Science Project!

[halfbloodprincess]

Here is my idea for my science project. This topic is probably the most arguable topic in this forum.

The whole idea is to see what size tanks bettas are most "happy" in. My plan is to get tanks rangeing from 1 to 10 gallons. 1 gallon, 2 gallon, 5 gallon, 10 gallon and possibly 15 and 20 gallons.

I will obvserve them and see which ones flare more, swim more, are more active, who has the best personality, color ect.

What do you guys think??? Also I am open to even better ideas!

 

[halfbloodprincess]

Now here is the scientific part. I will do different water types, like tap, bottled, and spring. I will then record data each day, of personalitys, color, ect. I will record each measurements for each tank. I will also try to find bettas that are the exact same age.

 

[Kyrielle]

Now here is the scientific part. I will do different water types, like tap, bottled, and spring. I will then record data each day, of personalitys, color, ect. I will record each measurements for each tank. I will also try to find bettas that are the exact same age.

Be sure you note their inherent personalities. It might be best to start them in the same type of tanks and record their starting conditions. Then move them, and wait a few days (as moving them would stress them out a little). Then start recording.

Oh and if you use different water types, be sure it's 3 betta in the same type of tank, but with different types of water. So in effect you might end up with a set of 3 tanks per type of tank.

 

[halfbloodprincess]

Mmmm, good idea.

 

[Synirr]

I hope you don't mind a little criticism?
While it's a good idea and would be fun to do, you're going to have a lot of problems making it into a good science project because a lot of the factors you're talking about can't be measured. I mean, you can't measure happiness, right? I think you'd be better off, if you're determined to do something along these lines, sticking with one thing that you can measure, like how long a betta flares at his reflection in a mirror. You'd have to use the same betta for every measurement, otherwise you have to take into consideration the personality of the individual fish -- or better yet, use multiple fish and do the same measurements with all of them. Put them in identical tanks, or alternate them all between the same tank, making sure each one is allowed the same amount of time in the tank beforehand to adjust, then time all their flares and calculate an average flare time for each tank size and water type.

EDIT: It might also be better to keep tank decorations to a minimum to make sure this isn't effecting their reactions.

 

[halfbloodprincess]

I hope you don't mind a little criticism?
While it's a good idea and would be fun to do, you're going to have a lot of problems making it into a good science project because a lot of the factors you're talking about can't be measured. I mean, you can't measure happiness, right? I think you'd be better off, if you're determined to do something along these lines, sticking with one thing that you can measure, like how long a betta flares at his reflection in a mirror. You'd have to use the same betta for every measurement, otherwise you have to take into consideration the personality of the individual fish -- or better yet, use multiple fish and do the same measurements with all of them. Put them in identical tanks, or alternate them all between the same tank, making sure each one is allowed the same amount of time in the tank beforehand to adjust, then time all their flares and calculate an average flare time for each tank size and water type.

EDIT: It might also be better to keep tank decorations to a minimum to make sure this isn't effecting their reactions.

oooo you just gave me an idea. I could just have one betta and put him in one tank for a amount of time and then switch him to different ones, and see which one he 'likes' the best. (flaring,color,personality,ect.)

 

[Synirr]

True, but again, you're going to have problems measuring things like personality, and if your teacher grades the way he/she should be grading (based on proper scientific method), that might dock you some points.

To illustrate my point, you can say the fish seemed happier in the larger tank sizes, for example, but "happier" is really pretty arbitrary, and you're going to have a tough time backing that observation up with evidence.

 

[demonmagus]

also, you hear about bettas being upgraded from smaller tanks but they actually don't like it, but does the experiment have to be super accurate?

 

[pica_nuttalli]

now what would really be a fantastic project would be to measure and record waste levels in different sized tanks.

you could take 9 bettas and use 3 different tank sizes: 2g, 5g, 10g.
put only a few minimal decorations in each tank and be sure to decorate identically. i'd limit it to a couple of clean terra cotta pots.
feed the exact same amount of food and do the exact same number of water changes (50% about every 4 days should be ok).
test the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels each day of the experiment.

since elevated levels of waste are known to be very bad for your fish, you could actually prove something with regards to housing needs. performing the experiment with 3 bettas housed in each size tank will allow you to produce an averaged result too. you should be able to show a geometric relationship between tank volume and waste level, which would in turn allow you to scientifically argue against tiny betta tanks.

if you really felt adventurous, you could also keep another 3 bettas in 1g bowls and perform daily 100% water changes. the results wouldn't be directly comparable for the other tanks, (since beneficial bacteria colonies are unlikely to form in such conditions) but it would allow you to compare overall daily levels of waste.

 

[halfbloodprincess]

OOO that is a really good idea.