Biology at Metro High School:Team S.O.T.T.: 2010

Thursday, October 21, 2010

October 19 and 20th, 2010

Update on the Tank: we had 10 baby guppies

C.O.2 is fixed

we trimmed plants
P.H. is pretty high (8.7)

but it will be better overnight

Monday, October 4, 2010

October 4th, 2010

Today we tested the...

Ammonia: 0.50 ppm
Nitrate: 0.0 PPM
Nitrite: 0.0 PPM
PH: 7.3 PPM

We also saw that our combomba is sucking up a lot of nutrients from the soil making it hard for algae to show up in the tank.

We also realized that our tank is starting to have a lot of ammonia because we are over feeding the fish.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

September 28th, 2010

Today we found out we had really bad blue green algae and we have to use an anti-biotic to clear it up.

We also did the
PH:
Ammonia:
Nitrate:
Nitrite:
Phosphate: 0.0 ppm

Also we did a 5 gallon water change.

PHOTO OF THE DAY!!

September 27th, 2010

Today we went to aquarium adventures to collect out fish and plants we want.

We also climatized our fish and planted our combomba plant.

This photo is of our team climatizing or letting our fish adjust to the water.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

September 26th, 2010

Today we looked at the information for our life that we are going to be putting in our tank.

Common Name: Green Cabomba or Fanwort
Scientific Name: Cabomba aquatica
Who Named it, what year: Asa Gray, Julius Hermann Shultes, and Norman C. Fassett. - 1930
Where is it found in the Wild: Central and South America.

Average Height: 1' 8"
Optimal Temperature: from 18°-32°C 64.4 º F -25.6º F
Lighting Requirements: 1.5-3 Watts per gallon
Optimal pH: 6.5-7.5
Other Notes on Care:

-Benefit from regular CO₂injection and a good quality substrate that is rich in all of the macro- and micronutrients

- Does not like frequent trimming and transplanting. So once we plant it we should leave it alone.

Notes on Propogation:
Cuttings

Taxonomic Information:
Kingdom: Plantae
Phylum: Magnoliophyta

Class: Magnoliopsida

Order: Nymphaeales

Family: Cabombaceae
Genus: Cabomba
Species: Cabomba caroliniana

Fish Species Information Sheet

Common Name: Guppy

Scientific Name: Poecilia reticulata

Who Named it, what year: Rev. J. L. Guppy, 19th-century clergyman of Trinidad who first presented specimens to the British Museum, in 1960

Where is it found in the Wild: South America and the Caribbean

Description of its natural habitat: Guppies are often found as isolated Feeding populations where they find hapless prey.

Average Adult Size: 6 inches long

Description of any Sexual Dimorphism: Guppies exhibit sexual dimorphism. While wild-type females are grey in body colour, males have splashes, spots, or stripes that can be any of a wide variety colors.

Optimal Temperature: 72 to 76 F

Optimal pH: 7.0ppm

Other Notes on Care:

Notes on Breeding: You will have to observe your female guppies closely for a few weeks, before you will be able to predict that one of them will release her babies soon. I wish I had a better answer for you, but I think you will have to patiently watch your female guppies. The babies may need to be born in a birthing net.

Taxonomic Information:


Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Cyprinodontiformes
Family:	Poeciliidae
Genus:	Poecilia
Species:	*P. reticulata*

Fish Species Information Sheet

Common Name: Swordtail

Scientific Name Xiphophorus hellerii

Who Named it, what year: heckle,1848

Where is it found in the Wild: rivers and streams, but is also found in warm springs and canals

Description of its natural habitat: Central america

Average Adult Size: 10-12 cm

Description of any Sexual Dimorphism: caudal fins

Optimal Temperature: 70 to 82

Optimal pH: 7 to 8

Other Notes on Care:

Notes on Breeding: Men way more colorful, women bear fry well

Taxonomic Information:

Kingdom: anamalia

Phylum: chordata

Class: actinopterygii

Order: cyprinodontiformes

Family: poeciiliedae

Genus: xiphophorous

Species: Xiphophorus hellerii

Friday, September 24, 2010

September 24th, 2010

Today after our ecology quiz we put the CO2 ladder into our tank, this shows a fun but learning way of seeing the CO2 bubbles.

We also tested the
PH: 6.6 PPM
Nitrite: 0 PPM
Nitrate: 0 PPM

Today we also took a personal group performance refection.

We then discussed our reflection sheet.

We also found out we had a little more algae so we had to clean the tank walls.

We also fixed the flow of our CO2 Tank.

The Last thing we did was start the Plant Spices and Fish Species sheets.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

September 23rd, 2010

Today we Tested the....
PH: 7.0 ppm
Temp: 76 Degrees
Ammonia: 0.25 ppm
Carbonate Hardness:

We also finished the 2D backdrop.

We also put together a shopping list for our tank fish and plants that we will go to aquarium adventures.

We also presented what we had done so far with our tank.

Another thing that we found out about our tank is that we can see our plants photosynthesizing.

This is a photo of our plants having a string of bubbles come from them which are pure oxygen bubbles.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

September 22nd, 2010

Today we found out that since we left the light on over the tank all night, we had algea to clean off of the plants today.

Today we also found out the temperature, PH level, Ammonia, NO2 and the NO3

Temp: 76 degrees
PH: 6.8 ppm
NO2: 0 ppm
NO3: 0 ppm
Ammonia: 0 ppm

This Photo shows the testing of the PH level which was 6.8 ppm

Right now as it stands our tank is doing really well for our plants and the stress level is little to none. Since we have 0 ppm for nitrites, nitrate and ammonia this tank is also good for fish too.

This photo is of our team cleaning the algae.

We also put together a 2D version of what our tank should look like with the background.

This photo is our tank as it stands compared to the tank that it started out as.

This photo is of the tank that we have, before we made our revisons and added CO2 and started taking care of the tank!

This photo is of our tank now as it stands as of today!

We also put together a spread sheet of money we have from fundraising.

September 21st, 2010

First we changed around how are tank looked.
Then we took some snails out
The we measured the PH witch was 7.1 ppm

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

September 19th, 2010

Today the group really focused on the design of the aquarium.

We looked at Lizzie's design. Her design mainly involved layering the fish tank with plants.
There would be tall plants then medium then small plants.

We also thought of designing our aquarium that goes with our group name, "State of the Tank".

We were going to have the background as the White House and on the sides there would be our plants. In the middle it would be bear so you could see the White House and our fish were going to be red, white, and blue. Mr. DeWitt suggested we just have a white background so that way the focus is the aquarium itself and not the White House.

Some were for the change to the White House design and some were not. We decided that we would stick with Lizzie's original idea for now until we could redesign the aquarium.
Next each group got to bid on which plant they would like from Mr. DeWitt's gallery of plants.
We picked out many plants, but do not plan on using all of the plants.

Dean was able to bring his idea of the CO2 injector and hooked up the CO2 injector to the aquarium.
THis is our tank that we are going to use!

Sunday, September 19, 2010

September 17th, 2010: Documentation Day 3

Today we put together the light fixture for the third tank that was being put up.

Aquatic Life™ T5 HO fixtures feature timer controls, T5 HO fluorescent lamps and independent Lunar LED's, adjustable width aquarium frame mounts that will support fixture above the aquarium. German-made specially angled reflector maximizes light by directing it into the aquarium. Suspension ports allow connection to optional cables for various mounting configurations