Friday 4-5 Aquarium Project

I. Purpose- To monitor an aquatic ecosystem over time through observations and data collection.

II. Materials:

• filter
• bubbler
• tank
• rocks
• dechlorinator
• bacterial supplement
• water
• fish
• plants
• net
• heater
• fish food
• paper towels
• scrub brush
• sifter

III. Procedure-
1. We first signed up for tanks with groups.
2. Then we were assigned an aquarium to share with our group.
3. Next we learned about how to set up a tank and raise fish.
4. We then cleaned out our tank that was loaned to us.
5. The tank was scrubbed with paper towels but no soap.
6. We cleaned the tank pebbles by sifting water through them.
7. Next we added the clean pebbles to the tank.
8. Once the pebbles were in the tank we added water.
9. We next smoothed out the rocks that were moved because of the water.
10. Next we cleaned out the filter.
11. After it was clean, we installed the filter to the tank.
12. Next we put it in and plugged in the bubbler.
13. We then strapped the tank heater to the side of the tank.
14. Once every accessory was turned on, we let the water reach room temperature.
15. We then added small decoration.


IV. DATA
A. Qualitative (Observations)

Observation #1: Friday April 12th We do not have fish yet but what we can observe is that our water quality of ammonia is getting better. On April 8th our water quality was 2.0 ppm. Then on the 10th it went down to 1.0ppm. Although this is not in the range we want it to be, it is getting lower as the days progress. We kept changing the water and adding dechlorinator hoping it would help. By April 12th our water quality was down to .25ppm. Therefore, our water is now good to go on adding fish!
Observation #2: Tueday April 16th Today we added 3 Neon Tetras. When we first added them, all three of them stayed in the bottom right corner of the tank. Another thing that they all did is that they all followed each other. Anywhere one went, the other two followed them. They seemed to be scared of the bubbler and the bubbles coming out of it. When we put food in the tank, the fish did not seem to have any interest.
Observation #3: Monday April 22nd Today we checked out water quality. We check everything from nitrite, ammonia, total chloring, free chlorine, total hardness, total alkalinity, the pH level, and the nitrate level. Everything came out perfect. The ammonia was .25ppm and the nitrite was 0.0pm. Since everything else was good and perfect, we were able to check the nitrate level. When we checked the nitrate level, it came out perfect as well. It came out at 0.0ppm. Our ammonia and nitrite levels have stayed very balanced and haven't changed since we last checked them. Now we are going to add more fish now that we know that our water quality is good to go!
Observation #4: Tuesday April 23rd Yesterday we added five more fish. They weren't the same fish as we added before but they are very similar in many ways. One of the ways is the size. This morning when we checked back up on the fish they seemed to be doing well. The two different types of fish seem to work well together. These fish are doing the same exact thing that the neon tetrachs did when we first added them. They swim in the right bottom corner and stay there for a very long time. One of two will eventually venture off into the tank and wander but then come right back to the corner.
Observation #5 April 24th Today when we came into class, all of our fish were hiding in the big tree branch that we had in our tank. They weren't swimming around at all. When we took out the big tree branch, in hopes that they would come out and start swimming, they swam and hid in a little skull we have in the corner of the tank. Since our fish are so small and they are in such a big tank, they always seem to hide when we go to observe them. We plan on adding more fish to see if this helps with the problem.
Observation #6 April 29th Our fish are starting to swim around and be more comfortable in our tank. About a week ago every single one of them hid in the skull. All six of them would be crammed in there. Now, all six of them are swimming freely. We also added two plants to our tank. Although they are fake, our fish seem to enjoy them. We have one real plant in there and our fish seem to really like it.
Observation #7 April 30th We added two more fish to our tank today. They are bigger then the fish we already have. However, all of our fish seem to get along just fine. When we went to buy them the workers said that it may be risky to add bigger fish then we already have but our fish seem to be fine. The bigger fish don't look like a threat to the smaller fish at all. So now, we have 8 fish in our tank. Since our first six were so small, we have room to add even more fish.

