Fish Experiment Suggestions?

dcarmor927 · Jan 21, 2009

maybe you could do: which is faster? fishless/ fish in cycle...or for a more obvious one which is safer...

but then again youd need two filters and tanks, both identical

Colin_T · Jan 21, 2009

The title/ question can be something along the lines of
How temperature affects the growth rate of beneficial filter bacteria in a new aquarium?
or
Does temperature affect the growth rate of beneficial filter bacteria in a new aquarium?

If you do the cycling experiment you will need two containers/ tanks that hold the same amount of water. Whenever you do an experiment like this, (ie: where you compare what is happening to several different objects) you need everything to be the same except for the part that is being tested. In this case you want two or more tanks that are the same size. If you don’t have two tanks that are the same then perhaps use buckets (10litre/ 2.5gallon buckets).
Set up a few of them and have them at different temperatures. Then add your stuff to get the filters going.

Each day you test the water and write up the test results. At the end of the test you will have a bunch of numbers from each day and you can put them onto a chart or graph and it will clearly show the filter development cycle. You will then know if temperature does actually affect the bacteria and how fast it grows.
If you have a number of tanks/ buckets for the experiment, then you can set each one up at 2degree C differences, (ie: 20, 22, 24, 26, 28, 30C) and it will give you more results, which is better.

kevinthecow · Jan 22, 2009

I can't use wall plugs in the presentation,

How's that going to work, if I bring a filter to school.

Also, thanks for the help colin.

Colin_T · Jan 22, 2009

kevinthecow said:
I can't use wall plugs in the presentation,

How's that going to work, if I bring a filter to school.

not sure what wall plugs have to do with the experiment???

You usually take the filter and tanks/ buckets into the classroom so you can show how the experiment was set up. It shouldn't be a real issue because you only need box filters or sponge filters and some small tanks or buckets. They don't even need to be running or in water when you go to class. The filters, etc will be for show and you have the results from the experiment on paper, ie: a graph.

LauraFrog · Jan 22, 2009

There was one interesting one about training fish to recognise colours... basically they set up a tank and had two torches, one at either end. Then they had a piece of red cellophane and a piece of green cellophane. They put a piece over each torch, producing one red torch and one green torch. The fish were always fed under the green light. After a few weeks, when the torches were swapped around, the fish would come to the green light. (That was to prove they remembered the colour and not just the end of the tank the torch was at. They used goldfish, but I think you could do that with a betta in a 2-3 gallon tank... bettas are pretty smart.

kevinthecow · Jan 24, 2009

Awesome idea laura!

@colin : Kk, so i'm positive i'm going for your idea. I'll write down what happend the past days, then after i'm done I bring the instruments I've used during the process? (Like, bowl, filter, test kits and such on?)

I'll start on a layout of my project tmr.

DiscusKeeper403 · Jan 24, 2009

dont be lazy, figure your own out.

kevinthecow · Jan 24, 2009

wow discus. thanks for the help.
i'm trying to narrow a topic down. -__-
i'm not like, VERY bright in the topic of fishes, and I do want to try one. SOMETHING DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS. (Those lame volcanos, and such projects.)

greenbottle · Jan 24, 2009

I know you dont have tankS but how about 4 buckets and 4 filters? just hear me out...

The filter bacteria will have a optimum temperature for growth. they will also have a temperature above which they cannot survive, and more than likely a temp which is too low for them to survive (or they replicate at such a low rate is it negligable).

You have 4 buckets:

1- at the lowest temp you can keep realistically, its not too scientific (trust me im a scientist) but keep it in a cool garage or something similar & record the temp each day and take an average over the time period.

2- keep one at something like 25 (all in Celcius).

3- keep one at something like 30-35.

4- keep one as high as you can (hope your electricity rate is low!).

Do a fishless cycle in each using the same amount of household ammonia or the same mass (is you can measure it) of food flake or pellet.

You can then measure the time taken for the tanks to cycle- the quickest tank giving you a judge of the optimum temp for the bacteria to multiply.

If you keep all over perameters the same except the temp you can call it your rate determining factor.

this is just a rough outline which in the real work would need some polishing but thats for you to do!

just an idea!

all the best

Colin_T · Jan 25, 2009

greenbottle said:
1- at the lowest temp you can keep realistically, its not too scientific (trust me im a scientist) but keep it in a cool garage or something similar & record the temp each day and take an average over the time period.

LOL, don't trust anyone who says "trust me I'm a scientist"

OohFeeshy · Jan 25, 2009

Honestly, for the time/resources you've got, animal behaviour seems like a good way to go. Definately scientific- you could do taxis/kinesis in fish (whether they move towards or away from certain stimuli), or operant conditioning (where you train it by using a reward), or courtship, or terratorial behaviour...

Most of which you could do with a betta, since tank space is limited.