"ecocollum"

[fish_keeper2]

well while sitting in enviro science today i rememberd a project i did back in 5 th grade i think it was. so i decided to recreat it and ill share with you guys how it goes.

materials:
2 2-liter bottles
2lbs of gravel
small aquatic plants(i used a java fern)
soil
grass seed
1-2 small fish(im using a dwarf platty)
2-3 small snails(im using 3 small pond snails)
material from a fish net or someother kind of netting and a rubberband
and 3 crickets or grass hoppers

FOR the aquarium part:
first u take one of the bottle and cut the top off about 1.5 - 2 inches down and remove the label. clean it out and place approx. .75 lbs of gravel in the bottom. then place what ever aquatic plants(live of course) in the bottle and fill with declhorinated water about 3 inches or so from the top. them release the small fish and snails into the tank.


FOR the terraium part:
first you clean out the bottle and remove the label. take of the screw on lid thing and place the netting around the opening and hold inplace with a rubber band. replace the lid. now invert the bottle and cut the bottom few inches off. fill with about 1.5 inches of gravel and then a few inches of soil. then plant grass seeds(you can also use lettuce or mustard)and soak the soil well and allow to drain. once the grass has sprouted place 3 crickets or grass hoppers in the bottle along with a moistened cotton ball to provide water . as for the lid cut slits in the bottom piece you cut off and sqeeze into the bottle...be sure to make holes for air circulation.

now to put the two parts together you simply place the the terraium part on top of the oppening on the aquarium. you should seperate them daily to allow gass exchange in the aquariunm part.

anyway i thought i would share this and will keep you updated. if you have question be sure to ask. by the way sorry for the spelling ive been up since 4 am and its now 9 pm.

 

[Synirr]

I did that project in 5th grade too! It was very interesting

 

[fish_keeper2]

heh thats cool. when i first got to bring it home i had it for about a few weeks and i decided to clean the aquarium part. i eneded up making the water too warm and boiled the poor fish but i have now since learned to not do that....wow i just realized that was 5 years ago...seems not too long ago

 

[Dorkhedeos]

doesnt 2 liters sound a little too small for any fish? only fish i can think of that will be alright in there is a betta.

 

[fish_keeper2]

it is which is why i went with 1 dwarf platty(smallest i could find) origibaly its supposed to be 2 guppies. i will keep feedings minimal and remove the fish at first sign of lack of air, high amonia etc

 

[zephyr]

on special request ...
can u plz draw me up a schematic? if its too much then its ok

it sounds fun but im not too sure if im correctly visualising the project.

 

[smooth_bourbon]

wow make me feel super old

.wow i just realized that was 5 years ago...seems not too long ago wacko.gif

its been 15 years since I was in the fifth grade so um I was in the fifth grade around the time you where born

 

[modernhamlet]

I'm not a fan of this particular "experiment". Give the fish a real home, not a plastic bottle with no air exchange.

 

[sylvia]

I have to agree. However interesting, fish need more space. 2 litres in only about half a gallon and I wouldn't even put a betta in that. You could maybe keep a couple of small shrimp in the bottle instead. At least temporarily. Or try some aquatic snails which I assure you would thrive (just buy some plants from your LFS and pick them off). Having said that - I'm not reffering to 'pet' snails like apple snails which can get to the size of your fist - I'm talking about the little pest snails that turn up as hitchhikers on new plants . They'd even breed and multiply if you fed a flake of fish food every few days and changed the water every now and then.

 

[fish_keeper2]

zephyr - what is a schematic? do you mean something like a drawling?

modernhamlet - i understand what you mean. this is just for a short while to see if really does work like the books say it should. as far as air exchange i will open it up for a few hrs to feed the dwarf platty and allow fresh air to come in.

update on how its going: the platty is doing fine. didnt have long to watch this morning so ill update when i get home(at school ATM) and on my stupity i add the crikets too soon(i was impatient) so they are eating some of the grass seeds...lol

 

[Invader675]

This sounds pretty cruel with any type of fish. Keep it as just as various snails and live plants though and it might be fun.

 

[black_bull]

How big is a dwarf platy? Is it a different species than normal platies?

 

[Breakthecycle2]

Can you take a pic? I can't quite visualize it.

 

[fish_keeper2]

yes the dwarf platty is a different speices. they only get around 1 inch. i would love to get a pic but i have no digital camera. i know when you get regular pic devolped at walmart they can put it on a disk so if i have a chance ill do that.

 

[Synirr]

Can you take a pic? I can't quite visualize it.

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EcoColumn

You can also use more than one bottle stacked to make the aquatic section bigger, like so.

Of course the bottle isn't big enough to house any fish long-term, but I think that's sorta missing the point... If you're that worried about it, just use snails instead