Did you know that Brook Trout have five stages in there life cycle? The first stage is the Eyed Egg Stage. At this part of the life cycle, they need to be checked on at least 2 times a day, to make sure that any eggs that are no longer living can be pulled out. The next stage of the Brook Trout is the Alevin Stage. At this part of their development, the brook trout has come out of the egg, but they still have part of the egg attached to them. The next stage of Brook Trout is the Fry Stage. At this part of the life cycle, you start to see the characteristics of the trout. The second to last stage is the Fingerling stage. At this point, they are usually one to three inches in length. This is the stage where you will release the trout which is usually some time in the middle of May. Finally, the last stage is the Adult stage. At the Adult stage, they can grow up to be as big as a foot long. They usually do not live any longer than 3 years so not every Brook Trout will get up to 12".

The first stage in the Brook trout life cycle is the Eyed egg stage. The eggs need to be checked at least 2 times a day so that any eggs that are not living anymore can be pulled out. This happens because if a dead egg is left in the aquarium it may start growing harmful bacteria which, because of how close the eggs are, the bacteria can be transferred easily to the eggs that are still alive. When dealing with eggs you need to be very careful because if you damage an egg it will damage the way the fish swim and the way they live. When the eggs are in the wild, they stay in a nest called a redd. Streams that have clean gravel and steady water flow are ideal for the eggs.

The second stage in the Brook Trout life cycle is the Alevin Stage. It is during this stage of development that the brook trout have come out of the egg, but has an egg sac still attached. All the nutrition that the trout gets comes from the egg sac. Over time the egg sac shrinks and becomes a part of the trout's body. When the brook trout start swimming to the surface they are starting a new phase called the Swim Up phase, which is when you need to start feeding them food. This is a very important stage in the Brook Trouts development because this is where you start to see the patterns form on the fish.

The third stage in the Brook Trout life cycle is the Fry stage. In this stage, the trout have fully consumed their yolk sac. A yolk sac is what they lived in when they were in the eyed egg stage. When the yolk sac is consumed the trout will immediately begin to look for food. At this point, they are 1 inch or less. Some Brook Trout never learn to find food and will die. If this happens they are called pinheads. When they are at this stage the trout come out of the dark and start to explore the tank more.

The Fourth stage in the Brook trout life cycle is the Fingerling stage. At this stage, they are 1 to 3 inches in length. This is when you would release the trout which would be sometime in May. You want to make sure that you take good care of them during this stage because if you don't then they will not end up being healthy fingerlings. To prevent them from becoming unhealthy Brook Trout you need to feed them the appropriate amount of times, and you need to make sure to keep the aquarium clean.

The last a final stage of the Brook Trout is the Adult stage. During this stage, the trout is up to a foot long. Not many trout last to this stage because of other fish like the Musky fish. They are either eaten or die at a very young age because they did not learn to find food for themselves. If adult trouts are lucky, they can live up to 3 years.