Aquarium Project

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

II. Materials:

• Sieve
• Pitcher
• Water
• Aquarium
• Sink
• Paper Towels
• Gravel
• Cup
• Scrub Brush
• Fish
• Plants

III. Procedure:

1. Pick up fish tank
2. Use cup to scoop up gravel out of tank
3. Pour cups of gravel into pitcher
4. Put water in pitcher
5. Pour gravel gradually into sieve
6. Run water over sieve and shake it
7. Put tank in sink
8. Turn on sink and run water over tank
9. Scrub out tank with scrub brush
10. Rinse out tank
11. Dry tank with paper towels and remove from sink
12. Dump clean gravel into tank
13. Repeat 5-6 & 12 until all gravel is back in tank
14. Smooth rocks down with bottom of cup
15. Fill up tank 60-70% of the way with water
16. Dry off surrounding areas (counters, outside of tank, etc.)

IV. Data:

    A. Qualitative (Observations)

• Taking the first ammonia and nitrite test, the levels seem to be fine and we didn't need to change our water.  There is probably no change because we do not have a fish yet to influence the levels.    Date: 4/15/2013
• The ammonia seems to be getting quite a bit higher for some reason while the nitrite stays near the same.  We had to change about half of the water in our fish tank because of the steep increase.      Date: 4/21/2013
• The water is a little cloudy and the ammonia is back to 0ppm.  The nitrite has seen a pretty big increase, however, and we had to get new water for the whole tank.     Date: 4/24/2013
• We finally got a fish, after a long time of not having one.  The fish that we got was a minnow and he was very sensitive to his new habitat.  He keeps swimming around rapidly to explore the new tank. Date: 4/29/13
• The new fish has started to calm down a little bit and is now as hyper as he was previously. Date: 4/30/13
• Due to the new fish, the levels of the water have started to change.  I believe that this is because of this fish's waste products, and the tank had to be cleaned because of it. Date: 5/2/13
• Water quality of the tank seems to e stable now, and a constant cleaning of the waste products will probably continue to keep that stability. Date: 5/3/13
• As a result of forgetting to feed the fish over the weekend, he has begun to eat the aquarium plant because he was so hungry.  As soon as I saw this and remembered that I forgot, I fed him instantly. Date: 5/8/13
• I feel as though the fish likes his habitat now, and he has grown into it.  He doesn't seem to be hyper anymore, and instead he is pretty peaceful. Date: 5/9/13
• The new tank is clear and the water quality is good.  Nothing seems to be different, and the water qualities are good. Date: 5/10/13
• Our fish was looking at the tank nex t to ours the whole period.  I think that he was looking at the other fish and wondering what they were doing, considering he is alone in his tank. Date: 5/11/13
• The water in the tank seemed to be an odd color and a little foggy, so me and my partner had to take out the water and put new water in the tank.  Date: 5/12/13
• Even though we feed our fish, he still seems to be hungry and continues to eat the aquarium plant.  Maybe he has taken a liking to it, as there is little left of it.  Date: 5/15/13
• Because he is a small fish, he leaves some excess fish food that he doesnt eat, and because of this, it has led to increased nitrite levels, leading to a changing of water in the tank. Date:5/16/13
• We put a new aquarium plant in the tank because the old one was pretty much gone and was no longer stuck in the gravel at the bottom of the tahnk.  Date: 5/17/13
• The fish doesn't seem to be eating the new plant which is good, and instead he is getting his fill on the actual fish food.  Date: 5/19/13
• Everything seems to be normal except for the fish is not really moving around, and instead he is just sitting there.  Date: 5/22/13
• The fish part of the class is almost done, and we are taking these probes for water quality.  Our water quality is good and there was no need for change in water. Date: 5/23/13
• Another water quality check today, and again everything was going fine withthe water in our tank. Date: 5/24/13
• Last water check and last day of the aquariums.  Today we put our fish in the big tank and took eeruthing out of our aquariums in order to clean up. Date: 5/26/13

    B. Quantitative (Water Quality)
   
Chart A:  Aquacheck

Date	Free Chlorine (ppm)	Total Chlorine (ppm)	Total Hardness (ppm)	Total Alkalinity (ppm)	pH
4/21	0 ppm	0 ppm	250 ppm	180 ppm	8.4

Chart C: Nitrogen Cycle

Date	Ammonia (ppm)	Nitrite (ppm)
4/15	0.5 ppm	0 ppm
4/16	0.25 ppm	0 ppm
4/21	1.0 ppm	0.25 ppm
4/24	0 ppm	1.0 ppm

