I. Purpose: To moderate a freshwater ecosystem over time and collect and interpret data.
II. Materials:
•ammonia • declorinator
•nitrate • real plants
•sponge • filter
•paper towel •fish
•tank •thermometer
•water •test tubes
•bubbler •net
•rocks •sponge
•props •food
•fake plants •water pitcher
•sieve •bucket
•charcoal •sink
III. Procedure:
1. Find a tank with rocks in it without water in it.
2. Take the rocks out and clean them with a Sieve
3. Clean inside of tank (do not use soap)
4. Put rocks back in tank
5. Fill tank with water
6. Put decorations in the tank
7. Put the declorinator in the water (one capful)
8. Test the temp and ammonia and nitrite and nitrate temp should be 72°F
9. Buy fish that get along with others and can live in that temperature
10. Put fish while in the bag in the water to get used to the temperature and let it sit there for 10 minutes
11. Find a bubbler
12. Put the bubbler in the tank and let it run
13. Poof the fish and store water In a net to get rid of water and keep the fish
14. Put fish in water
15. Find a filter in a filter bag
16. Clean The filter bag
17. Put charcoal in filter bag
18. Put filter bag in the filter and fill with water
19. Put filter in tank and let it run
20. Put beacopia plants in tank
21. Test water every day
IV.
A. Quantitative data-
Date. Ammonia. Nitrite. Temp.
9/3/13. .5 ppm. 0 ppm 22 C. 72 F.
9/4/13. .25 ppm. 0 ppm. 22 C. 72 F.
9/9/13. .25 ppm. 0 ppm. 22 C. 72 F.
9/10/13. .25 ppm. 0 ppm. 22 C. 72 F.
9/11/13. .05 ppm. 0 ppm. 22 C. 72 F.
9/12/13. 1 ppm. 0 ppm. 22 C. 72 F.
9/16/13. .25 ppm. .25 ppm. 22 C. 72 F.
9/17/13. .25 ppm. 1 ppm. 22 C. 72 F.
9/18/13. .2 ppm. .25 ppm. 22 C. 72 F.
9/19/13. .2 ppm. .5 ppm. 22 C. 72 F.
9/20/13. .2 ppm. .5 ppm. 22 C. 72 F.
9/23/13. .25 ppm. .5 ppm. 22 C. 72 F.
9/24/13. .25 ppm. .5 ppm. 22 C. 72 F.
9/25/13. .2 ppm. .2 ppm. 22 C. 72 F.
9/26/13. .2 ppm. 1 ppm. 22 C. 72 F.
9/27/13. .25 ppm. 1 ppm. 22 C. 72 F.
9/30/13. 0 ppm. 5 ppm. 21 C. 71 F.
10/1/13. 0 ppm. 3 ppm. 22 C. 72 F.
10/2/13. 0 ppm. 3 ppm. 22 C. 72 F.
10/3/13. 0 ppm. 1 ppm. 22 C. 72 F.
10/4/13. 0 ppm. .5 ppm.22 C. 72 F.
B. Qualitative data-
9/17/13- the nitrite was very high
9/18/13- add mondo grass and 2 clams
9/19/13- my fish stays around rocks
9/23/13- fish are hungry and swimming fast
9/24/13- added 2 baby fish
9/25/13- added 1 baby fish
9/26/13- fish are hungry, baby fish hiding
9/27/13- one baby fish seen
9/30/13- one baby fish, hungry fish
D.O. 100% temp. 21 C. Cond. 570
PH 7
10/1/13- fish are hungry and aggressive
10/2/13- baby fish is hiding from big ones
10/3/13- Changed my water and fish
Are hiding
10/4/13- nitrate is good and neutral
10/15/13- all water is neutral
V. Conclusion
1. Ammonia- is the most common and harmful waste product. It is fish waste, and excess food. Ammonia is very poisonous to fish and can kill them.
Nitrite- toxic compound for fish. It can stress out the fish and is the second most poisonous thing for a fish.
Nitrate- the least poisonous of the nitrogen compounds, unless they come in large amounts. It can cause algae.
Temperature- measures how hot and cold things are. Fish need to live in water that resembles the feeling of outside. 72 degrees Fahrenheit is the best for fish.
pH- the degree of acidity or basicity of
a solution. It is on a 14 point scale. A level around 6 to 8 is good for a fish.
Conductivity- the degree at which electricity can be made through water. Animals are adapted for a certain salinity.
Dissolved oxygen- the amount of oxygen in the water. The fish need oxygen to breath.
Hardness- measure of the quantity of certain metallic ions presented in the water. It helps the fish maintain a balance between internal body fluids and the external environment.
Alkalinity- indicates the total amount of buffers that are present in the water. This takes in extra acids and bases.
Chlorine- commonly used treatments. To much chlorine can kill a fish. It can disinfect water but are not good in aquariums.
2. The nitrogen cycle is the process of changing ammonia into nitrate. This keeps the water neutral. Because when a fish is put into a tank there is a lot of ammonia so the nitrite and nitrate work against it and make the nitrogen cycle.
3. My water quality has changed from really bad with high ammonia and nitrites to neutral ammonia and nitrites and nitrates. My ammonia got up to .25 ppm and 5 ppm. And once the nitrogen cycle finished it went down to 0 ppm for nitrite, nitrate, and ammonia.
4. The carbon dioxide/oxygen cycle is very important to the aquatic ecosystem. The plants need carbon dioxide to survie so when they breathe in carbon dioxide they breathe out oxygen which is what fish need to breathe. Also, by having the plants alive, it gives the fish food. This relationship is a symbiotic relationship between the two. Oxygen needs carbon dioxide to be made and carbon dioxide needs oxygen to be made.
5. I faced bad nitrite problems. My nitrite levels were really high and I was worried about my fish. I started to add bacteria and more plants and that helped tremendously. I also changed out my water frequently. Once I finished the nitrogen cycle my nitrite finally went down.
6. #1 I learned about the nitrogen cycle and how it works. By having more ammonia, the higher my nitrite was. So when I added plants to my aquarium the ammonia went down.
#2 I learned that you can't put baby fish with big fish because they will die fast. The bigger fish will mistake them as food.
#3 I learned that algae is really good for fish. It supplies nutrients to the water and sometimes a food source.
#4 I learned that the more plants the better. With more plants, the ammonia wont be very high, and the fish can have shelter and food.
#5 I learned what dissolved oxygen was. It is the oxygen within the tank that the bubbler makes. If the dissolved oxygen is low, the fish will die. Fish need a high percent of dissolved oxygen to be healthy.
7. The most interesting thing that happened was that I was able to keep my fish alive and that Tetras are very fast fish who love to be with groups of their own kind. The worst thing that happened was my nitrite and ammonia levels were escpecially really high. And the weirdest thing that happened was I put baby fish in my tank and they disappeared.
8. My favorite part of this project was being able to see the way my fish interact with eachother. Because my fish stayed together all the time. Whenever one would swim up to eat the others would follow. When one fish swam a certain way, the other followed. My fish liked to hide behind the rocks and between the plants.
9. The advice I would give students next year would to always check your water. Because having water with high ammonia or nitrites is really deadly to the fish. If I could change this project I would have had more elaborate fish. Because everyone knows about these common fish. And I think it would be cool to learn about different fish.