B. Quantitative (Water Quality)

4/8- Ammonia 2.0ppm
4-10- Ammonia 1.0 ppm
4-12- Ammoia .25ppm
4/16- Nitirite 0.0ppm
4/22- Ammonia .25ppm
4/22- Nitrite 0.0ppm
CHART A: Aqua Check (Monday April 22nd)
Total Chlorine: 0pp,
Free Chlorine: 0ppm
Total Hardness: 250ppm
Total Alkalinity: 80ppm
pH: 8.4

CHART B: 

 Monday May 20:

           Temperature: 22.20* C

           Dissolved Oxygen: 0.0 mg/L

           Dissoved Oxygen: 0.0%

           ISE Voltage: -23.1 mV

           Conductivity: 84 uS/cm

           pH: 7.39

           Conductivity: 842 uS/cm

     Tuesday May 21: 

           Temperature: 21.66* C

           Dissolved Oxygen: 0.0 mg/L

           Dissolved Oxygen: 0.0%

           ISE Voltage: -18.9 mV

           Conductivity: 88 us/cm

           pH: 7.32

           Conductivity: 878 us/cm

     Wednesday May 22: 

           Temperature: 21.08* C

           Dissolved Oxygen: 20.0 mg/L

           Dissolved Oxygen: 100.0%

           ISE Voltage: -15.6 mV

           Conductivity: 78 uS/cm

           pH: 7.26

           Conductivity: 782 uS/cm

     Thursday May 23:

           Temperature: 21.41*C

           Dissolved Oxygen: 20.0 mg/L

           Dissolved Oxygen: 100.0%

           ISE Voltage: -13.9 mV

           Conductivity: 81 uS/cm

           pH: 7.24

           Conductivity: 806 uS/cm

      Friday May 24: 

           Temperature: 21.68* C

           Dissolved Oxygen: 20.0 mg/l

           Dissolved Oxygen: 100.0%

           ISE Voltage: -15.5 mV

           Conductivity: 76 uS/cm

           pH: 7.26

           Conductivity: 762 uS/cm

CONCLUSION QUESTIONS

1.

•  Ammonia- Ammonia is something you do not want to have in your water. You want the level of ammonia in your tank to be as low as possible. A way to help is by adding plants into your water. If the level is not going down, you want to do as many water changes as possible.
• Nitrite- This is another thing that you want to be low in your tank. This is caused by over feeding or over populating your tank. This can cause the fish that are living in the aquarium to become ill.
• Nitrate- You want to make sure that the levels of nitrate in your tank are as low as possible. If you have high nitrate levels in your tank, you will start noticing that your fish will become sick. A way to reduce this is by water changing. You first want to start out with about a 20% water change and then increase from there is the levels do not improve.
• Temperature- You want to make sure that the temperature is not to hot in your tank. If the water is to hot, it will kill the fish. 
• pH- The pH level is vey important because you don't want the level to be to low because then the water will be acidic to your fish which will end up killing them. You want to make sure your pH level is above 7 so that way your water is just a base.
• Conductivity- This is how much minerals are in your water. If you have a lot of minerals in your water, your water will have high conductivity versus if you have low amounts of minerals, you will have low conductivity. Some minerals this consists of is salt water. For fresh water fish, you want to make sure you have low conductivity as possible.
• Dissolved Oxygen- This is good to have in your aquarium. The more oxygen the better. Ways to have low amounts of dissolved oxygen is by over crowding your tank. The more fish you have, the more oxygen they consume. So, you want to make sure you only have the right amount of fish needed that can fit in your tank. This is what the bubbler's purpose in the tank is for.
• Hardness- For fresh water fish, you want to make sure that the water is not hard. The harness of the water has to do with the amount of minerals that you have in your water. Therefore, if you have fresh water fish, you do not want that many minerals in your water. You want the hardness of your water to be low. 
• Alkalinity- Alkalinity is the amount of water it takes to neutralize an acid. You want to make sure that you have enough so that your tank does not have any acid in it. This will kill all your fish in your tank. 
• Chlorine- Chlorine is very bad for the fish. You want to make sure that every time you do a water change, you add dechlorinator. If you put fresh water fish into water that has chlorine in it, your fish will end up dying. You want to make sure that you have no chlorine in your tank. 