V. Conclusions:

1.     .        Ammonia - A waste product that is caused by fish waste and excessfish food in the tank.  It is important because if it is too high, it canlead to irritation for the fish or even death.
   Nitrite – A nitrogen compound that is the second mosttoxic, next to ammonia.  Anything above.75 ppm causes stress and above 5 ppm is toxic. It is important because it is used in food production for curing meat.
   Nitrate – Nitrogen compound that is the least toxic, butat higher levels (continuous 200+ ppm) it can be just as harmful.  It is an important source of nitrogen forplant and animal life.
   Temperature – How hot or cold the water of theaquarium is.  Depending on the type offish, it will have a certain preference of water temperature, or else it willbe uncomfortable.
   pH – The degree of acidity/basicity of asolution.  Majority of fish live infreshwater with a pH of about 6.0-8.0 and in salt water of about 8.0-8.4.  The pH is very important to maintain at aconstant degree.
   Conductivity – The water’s ability to carry electricalcurrents.  Some fish use electricalcurrents to hunt or do other things, so it is important to maintain.
   Dissolved oxygen – Oxygen that has beendissolved into the water.  It is requiredby all aquatic animals and low dissolved oxygen can impair animal growth, whilea complete lack of it will lead to death.
   Hardness – A measure of the quantity of certain metallicions present in water.  It can affect fishs’ability to maintain eternal and external fluids/environment.
   Chlorine – Chemical added to water to kill microorganisms.  Too little chlorine will not kill themicroorganisms and too much chlorine can be harmful to the fish.
     
   2. The nitrogen cycle is the process where ammonia productsare converted by bacteria into nitrite, and      then into nitrate.  Both ammonia and nitrite are very toxic tofish in extremely low concentrations, so in order to have a healthy environmentfor your fish, the bacteria that break down these toxins into nitrate must beintroduced.  The two toxic materials arecaused by waste that is excreted by the fish in the tank, so it will build upover time if something is not done.  Ifthe bacteria is not introduced to minimize the levels of ammonia and nitrite,it will lead to mortality for the fish.

3. The water quality has been really prone to change over the weeks that we have checked it. Sometimes there is a shift downwards, where the quality of the water is not healthy for a fish, but then after changing the water it is still the same. There are other times, however, that the water quality is good as a result of the water change. It is really strange that these changes occur because we did not have a fish until recently so I'm not sure what could have caused the changes.

4. The oxygen/carbon dioxide cycle is important to the aquatic ecosystem because it dictates the amount of dissoled oxygen and carbon dioxide that is in the water. Fish and other organisms rely on dissolved oxygen to live, so without a stable amount, they will perish. This relates to local ponds and creeks because the natural oxygen/carbon dioxide cycle is really the only factor to how much oxygen is in the water, and is not intervened with as much as an aquarium. One way that humans do try to have an impact on this though is by putting fountains in ponds or lakes to distribute oxygen.

5. One problem that I faced when trying to keep the aquarium stable was the ammonia and nitrite levels. Everything was good except for those two things as they were changing every couple of days. The way to fix these levels is by having to get new water for the tank or else your fish will likely die or be uncomfortable. Changing the water every couple of days can turn out to be a lot of work.

6. The first major concept that I learned from this project was how to successfully take care of a fish. I have had other pets, but never a fish before so it was a new experience. I also learned a lot about the many things that you need to test for in the water when taking care of a fish, such as pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. Not only did I learn to take these tests, but I also learned how to interpret the results from the tests. The last thing that I learned from this project were the oxygen cycle and the nitrogen cycle, and how they relate to the aquariums, like how dissolved oxygen needs to be distributed through the water with the use of a bubbler.

7. The most interesting thing about the project was the fish itself. It was very unique for a minnow, as it was obviously nervous about being in a new aquarium. The worst thing that happened during the project was having to refill the tank over and over again before getting a fish in the aquarium because the water did not meet the required levels. Lastly, the weirdest thing that happened during the project was the strange change in ammonia and nitrate levels even though we did not have a fish at the time.

8. My favorite part about the project was having to keep track of the fish and take tests, using the scientific method. The reason that I say this is because when I first heard about having to take care of a fish in this class, I didn't think that there was any point to it, and that it would be extremely easy, but I actually learned a fw things in the end.

9. Some advice that I would give to next year's students would be to take the observations as you go over time from te start, because putting them off and having to take and write down all of the observations at the end is a pretty bad idea. One thing that I would change about this project is I would change the amount of time that it actually is. I think that it is too short, as my prior premonition was that we would be taking care of a fish for a majority of the class, but in actuality it was only a few weeks.