone [%], First zone visited, Zone transitions & timings, Average time spent per visit to each zone, Angular velocity and fish swim path.

- Visualisations: Birds nest plot, heat map

- ActualScore functionality allows for integrated manual coding user defined behaviors

- All results are calculated automatically and provided in an easy to use CSV format which can be imported in to most statistical analysis packages for further investigation and graphical representation

- and much more...

For more information, see the product information, or get in touch to find out more about how ActualTrack: Fish Edition could help you achieve the results you need.