2. The nitrogen cycle is the process by which nitrogen is converted between its various chemical forms. Nitrogen is a big part of earths atmosphere. Almost 78% of the earths atmosphere is made up of nitrogen. Plants cannot directly intake the nitrogen from the atmosphere so bacteria in the soil has to help. The bacteria in the soil "fixes" the nitrogen so that the plants can use. Animals get this nitrogen through eats plants or eating herbivores. However, when the plants and animals die, the nitrogen is released back into the atmosphere. 

3. Our water quality level has improved over time. The more fish we add and the more plants we add helps improve our water quality. When we first checked our ammonia at the beginning of the project with only water, it was 2.0ppm, then the next time we checked it after we added a couple of fish, it was at 1.0ppm, and finally after we added more fish and more plants, it got all the way down to .25ppm. Our nitrite also got all the way down to 0.0ppm.

4. The oxygen/carbon dioxide cycle is important because this is how the entire underwater organisms get oxygen. The animals breath out the CO2 which is what the plants take in, and the plants give off oxygen which is what the animals in take. This is how all the organisms breath and stay alive underwater. This relates to local creeks and ponds because this is how the animals and vegetation survive in the fresh water.

5. Some problems I faced was keeping the water quality down. We had to make sure and keep doing water changes so the water quality would not get so poor that the fish would die. Another thing we had a problem with is keeping the temperature just right. At first we had a heater on our tank but that made it way to hot to where is was not a stable environment for the fish to be living in. To solve this problem, we took the heater out completely which made the temperature a lot better. Out tank is by a window so the fish and plants are getting some light and heat.

6. I learned how to change a tank properly. I learned the steps on how to do it and the right things to add and the wrong things to add. Another thing I learned is the different types of fish that interact well together. Like, the size of the fish matters and they also have to be "colony fish" so they don't kill each other. Something else I learned from this project was how plants and fish affect ammonia levels in the water. I learned that the more plants you add, the better your ammonia level with be. Another thing I learned was the different water qualities and which ones are good and which ones are bad. I also learned the different meaning and the purpose of the different water qualities. And finally, another thing I learned from this project was how fish play a big part in the ecosystem. Throughout this entire unit and project we learned the nitrogen and carbon dioxide cycle and how fish contribute to it greatly.

7. The most interesting thing that happened during this project was watching the fish get use to the new environment they were living in. At the beginning they barley ate the food we put in the tank and they just stayed in the corner the entire time. Then as time went on, we noticed that they started eating the food we put in there and they swam around the entire tank. The worst thing that happened was our first couple of fish we bought were so small that they got sucked into the filter and died. The weirdest thing that happened was when we went to go check our tank, all the fish were "missing" but then we later found that all 7 of the fish were hiding in a tiny skull we had in the corner of the tank.

8. My personal favorite part of the project was getting a lot of freedom and independence in the project and being able to add the type of fish we wanted to and getting to take care of them. We got to add our own style to the tank. I liked that we were reliable for the fish and got to take care of them ourselves rather then just barley taking care of them and the teacher doing most of it. If the fish died, it was our fault.

9. I would advise the students next year to start out with just a couple small fish and see how they react to the tank and the environment they are living in then gradually get bigger fish. You don't want to start out with 10 big fish and have them all die because something was wrong with your tank. You want to have "tester" fish to see if all goes well. One thing I would change about this project is the number of observations we had to make on the tank. With all the questions and tests we had to do, then having to keep the fish alive and making sure our water quality was good 24/7, the 20 observations seemed to be just a tad to much.