One thing I really like to do, is to create new things with my own hands. I was very pleased when Vincent asked me if I could help him with the construction of 2 new recirculating aquaculture systems (RAS). The main advantages of such a system are the controllability in experimental design, the reduced loss of water, all year round production, etc. When I arrived, Vincent was designing a new experiment for which he would need three separated, identical RAS (while they only had one when I arrived). The idea is to figure out a diet for oysters (based on algae) that results in optimal growth. I could basically copy the already existing system and add some minor adjustments to make it all work. By doing this, I really grasped how such a system works: the placement of the different elements in order to let gravity do most of the work, the role of the protein skimmer and drum filter (and even the basic troubleshooting if these components don’t behave like they should), how the pressure regulating differs between different organisms in cultivation, etc. During my fifth week, the experiment started. Each system is running on a different food source (RAS I on freeze-dried algae, RAS II on living algae and RAS III on a mixture of both (50-50)). A major error could be a difference between the systems, by which a difference in growth could not be attributed solely to the diet. That’s why the two extra (identical) RAS were built in the first place.